The Art of Lecturing

C O N T E N T S:

LECTURE 1: Guidelines for the preparation of a talk: our thoughts interest no one; our will impulses annoy everyone; only our feelings constitute the effectiveness of a talk. The thought content must be thoroughly settled in advance. Verbal formulation of the first and the last sentences. Our thought preparation affects the will; our enthusiasm affects the listener’s thinking.

LECTURE 2: Historical viewpoints concerning the threefold order and the development of speech. Beautiful speaking, correct speaking, and good speaking. Humanism and pragmatism. The need for developing a true ethics of speaking.

LECTURE 3: Letting experiences flow into the composition of the lecture. Only the proletarian has concepts about the three areas of the social organism.

LECTURE 4: Pedantic lecturers upset the listeners’ stomachs. Learn lecturing by listening: watch how others do it, good or bad. Reluctance to speak is the virtue, not eagerness to hear one’s own voice. A debater turns his opponent’s image and word against him. Jokers create too much acidity in the listeners’ stomachs. Words precede deeds.

LECTURE 5: Lyrical speaking for spiritual life; dramatic speaking for rights-relationships; epic speaking for economic conditions. About economic life within the social organism. The formulation of key sentences. Speech exercises and speech gymnastics; the effect of coffee and tea on the speaker; respect for the audience through proper preparation.

LECTURE 6: Repetition in varied formulations helps the listener to comprehend. The use of questions gives the audience a moment to breathe in. Logical trains of thought put the audience to sleep. Unusual formulations and word order keep the listeners attentive. Illustrations and pictures convince and are remembered. The audience listens with the speech organs. The speaker must be fully immersed in his topic. He must have thorough knowledge of the events of the time. The movement for the threefold social order cannot be separated form Anthroposophy.

Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning “wisdom of the human being.” As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal “spiritual science” that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world.