nner of the man who no longer
feels himself to be the object of ill-natured laughter.

One should set oneself then every morning to the performance of
exercises consisting of opening the mouth as wide as one possibly can
and then shutting it, to open it once more to its fullest extent, and so
on until one becomes fatigued.

This exercise is designed to cover the well-known difficulty of those
who speak infrequently and which is familiarly known as "heavy jaw."

One should next endeavor to pronounce every consonant with the utmost
distinctness.

If certain consonants, as _s_, for example, or _ch_, are not enunciated
clearly, one should keep at it until one pronounces them satisfactorily.

Now one should construct short sentences containing as many difficult
consonants as possible.

Next we should apply ourselves to declaiming longer sentences.

It will be of help to have these sentences constitute an affirmation of
will-power and of poise.

For example: "I can express myself with the greatest possible facility,
because timidity and embarrassment are complete strangers to me."

Or again: "I am a master of the art of clothing my thoughts in elegant
and illuminating phrases, because stammering, stuttering, and all the
other misfortunes that oppress the timid, are to me unknown quantities."

We can not insist too strongly upon the cumulative effect of words which
are constantly repeated. It is a good thing to impress oneself with
forceful ideas that make for courage and for achievement.

Distrust of self being the principal defect of the timid, the man who
would acquire poise must bend every effort to banishing it from his
thoughts.

The repetition of these sentences, by building up conviction, will
undoubtedly end by creating a confidence in oneself that will at first
be hesitating, but will gradually acquire force. This is a great step in
advance on the road toward poise.

We are discussing, it should be understood, only such cases of
difficulty in speaking as are directly traceable to an inherent
timidity.

If the inability to speak clearly comes from a physical malformation it
should at once be brought to the attention of a specialist.

It is well recognized that, in the majority of cases, those defects are
the consequences of timidity, when they are not its direct cause.

In combating them, then, with every means at his disposal, the man who
desires to acquire poise will prove the logicality of his mi