The Preacher's Vocal Powers

Introduction: The Preacher in Relation to Himself and Vocal Powers

0:03 Well, we come this morning, brethren, to our sixth lecture within the broad category that we're calling the act of preaching or the delivery of the sermon. And with the assumed conviction that sermons are either born or still born in the act of preaching, we're attempting, and I use that word continually, we are attempting to analyze the various components of the act of preaching and then to come to grips with the principles which ought to regulate our preaching activities in the light of those principles. And I've tried to give you this overview of what constitutes the act of preaching,

0:43 the preacher in his relationship to God, his relationship to himself, his relationship to his hearers, his relationship to his paper, and then his relationship to the physical context in which he preaches. Now, having dealt with the subject of the preacher in relationship to God in the act of preaching, we are now concentrating on the preacher in relationship to himself. And under that heading, we've dealt with, one, his general physical appearance and bearing, and then, number two, we've dealt with the subject of the regulation and control of the emotions in preaching.

1:26 And now we come to the third category under this section, the second general heading of the preacher in relationship to himself in the act of preaching. And it's what I'm calling the act of preaching in relationship to our vocal powers and their employment. The act of preaching in relationship to our vocal powers and their employment. And I have three heads to the lecture this morning.

1:59 Head number one, will be the importance of the vocal powers in preaching. Heading number two will be the various dimensions of the vocal powers which ought to be employed in the act of preaching. And then Roman numeral three, or however you outline it, practical guidelines for the regulation of the vocal powers in the act of preaching. First of all, then, the importance of the vocal powers in preaching.

The Importance of Vocal Powers: Secondary to Content and Character

2:32 And under this heading, I have three things that I want to say. I think it's three, maybe more than that. Number one, relative to the subject matter of preaching, the voice used to convey that matter is of secondary importance. Relative to the subject matter of preaching, the voice used to convey that matter, or substance, is of secondary importance.

3:07 We hold a view of preaching which makes accuracy of content of supreme importance. Far greater in importance than elegance of expression is the matter of content. Bad content or thin content spoken well can only propagate error or cause idolatrous attachment to the speaker.

3:38 It's interesting that with respect to false teachers or false prophets, both Peter and Jude underscore their ability to speak well. In 2 Peter 2, verses 3 and 18, we read the following. 2 Peter 2, verse 3, And many shall follow their lascivious doings, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of, and in covetousness, they shall with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose sentence now from of old lingers not, and their destruction slumbers not. Verse 18,

4:19 For uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lust of the flesh by lasciviousness those who are just escaping from them that live in error. And so, among other things, the emphasis falls upon their persuasiveness of speech. They are feigned words, but they are words which are effectual in the propagation of error. And in Jude 16, we have a similar emphasis.

4:54 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lust, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, showing, showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage. So, relative to the subject matter of preaching, brethren, the voice used to convey that matter is of secondary importance. The second thing I want to say is this. Relative to the character of the preacher, the voice is of secondary importance.

5:31 Relative to the character of the preacher, the voice is of secondary importance. We hold a view of preaching which asserts that the preacher must be a living monument of the power of godliness in general, and that he ought to be the embodiment of the truth which he is presently preaching at that time in particular.

5:59 Furthermore, we believe that of supreme importance is the preacher's understanding, love, and felt power, and the power of the truth to be conveyed. 2 Corinthians 4.13 That great statement expounded so powerfully by Warfield in the collection of his sermons to the Princeton students in the book called Faith in Life. But according, having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak.

6:34 We also believe, and therefore also, we speak. And so relative to the character of the preacher, the voice is indeed of secondary importance. In a resident pastor, great limitations of speech may be fundamentally and pervasively neutralized if the man himself is full of the spirit and if his character manifests the energy of felt spiritual reality. And brethren, I have seen that.

7:12 I've lived long enough to see it. In a resident pastor, that is, in a situation where people have time to know a man for what he really is, great limitations of speech, I'm talking about men with even speech impediments, may be greatly neutralized if the man himself is full of the spirit and speaks with the spiritual energy of felt reality. And so, in a resident pastor, that is, in a situation where people have time to know a man for what he really is, Therefore, any view of the place and importance of the vocal powers in preaching, which does not begin with these perspectives, is not, and I want to underscore that,

7:56 is not scriptural and can be frighteningly dangerous. Now remember, whatever I say about the voice in the rest of the lecture this morning and in the subsequent discussions, no matter how far we extend ourselves into the details of the mechanics of the proper use of the voice, I'm assuming that of far greater relative importance than the voice is, first of all, the substance of what is conveyed and the character of the man who conveys it. But now there is a third principle, as I try to open up this first heading, the importance of the vocal powers,

The Importance of Vocal Powers: Supreme in Mechanics

8:41 relative to the mechanics of the act of preaching, the vocal powers are of supreme importance. Relative to the mechanics of the act of preaching, the vocal powers are of supreme importance.

