ve heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.
JOHN KEATS.

CHAPTER XI

REPORTING SPEECHES

"Words are like leaves, and where they most abound
Much fruit of sense beneath is seldom found."
POPE.

I. Assignment

Report a speech, lecture, or sermon in two hundred words.

II. Explanation

It is easy to obtain the material for this assignment because one has
only to attend, listen, and take notes. Indeed, in some instances,
speakers are ready and willing to furnish reporters with copies of what
they intend to say. The part of the task which requires skill is what is
known as boiling down, condensing, or reducing the report to the
dimensions required by editors. This involves: first and foremost, a
determination not to misrepresent in any way what is said; second, the
ability to select the essential points; third, an eye for such detail as
may be used to spice the report without making it too long. Too many
reporters, in their anxiety to make a good story, observe only the last
of these requirements, and in consequence are unjust to speakers. In the
arrangement of the material, it is well to begin with a statement of the
main point of the speech and to follow it with such details as space
permits.

III. Speech Construction

Every good speech, however long, has only one main point. Its details
serve only to illustrate and enforce this central theme. The reporter
needs to bear this in mind. He must discover the central point, or
thesis, before he can write a good report. A knowledge of the principles
underlying speech construction is therefore of great value to him, even
if not essential. Fortunately, these are comparatively simple. Nearly
every good speech, from Demosthenes down, has consisted of the following
parts in the following order:

1. _Exordium, or Introduction._ A bridge from the audience to the
subject, designed to conciliate and interest.

2. _Status, or Plan._ An outline of what the speaker intends to
say.

3. _Statement of Facts._ A presentation of the situation on which
the orator intends to found his argument.

4. _Argument._ Here is presented in detail the plan or conclusion
which the speaker has in mind, with the reasons in favor of it.

5. _Refutation._ A reply to objections which have been or may be
urged against the plan.

6. _Peroration, or Conclusion._ This may b