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1001 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CONVERSATIONS AND SPEECHES by Herbert V. Prochnow

1001 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CONVERSATIONS AND SPEECHES

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Pub Date: Jan. 2nd, 1951
Publisher: Harper

Not with all the charm of Scheherazade and based on the fallacy that the best man is the best speaker, here is a book that is more or less what its title says it is. As in the last analysis, all ""reasons"" for learning how to speak well are without foundation, the being of this book is based on such quips as ""Anyone can win unless there happens to be a second entry"" (George Ade); ""The secret of tiring is to say everything that can be said on a subject"" (Voltaire); etc. But in spite of such shallowness the author does, through such mechanisms as lists of errors, literary quotations, vocabulary, technicalities of speech planning, and such conversational do's (sympathize with the other's viewpoint) and don'ts (never gossip) manage to say a few obvious truths. The real reason behind intelligent talk, education, the author leaves to a two-page last chapter followed by the St. John's College list of Books.