9:01 One has accurately written, and here I quote, the voice is the speaker's great instrument. Nothing else in a speaker's voice is the speaker's great instrument. Nothing else in a man's physical constitution is nearly so important. Broadest, page 483.

9:20 It was Cicero who said, for an effective and admirable delivery, the voice beyond doubt holds the highest place.

9:35 Therefore, relative to the mechanics of the act of preaching, the vocal powers are of supreme importance. And by that I mean they are more important than any physical action which may be present in the preaching. More important than eye contact. More important than even the emotive flow, those currents of electric sensitivity which are set up between speaker and people.

10:11 Relative to the mechanics of the act of preaching, the vocal powers are of supreme importance. I quote from Ryle's excellent work that has so many helpful comments on preaching, Christian leaders of the 18th century. Speaking of Daniel Rowlands, he says, the manner and delivery of this great man when he was in the act of preaching requires some special notice. Every sensible Christian knows that voice and voice are the same.

10:44 Voice and delivery have a great deal to say to the effectiveness of a speaker and above all of the one who speaks in the pulpit. A sermon faultless both in doctrine and composition will often sound dull and tiresome when tamely read by a clergyman with a heavy, monotonous manner. A sermon of little intrinsic merit and containing perhaps not half a dozen words, ideas, will often pass muster as brilliant and eloquent when delivered by a lively speaker with a good voice. For want of a good delivery, some men make gold look like copper,

11:30 while others, by the sheer force of a good delivery, make a few half-pence pass for gold. Truths divine seem really mended by the tongue of some while they are marred and damaged by others. There is deep wisdom and knowledge of human nature in the answer given by an ancient to one who asked what were the first qualifications of a public speaker and the answer was the first qualification, he said, is action and by that he meant the quality of the act of delivering the speech. The second is action and the third is action.

12:11 The meaning, of course, was that it was almost impossible to overrate the importance of manner and delivery. In reading the biography of Kenneth McRae, there was an interesting statement that I filed away some months ago that points in this same direction. It's on page 228. It's just a very little entry, but again, occasionally, these little entries have profound revelations or affirmations of truth.

12:41 He said, In the evening, Mr. McRae, a tither preached to a crowded house, 130 in Kilmaluag, from Hebrews 10.39. He gave a good sermon, but in a low building it would have been far more telling had it been delivered in a less vehement key.

13:04 You see what he was saying? The effect of the sermon was greatly neutralized by the man's insensitivity to some of the mechanics of decibels of decibels in preaching. A man who is a real man of God, having thoroughly prepared, standing with a heart imbued with the truth, who clasps his hands behind his back, fixes his eye on the back wall, but speaks with a pleasant, natural voice, clear, distinct enunciation, variety and color, and all the best, all the elements

13:47 of genuine earnestness and emotional energy, that man will be listened to, though he never unclasped his hands or never even looks directly at people's eyes. Now, I'm not saying he will be as effective as he would or could be if he did occasionally unclasp his hands in other natural gestures or that he would not be more effective if he did look off the back wall and into the eyes of his own. But what I am saying, brethren, is this. Relative to the mechanics of the act of preaching in which we deal with gesture, eye contact, physical motion, and all the other factors,

14:31 the vocal powers are of supreme importance. In a very real sense, many good sermons as to preparation have been greatly hindered in their usefulness for worshiping and the want of a good delivery as to the use of the voice. A good written sermon read by a thoughtful reader has advantages over a poorly delivered oral sermon of the same content. Because, you see, when a man reads a well-written sermon, he can read into it the various inflections

15:16 assuming that the person who wrote it spoke it with a good voice. For instance, I cannot pick up Gardner Spring and read things like this without feeling something of the power of almost living communication. There are not lacking those who impugn the character of the Christian ministry because they do not carry the solemnity of the pulpit into all the scenes of social life. Many, indeed, are the scenes of social life where the solemnity of the pulpit is called for, nor in any of them are the dignity and proprieties of the ministerial character unfitting.

16:00 But as well might secular time be transformed into the Sabbath and the busy scenes of the world into the formal services of the sanctuary as the emotions of the pulpit pervade the uniform intercourse of a minister, either with the people of God or men of the world, levity and grace and worldliness are sufficiently out of place in him who is an ambassador of God to guilty men. But an affected solemnity is even worse. And then he goes on to inveigh against this whole matter of artificiality. And he speaks of the true minister in this way.

