His nervous temperament clung to him, however, since he made this
significant confession after long years of practise in public speaking.
"I declare that when I think of the moment when I shall have to rise and
speak in defense of a client, I am not only disturbed in mind, but
tremble in every limb of my body."

It is well to note here that a nervous temperament may be a help rather
than a hindrance to a speaker. Indeed, it is the highly sensitive nature
that often produces the most persuasive orator, but only when he has
learned to conserve and properly use this valuable power.

Cicero was a living embodiment of the comprehensive requirements laid
down by the ancients as essential to the orator. He had a knowledge of
logic, ethics, astronomy, philosophy, geometry, music, and rhetoric.
Little wonder, therefore, that his amazing eloquence was described as a
resistless torrent.


_Luther_

Martin Luther was the dominating orator of the Reformation. He combined
a strong physique with great intellectual power. "If I wish to compose,
or write, or pray, or preach well," said he, "I must be angry. Then all
the blood in my veins is stirred, my understanding is sharpened, and all
dismal thoughts and temptations are dissipated." What the great Reformer
called "anger," we would call indignation or earnestness.


_John Knox_