Signs of the Times

Barney Kingston

The Toastmaster

Barney Kingston Merchandising Director of Salesman's Opportunity Magazine
in The Toastmaster
Santa Ana, California

A couple of months ago I was a guest evaluator at a club and ran into what appears to be a contradiction. The speaker gave, if you read it word for word, an almost flawless speech. The purpose was a worthy one; the opening was arresting, the supporting material was skillfully delineated with great clarity, and you couldn't ask for a more persuasive ending as far as the words went. But there was something missing in the delivery; somehow it didn't "reach" you....

All the way home I tried to think through the talk and come up with a logical reason why it had left me cold, but I couldn't come up with the answer. Surprisingly, sort of way out in left field, the answer came to me. I was listening to a "musical box-score," a radio program which gives the major league baseball scores and throws in a song or two. The tune that gave me the answer was called "You Gotta Have Heart!"...

What's the secret of a great talk? ... The only satisfactory answer I can think of is, heart. But suppose you are evaluating a speaker who "plays all the notes" to perfection but you don't hear any music; how do you tell him to net heart? ...

You can see this rule we're coming to evident every time you hear a speaker on television. Two men can talk on the same subject; one makes you feel he's as phony as a lead nickel, while the other man inspires you to action. What is this ephemeral quality this elusive something that enables a man ... to lift us beyond our own material interests?

I think this indefinable quality is a man's philosophy of life. I believe that no man really stands up and gives a talk of the moment; what he says is the product of his lifetime.....

If you would set your sights to move men, you've got to practice the Golden Rule, believe in the inherent goodness of man, try to make life a better moment for any who chance to cross your path, and above all, live life without fear of failure.

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May 25, 1963

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