16:40 It is not a sort of personified apathy, nor is it some ghostly messenger that lives only among the tomb, it moves among men as the messenger of heaven's tenderest mercy. And though wherever it goes it rebukes iniquity, its footsteps are radiant with light and love. It multiplies the joys of men and only admonishes them that they may not be sinful joys. He's speaking of true piety in the life of a man who is walking this way before God.

17:16 Well, you see, the point I'm making that a good man and a good written sermon read by a thoughtful reader will have more power and grip than a poorly delivered oral sermon of equal content. Because in our reading, by pacing and by imagining the inflection of the voice of the speaker, we can feel, as it were, something of the impress of the living voice even though it is not present. But, a well-preached mediocre sermon has great advantages over an excellent written sermon. A well-preached mediocre sermon

17:59 has great advantages over an excellent written sermon simply because there is nothing in the printed page that can capture the living dynamism of the pathos, of the entreaty, of the urgency and earnestness and, all of the other factors that are conveyed by the human voice and the human spirit pouring itself through the human voice. So, as we conclude our consideration of the importance of the vocal powers, I would direct your attention to what I regard as the most strategic text in Scripture relative to this issue, 1 Corinthians 14,

Scriptural and Historical Affirmations of Vocal Power

18:43 verses 8 through 12.

18:48 For if the trumpet given on Sunday a certain voice, who shall prepare himself for war? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and no kind is without signification.

19:17 If, then, I know not the meaning of the voice, I will not know I shall be to him that speaks a barbarian, and he that speaks will be a barbarian unto me. I say there is perhaps no more important passage with respect to this matter of the voice than this passage in Corinthians. If we do not speak distinctly, if we do not speak so as to be understood, we may as well be speaking into the air. And in Galatians, there is a very interesting reference from the pen of the Apostle, and I want to read Wilson's very brief comment on it.

20:00 The comment comes from page 89. The text is chapter 4 and verse 20, where Paul says, I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone. You see what he is saying? If only I could be with you, I could convey something in the very tone of my voice, that I cannot convey by means of a letter.

20:24 And Wilson comments on this. Paul could put his heart into his voice. The pen stands between them. He knew the power of his voice on their hearts because he had tried it before.

20:41 And he is quoting Robertson at that point. He said, I wish I could be with you to change my tone. He understood something of the tremendous power of the voice in this matter of communication. Likewise, Spurgeon, in his excellent chapter, one of the finest in his lectures to his students, his chapter on the voice, and he gives some very sound counsel, typical Spurgeon, in that it's laced with humor as well as good sense.

21:16 But he goes on to say in a way that's rather strong, a man, who has not a natural and true delivery, should not be allowed to occupy the pulpit. From thanks at least, everything that is false should be summarily banished. In these days of mistrust, everything that is false should be set aside. And the best way of correcting oneself in that respect as regards preaching is frequently to listen to certain monotonous and vehement preachers.

21:50 We shall come away in such disgust and in such horror of their delivery that we shall prefer condemning ourselves to silence rather than to imitate them. The instant you abandon the natural and the true, you forego the right to be believed as well as the right of being listened to. You may go all around to church and chapel alike and you will find that by far the larger majority of our preachers have a holy tone for Sundays. They have one voice for the parlor and the bedroom and quite another tone for the pulpit so that, if not double-tongued sinfully, they certainly

22:34 are so literally. So in this whole matter, then, of the importance of the vocal powers in preaching, we cannot emphasize enough that among all of the factors that enter into the mechanics of preaching, the use of the voice is of supreme importance. If I were to express the vision and concern of this framework of study, it would be expressed in this way, that we long to see men raised up who preach first of all having a grasp on what ought to be preached, holding fast the faithful word, who are secondly

23:18 an embodiment of the power of what they preach in all things showing thyself an example, thirdly, who have the moral courage to hold back nothing that is profitable, Acts chapter 20, and who speak it in such a way as to convince men of the reality of what they say and speak it in such a manner as to make it difficult not for men to listen or for men to listen and much of that brethren will depend on what you do with your vocal powers. So I hope if you have ever thought lightly of the subject of your voice

Dimensions of Vocal Powers to Be Employed

24:02 with respect to preaching, these considerations will convince you of the importance of the vocal powers in preaching. Now then we come to our second heading, the various dimensions of the vocal powers which ought to be employed in the education of men. The various dimensions of the vocal powers which ought to be employed in the act of preaching.

24:32 And I'll set the framework for this part of our discussion by stating an axiom, both negatively and then positively. Negatively, none of the God-given dimensions of our vocal powers should be omitted or poorly regulated in the act of preaching. None, none of the God-given dimensions of our vocal powers should be omitted or poorly regulated in the act of preaching. And of course the positive statement is obvious.

