Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1920 — DESCHANEL HAS STAGE FRIGHT [ARTICLE]

DESCHANEL HAS STAGE FRIGHT

President of France Suffers Tortures on Platform. ALWAYS IMPRESSES HEARERS Ono of Franco’s Greatest Orators Declares That He Is Almost In Panic When He Arises to Addrsss an Audience—Composes His Speeches While Taking Long Walks Loss of Debater Than Poincare.President Paul Deschanel is one of the greatest orators of the day France, but he Is always suffering from a kind of “stage fright" when he rises to make a public speech. In A, letter to M. Ajacft deputy from the Sarthe, he describes his sensations as follows: i “The waiting is awful. I always feel UI before I go to the tribune. But once there I feel a relief. All the aama every minute Is perilous. In the chamber, just as on the battlefield, it needs only a minute to win or lose. It is victory or the guUlotine. w “ ' Must Think Deeply. Endowed with all the gifts of the orator, >Anej«tic presence, sonorous and extraordinarily clear voice. Impeccable delivery and diction, M. Deschanel has never faUed to Impress his listeners. He is less of a debater than his predecessor, M.- Poincare, which is probably due to the fact that his function as prerident of the chamber, which position he held for many years before his elevation to the chief magistracy, forbade him from taking part in the debates of parliament. Moreover, he has confided to Ajam that he lacks the

gift of certain orators with whom “the gesture precedes the word and the word the thought” For M. Deschanel it is absolutely necessary to think deeply before speaking. “For me,” wrote M. Deschanel to his friend Ajam, “there is no such thing as improvisation, ft is not that T am obliged to write my speeches beforehand, but I must undergo a certain mental operation. I must arrange my thoughts in logical sequence. Without a fixed plan it is impossible for me to speak. I do not actually decide what words or expressions I ahull employ, I arrange merely the plan. The rest comes as I am speaking, according to the actual circumstances in which the speechisdelivered or the time I have for my, discourse.

- Notes Curious Fact. “I have noticed a curious fact Very often the clearness of my pronuncla- , tion gives the illusion of absolute correctness of language. I say illusion because It has happened that I have had to correct faults of syntax when I have revised my speeches for the Journal Offlciel. Friends have remarked to me: ‘Oh, you have nothing to correct in that speech.’ But I have found several times not only slight imperfections of syntax, but a faulty choice of words or expressions. And always the clearness of my pronunciation covered up the mistakes. r - “Once I have my plan in mind I take long walks. The movement of walking aids that of thought The best speeches—l am speaking of prepared speeches, not parliamentary outbursts—are those which one has turned over in his mind during a walk in the country, without the aid of pencil or paper. The words live and walk with you.”