moment such an accident occurs.

This is what prevents timid people from accomplishing anything. From the
moment of the first failure they become panic-stricken and can no longer
go on speaking connectedly.

Those who would acquire poise must act quite otherwise.

Instead of avoiding occasions of speaking in public, they should seek
for them. But first of all they must make some trials upon audiences who
are in sympathy with them.

They should experiment upon their own families and should never fail to
enlarge upon their theme. If need be, they can prepare the matter for a
short address or a friendly argument.

If they find themselves stammering or panic-stricken, they must strive
to recall the phrase that caused the trouble and endeavor to repeat it
very emphatically without stuttering.

For the rest, it is always a dangerous thing to talk too fast. Words
that are pronounced more slowly are always much better articulated, and
in speaking leisurely one is more likely to avoid the embarrassment in
talking that attacks those whose education in the direction of the
acquiring of poise is not yet complete.

One of the most important exercises in the search for poise consists in
accustoming oneself to speak slowly and very distinctly.

If one stammers in the least degree, especially if this fault is due to
nervousness, one should begin again at the word which caused the
trouble, pronouncing each syllable slowly and distinctly. Then one
should incorporate it in one or two sentences and should not cease to
utter it until one can enunciate it clearly and without any trouble.

In order to combine theory with practise, one should seek opportunities
for entering public assemblies, striving to do so without awkwardness.

One should choose the time when the audience is not yet fully arrived,
since, unless one is very sure of oneself, it is a risky matter to
appear upon the scene when the house is full, or the guests for the most
part assembled. By this means one is much more likely to be able to
emerge victorious from the ordeal of the stares of the curious.

The man endowed with poise enters a gathering politely yet
indifferently, ordering his manner not to suit the particular occasion
but as a matter of instinct. He will go naturally to those whom he
happens to know, will shake hands with them, and will say to each one
the thing that he ought to say.

If a mother he will ask news of her children. He will offer
congra