25:10 All of the God-given dimensions of our vocal powers ought to be wisely employed in the service of God's truth. All, all of the God-given dimensions of our vocal powers ought to be wisely employed in the service of God's truth. Now it should be obvious to all of you that we are once again back to the foundational issue of the nature-grace compatibility which forms one of the major building blocks in the theology of preaching which dominates these lectures. Now what are the various dimensions

25:53 or various aspects of our vocal powers?

26:00 Now let me say a word about the differing approaches of elocutionists and students and teachers of this mysterious faculty of human speech. When it comes to works on preaching various classifications are given. Various men will divide up the faculties and functions and capacities of the voice in varying ways and none of them is scientifically precise but all of them I have found helpful in underscoring one aspect or another. So while making no claim to expertise or to having the final word on the matter I would suggest

26:44 that our vocal powers or vocal dimensions can be analyzed in terms of the following categories. First of all compass or range the voice can go from highs to lows what scales and octaves are and notes are to music that faculty is present in the human voice and then of course there is secondly the faculty of volume from that which is close to the stage whisper to that which is speaking at what we might call a normal even

27:28 tone of voice appropriate for the given situation to that which becomes a rising crescendo to an actual shout. Alright? That's what we're talking about volume or force. But then there is the whole matter of distinctness and that's the separation of words so that we do not have merely words set together but words set together in varying relationships to express ideas but separated in their enunciation and pronunciation so that each word

28:13 is given its own proper value. For instance one may speak in such a way even at a relatively fast pace so that distinctions are made between the words but one may also speak in such a way that it's very difficult to find a distinction between words.

28:32 So there is this matter of distinctness and then of course there is speed or tempo. There are times when in speaking it is perfectly proper to go off on a holy tear. The context in which one is speaking and the whole concentration of thought at a given point even if people miss some of the words the whole overall thrust is so evident that they will lose very little. But there are other times when issues need to be brought to the place where every single word is articulated.

29:10 That's speed or tempo. And then of course there is the matter of melody very close to the matter of compass or range but the melody in the voice where a person in speaking of a matter you see has his flow upward and his flow downward. And then of course there is the matter of emphasis. We might call this the coloring or the highlighting of the matter.

29:35 We may say this man ought to come to my house immediately. This man ought to come to my house immediately. There is the matter of emphasis. Emphasis often takes in volume.

29:53 It often takes in speed or tempo. You see these various dimensions overlap interpenetrate that's why they defy any kind of clinical analysis and I have not found any two teachers of speech agreeing on the various factors. Then there is the element of intensity.

30:15 Now again this is a verbal device hard to analyze but it's clear. There is a certain intensity in the voice in the context of fear of frustration of love and that intensity is part of the vocal faculty. For instance when someone may say in a relatively soft voice I can't and I will not budge on this issue. Now there is an intensity that bespeaks strength and determination.

30:50 Someone else may say very loudly I cannot and I will not budge on this issue. He's not convincing you. You may say it much louder and it was this thing Reggie remember you asked the question a couple of weeks ago what did Dabney mean by this ichthys on page 312 let me try to illustrate it. I practiced early this morning for you all right.

31:13 The voice possesses a fourth power by which it denotes its most forcible emphasis I denominate this ichthys it is not the same with loudness for a syllable may be relatively very loud without ichthys nor is it the same with brevity for a forcible ichthys may be upon a long syllable it is the sudden delivery of the breath upon the beginning of the syllable with an explosive force here's what he's talking about I may say the statement this way I cannot and I will not deny truth but if I hold back and let some breath build up I cannot

31:56 and I will not you see what I've done by that holding back and then letting it explode then there is force that's what he's talking about when he talks about ichthys in speech in speech I cannot I cannot I will not and some of us who've seen that film of Martin Luther there's a classic example of it when he says here I stand so help me and just the building up so help me God and it comes with tremendous force well Dabney is underscoring that principle now in order to underscore the importance of these things

Illustrating Vocal Dimensions and God's Design

32:40 I'll conduct a little experiment with words in the form of a question and now my question is simply this will you come to my house today now notice the tremendous variety of emphasis that will come and meaning just by altering volume speed ichthys and these other factors alright I may say to you will you come to my house today now where does the emphasis fall alright upon that particular person will you among all others no matter what anyone else does will you come to my house today alright but now if I say

33:25 will you come to my house today now where does the emphasis fall upon it's my house not someone else's house but upon my particular house if I were to say will you come to my house today there's the sense of I'm overwhelmed of the thought that you whoever you may be would come to my place there seems to be some discrepancy between your presence and my humble dwelling or I might say will you come to my house today and the emphasis falls upon the time or I may say will you come to my house today and then the emphasis falls upon the determination

