Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1915 — Dr. Marden’s Uplift Talks [ARTICLE]

Dr. Marden’s Uplift Talks

By ORISON SWETT MARDEN.

Copyright ky McClure Nemouper'Syndicate MAKING OF CONVERSATION A FINE ART. “Talk, talk. It does not matter much what you say, but chatter away lightly and gayly. Nothing embarrasses and bores the average man so much as a girl who has to be entertained.” i > Thus a noted society leader, who had been very successful in the launching of debutantes, was recently advising one of her proteges. I know of no other one accomplishment which will do so much to advance a girl socially as to become a superb conversationalist. It is indicative of intelligence, education, good breeding and culture. It will make a girl popular in spite of plain features. There is no other one quality which will give a girl such power over others, which will make her so popular, as to be able to fascinate people with her conversation. The good conversationalist is always the center of attractioit in any company. A girl who can talk well, who has the art of putting things in an attractive way, who can interest others immediately by her gift of speech, has a very great advantage over one who may know more than she but who cahnot express herself with ease or graciousness.

There is no other one 7 thing which enables us to make so good an impression, especially upon those who do not know us thoroughly, as the ability to converse well. To be a good conversationalist, able to interest people, to rivet their; attention, to draw them to you naturally by the very superiority of your conversational ability, is to be the possessor of a very great accomplishment, one which is superior to all others. It not only helps you to make a good impression upon strangers; it also helps you to make and keep friends. It opens doors and softens hearts. It makes you interesting in all sorts of company. It helps you to get on in the world- It helps you into the best society, even though you may be poor. The way to learn to talk is to talk. The temptation for young people who are unaccustomed to society, and who feel diffident, is to say nothing themselves and listen 4o what others say; but good talkers are always sought after. Everybody wants to Invite Miss So-and-So to dinners or receptions because she is such a good talker. She entertains. She may have many defects, but people enjoy her society because she can talk well. Conversation, if used as an educator, is a tremendous power developer; but talking without thinking, without an effort to express oneself with clearness, conciseness or efficiency, mere chattering or gossip, the average society small talk, will never get hold of the best thing in a girl. It lies too deep for such superficial effort. Nothing else will develop a girl’s brain and character more than the constant effort to talk well, intelligently, Interestingly, upon all sorts of topics. There is a splendid discipline in the constant effort to express one’s thoughts clearly, and in an interesting manner. We sometimes meet people who are such superb conversers that no one would ever dream that they have not had the advantages of the higher schools. Many a college graduate has been silenced and put to shame by people who have never even been to a high school, but who i have cultivated the art of self-ex-I pression. Now and then we meet a real artist in conversation, and it is such a treat and delight that we wonder why the majority of us should be such bunglers in our expression, why we should make such a botch of the medium of communication between human beings, when it is capable of being made the art of arts. No matter how expert you may be in any other art or accomplishment you cannot use your expertness always and everywhere as you can the power to converse well.

MAN WHO CAN DO THINGS IS IN DEMAND. Whdn Mayor Mitchel of New York was discussing Colonel Goethals, who has won. world-wide renown for his masterly construction of the Panama canal, for the head of the police department, he said he wanted the biggest man in America for the job. The man who is in most demand everywhere today is the man who can do things, the man with a vigorous initiative and the quality of fine leadership,'the man who can create something, the man with resourcefulness, the man of productive power. There are plenty of men who can do routine work, who can follow prescribed lines, carry out in detail a program which others make, but the man of original force, of constructive energy, who can get out of the* beaten track and blaze away for others is as rare as he is valuable. "There is alwayp a big premium on the man of ’original ideas-/ progressive methods. the man us productive force, the thinker. There is an advertisement up at the door of every house of human endeavor for such a man Great business concerns are scouring the country tor men of tills

stamp: large combinations. are looking for them as leaders. M erchants need them, insurance companies are looking for them; they are wanted everywhere in the business world, in all walks of life. The world wants leaders, men with great executive, ability, men with stamina, men who have an abundance of iron in their blood and lime in their backbone. It needs aggressive men, men whose blood is full of positive force, men of grit and stamina — these are the men who make things move. The man who is wanted everywhere today is a born winner, the man who is victory organized, the man who has the habit of victory. These natural winners have great self-confidence as well as determination. They have colossal self-faith in their ability to overcome obstacles. These great positive, forceful characters are optimistic. Their ability is not-' weakened by doubts and fears and hesitations; they do not worry; they are not able to do the things they undertake. These are the sort of men that accomplish the great things of the world, the giants that turn neither to the right nor to the left, who do not go over, around or under obstacles, but through them, and are always equal to the occasion. If you are ambitious to be some* thing more than an average individual, If you expect to step out of the crowd and stand for something in particular, you must not do things as everybody else does them; you must inject superiority into everything you do; you must be original, inventive, resourceful. If you expect to become an important figure in the world of commerce, a captain of industry, instead of a common soldier in the field es labor, you must put your shoulder to the wheeL Some of the best people ever known —good companions, splendid friends and extremely agreeable—have never accomplished anything worthy of their ability, simply because they had no stamina, or grit. They were tame, commonplace; they lacked the fire, force, the originality and the push that accomplish things. People whose'blood is full of positive force are the leaders, the aggressive men who get to the front. They do not lag and loiter behind, waiting to be attacked. They take the initiative and push ahead, regardless of obstacles. They go through life taking it for granted that they shall control their surroundings; they are convinced that there is but one power in the universe, and that they are a part of that power. They act as if they had their trolley pole upon the great trolley wire of infinite power, and that they are equal to any task, no matter how great.