required
inflections are raising the voice where it should fall--as at the
completion of an idea, and letting it drop where it should remain
up--as before the completion of an idea, frequently answering to a
comma. Other variations of pitch depend upon emphasis.

Emphasis. Emphasis is giving prominence to a word or phrase so that
its importance is impressed upon a listener. This result is most
easily secured by contrast. More force may be put into its delivery
than the rest of the speech. The word may be made louder or not so
loud. The voice may be pitched higher or lower. The word may be
lengthened. Pauses will make it prominent. In speaking, combinations
of these are employed to produce emphasis.

While all qualities of speech are important, emphasis is of cardinal
value. Listeners will never recall everything that a speaker has said.
By a skilful employment of emphasis he will put into their
consciousness the main theme of his message, the salient arguments of
his contention, the leading motives of action. Here again is that
close interdependence of manner and material referred to in the
preceding chapter. In later chapters will be discussed various methods
of determining and securing emphasis of larger sections than mere
words and phrases.

Phrasing. Somewhat related to emphasis is phrasing. This is the
grouping together of words, phrases, clauses, and other units so that
their meaning and significance may be easily grasped by a listener. As
has been already said, pauses serve as punctuation marks for the
hearer. Short pauses correspond to commas, longer ones to colons and
semi-colons, marked ones to periods. Speakers can by pauses clearly
indicate the conclusions of sections, the completion of topics, the
passage from one part of the material to another, the transfer of
attention from one subject to its opposite. Within smaller range
pauses can add delightful variety to delivery as they can signally
reinforce the interpretation. No speaker should fall into the habit of
monotonously letting his pauses mark the limit of his breath capacity,
nor should he take any regular phrase, clause, or sentence length to
be indicated by pauses. In this as in all other aspects variety is the
charm of speech.

Enunciation. No matter what handicaps a person may have he may
overcome them to secure a distinct, agreeable enunciation. Care in
enunciating words will enable a speaker to be heard almost anywhere.
It is recorded that