34:10 of your will well you see we can do this with many things we can all to the speed will you come to my house today now the element of urgency has entered just by speeding up the things and then with the matter of the volume other overtones can be given and you ought to do that take a simple statement a simple question and see how many variations you can give to it just do it as a little exercise to make yourself aware of some of these elements within the whole matter of the use of the voice the various dimensions of the voice the vocal powers which ought to be employed in the act of preaching now my question is who made us so that our

34:54 vocal powers have this tremendous potential for range of emphasis melody this thing of ictus who made us that way God or the devil well God did and in the proclamation of his word God expects us to use all of these dimensions to make us for the propagation of his truth all of the God given dimensions of our vocal powers ought to be wisely employed in the service of God's truth not carefully employed to gain the reputation of being great preachers

Practical Guideline 1: Avoid Vocal Affectations

35:37 but devotedly used in order to advance the cause of God's truth now that brings us to our third heading some practical guidelines for the regulation of the vocal powers in the act of preaching and I'm going to give you some general guidelines five of them and then two concluding exhortations alright general guidelines number one avoid all vocal affectations now something that is affected is something that is that by no stretch of

36:21 the imagination could ever be construed as being natural to your God given personality now there's a problem the problem is this some people have a false notion of what constitutes affectation and they feel that anything that is any way marked by a speaking manner that is different from the conversation that you might engage in over the kitchen table with your wife is affected and that is a false standard therefore any vehemence

37:05 any of what we might call the legitimate devices of pausing of variation of pace that make for effective speeching they would immediately say that is affected that is theatric I want nothing to do with it well who says so who has set up the standard when God said to the prophet cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet it would have been sin for Isaiah to have given the message of God in a quiet voice it would have been blatant disobedience

37:50 to almighty God God said speak these things like a man whose blasting a trumpet and if you've been close to a trumpet that's blasting it hurts your ears so God said preach till their ears hurt and then maybe their hearts will break now that's not the way he'd say to his wife honey please pass the salt the salt dear God didn't say lift up thy voice like a trumpet when you're asking your wife to please pass the salt but he did say when you declare unto my people their sins lift up your voice like a trumpet and cry to my

38:35 people and I defy anyone who says that preaching that becomes vehement or loud or unnatural in terms of what we would call ordinary conversation is affected they run headlong into passage after passage after passage in the word of God Jesus stood in the temple and he cried saying if anyone a man thirst and you look up any lexicographer on the verb and you cannot get away from the element of the use of the voice that involves great intensity and in most cases great volume so when I say avoid all vocal affectations

39:19 I am not in any way saying that we must just have a pulpit manner that is like the comfortable relaxed fireside chats of the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt but what I am saying is this brethren that people must not become conscious of what we are doing with our voices at any given point you see affectation is generally known when instead of being conscious of what the speaker is saying you become conscious of the manner in which he is attempting to say it and your attention is drawn from the content to the manner

40:03 in which he is attempting to convey the content now Spurgeon has some very humorous things to say about affectation just read him for your own and laugh and then go look in the mirror alright avoid all vocal affectations but then secondly correct all vocal distractions where possible now what is natural to you may be naturally distracting sin has brought its kinks into our emotions and also into our speech apparatus now the bible says seek that you may

Practical Guideline 2 & 3: Correct Distractions and Cultivate Volume

40:48 abound unto the edification of the church and if you have a vocal distraction try to localize it and go to work on correcting it my vocal distraction one of several is an obstructed nose with very little resonance chamber making it difficult for m's and n's to be distinctly understood and separated and distinguished and so I've had to work through the years on that matter it's a vocal distraction for anyone to speak like he's got a code in his node all the time is very distracting and if I let myself I could not many of you here can go like this

41:32 have you no shut up can you try it most of you can't do that no see you can't do that you can snort as much as you want you can't do it see I've got a talent that you never knew I had but that also means that I could have a vocal distraction and have a nasality in my preaching that I've had to work on and constantly have to work on but every one of us very few people have a voice that without some conscious effort will realize its full potential so avoid all vocal affectation but correct all vocal distractions where possible thirdly cultivate sufficient

42:17 volume so as to be heard commandingly and comfortably cultivate sufficient volume so as to be heard commandingly and comfortably and here I'm going to do my best to practice what I'm teaching on page 304 in Dabney you have these very perceptive words speech is addressed to the ear now isn't that profound its first requisite is therefore audibility speech is addressed to the

43:01 ear its first requisite is therefore audibility we must so speak it as to be heard this simple remark will suggest to your good sense oh isn't it wonderful he could teach his students assuming they had good sense the simple remark will suggest to your good sense the rule as to the general gauge of loudness the voice always should be loud enough to be heard throughout the audience and except in animated passages it should not be much louder to secure that result it is well to direct the eyes

43:46 generally towards the farthest circle of hearers for the voice will naturally adjust itself to the distance of those we address and that's the truth if you don't believe it someday go out here in the parking lot plant someone on the patio someone about 30 yards out someone 60 and someone way in the woods and say exactly the same words beautiful day isn't it first one address your eyes to the person on the patio the next one the person 30 yards down the next one the end of the parking lot and the guy by the woods and where you fix your eyes you will find almost instinctively the volume will rise or lower itself in accordance so you see

44:30 what Dabney is saying fix your eye on the person in the farthest part of the auditorium and gauge the use of your voice in such a way as to be assured that he will be heard were you going to say something that was yeah that's part of yeah yeah all right but now he goes on to say this rule is useful in guarding us against the distraction of our attention and the loss of our threat of thought by noting too closely any individual countenance of trivial event in the audience that is very close to us now he's saying if you just fix your concentration in the first three rows it will not

45:15 only cause you to constrict your volume you'll also see so many distracting things so close it can unhinge you so there is good reason and we'll come into that with a matter of eye contact but suffice it to say cultivate sufficient volume so as to be heard commandingly and comfortably and then Spurgeon speaking to this on page 115 says and now I'm going to quote him always speak so as to be heard I know a man who weighs 16 stone a stone is 14 pounds so you figure it out 16 times 14 he won no half pipe I think I'm 13 stone six something like that I weighed myself over there

45:59 and ought to be able to be heard half a mile who is so gross gracelessly indolent that in his small place of worship you can scarcely hear him in the front of the gallery what's the use of a preacher whom men cannot hear modesty should lead a voiceless man to give place to others who are more fitted for the work of proclaiming the messages of the king some men are loud enough but they are not distinct their words overlap each other play at leapfrog or trip each other up distinct utterance is far more important than wind power do give a word a fair chance do not break its back in your

46:44 vehemence or run it off its legs in your haste his hateful to hear a big fellow mutter and whisper when his lungs are quite strong enough for the loudest speech but at the same time let a man shout ever so lustily he will not be well heard unless he learns to push his words forward with due space between them to speak too slowly is miserable work and subjects active-minded hearers to the disease called the horrors it is impossible to hear a man who crawls along at a mile an hour one word today and one word tomorrow is a kind of slow fire

47:29 which martyrs only could enjoy excessively rapid speaking tearing and raving into utter rant is quite as inexcusable it is not and never can be powerful except with idiots for it turns what should be an army of words into a mob and most effectually drowns the sense in floods of sound occasionally one hears an infuriated orator of indistinct utterance whose impetuosity hurries him on to such a confusion of sounds that at a little distance one is reminded of lukin's lines her gaveling tongue a muttering

48:13 tone confounds discordant and unlike to human sounds it seems to be a the bark of wolves the howl the doleful screeching of the midnight owl the hiss of snakes the hungry lions roar the bound of billows beating on the shore the groan of winds among the leafy wood and burst of thunder from the rending cloud twas these all these in one it is an infliction not to be endured twice to hear a brother who mistakes perspiration for inspiration tearing along like a wild horse with a hornet in his ear

48:56 till he has no more wind and must needs pause to pump his lungs full again a repetition of this indecency several times in a sermon is not uncommon but it is most painful brethren cultivate sufficiently and come unless you are to be understood you cannot edify and if you can't be heard you can't be understood now I'm particularly sensitive to this for two reasons number one

49:40 I was reared in a home with a mother who was hard of hearing almost total loss in one ear and only 30% hearing in the other and I've seen my godly dear mother straining to listen to people who punished this woman in her affliction because they simply didn't understand would not speak loud enough and so in a peculiar way I'm sensitive to this issue but then the second thing is this if a man has really prepared and really has something to say whatever else he's going to be sure of he's going to be sure that what God has given him to say people are going to hear and if there's a sin that's inexcusable

50:25 as far as I'm concerned unless a man has a physical disability that cannot be overcome it is speaking too softly in the pulpit it's inexcusable brethren and there will be no authority in preaching that cannot be heard and people are sitting there fighting a spirit of irritation all the while you're trying to edify them they're straining to hear straining to hear and down underneath saying well you've got enough problems of remaining corruption without adding to it by simply failing to push up enough air from the diaphragm

51:10 over the larynx to produce enough decibels to be heard commandingly and comfortably now granted the other side of the coin is you have those preachers that preach in a situation that has good acoustics a situation in which they have a hundred people and you'd think they were preaching in the open air to twenty thousand people who were at a distance of five miles from them and in self-defense you want to push yourself away from the people stick your finger in your ear and say brother please please please cease torturing my eardrums but I have found that the most

51:55 vehement preachers in terms of preachers who go on a holy tear a few times in a sermon I never find it offensive if they have sense enough to come on down and give my eardrums a rest but when they get up there and stay there and they go on and they beller and they beller and they beller after a while you just feel like saying man shut up my ears are hurting and it's so difficult to concentrate so that's why I said to be heard commandingly and yet to be heard comfortably alright principle number four general guideline avoid all vocal affectation correct all vocal distractions where possible and then avoid all cultivate sufficient volume fourthly

Practical Guideline 4 & 5: Cultivate Variety and Distinctness

52:39 cultivate a variety of tone pace intensity and volume cultivate cultivate brethren there are few people who have this naturally it must be cultivated cultivate a variety of tone pace intensity and volume and how do you do this read out loud at home read your bibles out loud I find myself the longer I try to work at preaching the more I find myself reading out loud in my study I find it a tremendous help to work at this matter of cultivating variety of tone

53:23 variety of pace variety of intensity variety of volume again Spurgeon is most helpful on page 116 I'll only give you a little a little appetite wetter I won't read so lengthy a quote do not give your hearers headaches when you mean to give them heartaches you aim to keep them from sleeping in their pews but remember it's not needful to burst the drums of their ears the Lord is not in the wind thunder is not lightning men do not hear in proportion to the noise created in fact too much noise stuns the ear creates reverberations and echoes and effectually injures the power

54:08 of your sermon why speak so as to be heard in the street when there's nobody there who's listening to you whether indoors or out see that the most remote hearers can follow you and that will be sufficient and then he goes on to give more very sagacious advice in this area but cultivate this breath some of you have more by nature than others but the best of you will need to cultivate it throughout all of your ministry then number five and some of you really need this cultivate distinctness of enunciation and correctness of pronunciation cultivate

54:53 distinctness of enunciation and correctness of pronunciation enunciation is giving to each syllable the vowels the consonants their proper weight pronunciation proper sound and accent and most of the writers on rhetoric are very strong on this matter Spurgeon gives this practical advice to his young men on page 123 he says practice indefatigably till you give every one of the consonants its due the vowels

55:37 have a voice of their own and therefore can speak for themselves and so in all other matters exercise a rigid discipline until you've mastered your voice and have it in hand like a well trained steed and then he says gentlemen with narrow chests are advised to use the dumbbells every morning he actually provided some weight lifting equipment there for them and said do not speak with your hands in your waistcoat pockets we would say our vest pockets so as to contract your lungs but throw the shoulders back as public singers do do not lean over the desk while speaking never hold the head down on the breast while preaching upward

56:22 rather than downward let the body bend off with all tight ties and button up waistcoats leave room for the full play of the bellows and the pipes then he says look at the pictures of Roman orators and you'll always see them standing erect allowing the full use of all of the faculty so that there might be this distinctness of enunciation and correctness of pronunciation and Dabney gives as it were not contrary but complimentary advice when he says on page 305 the public speaker must never move so rapidly as to huddle his syllables

57:05 while he observes due accent and emphasis he must give space for the distinct enunciation of both the vowels and consonants of all unaccented syllables there's a tendency growing in this our material age to a curtness and hurry of enunciation which threatens to destroy the melody and the very identity of the English as a spoken language and then he gives examples people pronounce the word capital as though it were capital cardinal in their mouths is cardinal memory is memory governor is governor innocent

57:49 is innocent and he just gives examples and all of us can relate to it what's happened he said well we're passing over you see giving each of the vowels its proper weight now to some that may sound effective that's too bad and there are two ways of doing it you can make it so evident that you're trying to give to each vowel its proper place in each consonant that you talk in such a way as to somehow make it quite evident to all who hear you that you are really working at the instruction given to you in the academy but there is

58:34 another way you can do it in such a way that you say it you do it you can give full weight to all of the vowels and all of the consonants without appearing artificial now the same person talking two feet away from someone at a table may not have to give quite the same weight and spacing to be understood but you're not speaking across the table you're speaking in a larger situation where generally there is some echo some tendency to blur distinctness because of the acoustic and the and understanding that we must be determined to cultivate

Concluding Exhortations: Labor and Critics

59:18 distinctness of enunciation and correctness of pronunciation now then my concluding exhortations are two in the light of all that has gone before don't spare yourself the real labor of fully engaging all of your faculties connected with an effective use of your vocal powers let me run it by again don't spare yourself the real labor of fully engaging all of your faculties connected with an

60:02 effective use of your vocal powers now by all of your faculties I mean your stomach muscles mine are beginning to hurt right now after one hour because during this entire exercise apart from the time when I have been taking in breath even when my voice is down and modulated my stomach right now is hard as a drum and it's work it's work the diaphragm the larynx the tongue the teeth the lips this is why I've always got to have my snort of water because in the use of all of the speech apparatus this you must

60:47 regard as the bell of your trumpet because now what happens when you stick a mute in the trumpet though there's the same amount of air coming out of the lips of the trumpet player what happens with the mute the mute neutralizes the influence of that air passing over the bell and therefore the sound is greatly reduced this is your bell of your gospel trumpet and it must not be muted by immobility lack of use of the teeth the mouth the tongue now you don't need to appear in such a way that you're trying to get rid of peanut butter on the roof of your mouth now that would be grotesque

61:31 but you ought to work at limbering up all of these faculties it might be well for some of you to begin to practice in private before you go to preach somewhere just certain facial exercises just as before one runs he loosens up just use certain things then just go bee bee bee bee ba ba ba bo bo bo use bees a lot of bees and ba's and bo's and just make all kinds of contortions until all of your facial muscles and your mouth and your lips gets loosened up if you ever saw some of the contortions I went to before I preached you'd probably never listen to me but I find I must do this not all the time but not occasionally because we tend to be lazy

62:16 and particularly this is where public address systems are a curse in some ways now they're a blessing in other ways but they're a curse in some ways in that they they tend to become a crutch and we don't develop fully our God-given faculties so spare nothing brethren in the real labor of fully engaging all of the faculties connected with the effective use of your vocal powers public speaking is hard work from beginning to end now when you add to that the thing we dealt with in the previous two lectures all of the emotional expenditure and then all of the mental it is the most exhausting form of labor

63:00 I know of but don't we under God believe that it is God's grand instrument to advance his kingdom and if so we're not going to spare anything in that labor so don't spare yourself the real labor of fully engaging all of your faculties connected with the effective use of your vocal powers and then my second and final concluding exhortation is don't cut yourself off from competent critics don't cut yourself off from competent critics and the practical

63:45 disciplines essential to continuous progress in vocal efficiency don't cut yourself off from competent critics and the practical disciplines essential to the continuous progress in vocal efficiency 1st Timothy 4.15 give yourself wholly to these things that your profiting that your progress may be manifest unto all and find some competent critics pray for sufficient grace and humility to hear them out honestly

64:29 and openly and then set out on a course of practical discipline to make continuous progress in vocal efficiency you remember the old dictum of Alexander if a man would preach well he must determine that that's probably the only thing he'll do well he must give himself and make the determination that by God's grace he's going to seek to be a preacher and brethren I don't care what level of attainment you have at whatever level you are presently found and whatever your level may be twenty years from now you ought to be found continually progressing

65:14 so that even in your waning years when you may lose the ability to be as energetic in your preaching you should be able to be more subtle in the use of your voice and therefore what you may lose in vehemence in some evident fire you'll make up in some of the more subtle shades of your ability to communicate the truth of God's word well that's all I have to say on the matter of the voice now just a couple of practical guidelines I would commend to you this book this is the little book that my nephew who teaches speech and is a coach in public speaking and debate

65:58 at Bethel College out in Minneapolis he uses with his freshman students it's called public speaking as communication by James E. Connolly public speaking as communication by James E. Connolly and he states at the very outset what his purpose is he says his purpose is to give a very simple text dealing with some of the fundamental principles of oral communication because we're dealing with preaching there are several places where I think that he

66:43 says you will immediately recognize are totally irrelevant but there is much that is very very helpful and accurate and I would recommend that you get hold of a book like this in fact John maybe we ought to see if we can get a good price from them on this book and maybe have some available for the men to purchase let me leave it with you so you can alright and it was interesting when I had done all of the basic preparation for this lecture the last time around and had added other things in my general reading I came across that just about a year ago and I was amazed to see how many of the things that were included in this lecture are found in a secular writer

67:27 and underscored in very similar ways because again you see these are matters that are open to inquiry and observation with anyone who works with people in the whole area of public speaking and communication alright brethren we've got time for questions if you have them I put down Isaiah 40 verse 9 as a text with which to conclude but you can just write it into your notes then I had a cute little anecdote that I clipped out of one of my Christian periodicals I'll read that while you're thinking of your questions too a clergyman was called in the middle of the night by one of the women

68:12 in his congregation

68:15 so you're ill and you feel the need for the consolation of religion what in particular can I do for you no replied the lady I'm just nervous and can't sleep but how can I help that asked the astonished preacher the lady answered sir you always put me to sleep so nicely at church that I thought you might preach me a little sermon over the phone just now need I make the application all right questions yes