Theocratic Aid To Kingdom Publishers

Lesson 12

MODULATION

Speak to interest, to inform, to glorify Jehovah and His King, to induce faith, and thus to stimulate to works. Speak so impressively that the audience will do more than merely hear: they will listen; and will do more than listen: they will understand; and will do even more than understand: they will act. That is the purpose of all speaking of Theocratic ministers. Speak in harmony with Jehovah's purposes, that listeners will act to God's glory.

Such a desired end will be defeated by monotonous delivery, regardless of how well-prepared the subject matter is. Such monotony is caused by unvarying sameness in several respects: By constant uniformity of tone, intonation, inflection, by singsong rise and fall of pitch, by sameness of pitch, tempo, volume, amount of emphasis, facial expression, and gestures. Such monotony is wearisome.

Nature itself teaches that monotony is unnatural, uninteresting. Why is God's handiwork an ever new and fresh delight? Not only because His works are so wonderful, but also because they are so manifold. No monotony there! As it is written in the Psalms, "O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." If a talk is to interest, and it must if it instructs, then it must avoid the pitfall of monotony.

Variety is not only the spice of life, but certainly also the spice of life of a talk. The interest of the hearers must constantly be kept alive and their undivided attention held by various means. First, by a subject of absorbing interest. Then by logical sequence of thoughts in presenting that interesting subject. And, third, the delivery must be marked by sincerity of conviction, as manifested by warmth, by eloquence of utterance at times, occasionally

by enthusiasm, sometimes even fire of expression, and, last, by modulation.

What is modulation? It is melodious oral expression and, therefore, the appealing use of language by varying or inflecting the voice in a natural, somewhat musical and pleasing manner, but not so as to give effeminacy or womanishness to a man's mode of speech. Modulation when not referring to music but to speech means adapting the voice in tone, pitch, inflection or other qualities of sound to the thought or theme, so as to give the true color to what is uttered. Not only is lack of modulation to be avoided, but misapplied modulation, in which tone, pitch, inflection, tempo and emphasis are shifted with monotonous and irksome regularity and without any relation to the thoughts, is to be shunned. The result would be a meaningless and seemingly affected and insincere singsong. Monotony of expression dulls the meaning and effectiveness of speech. Misapplied modulation may convey a wrong impression and discolor the thoughts, whereas proper modulation expresses the thoughts impressively and with exactness.

A good and interesting speech follows the same rules as good music. Such music is played with much variety in tempo, quality, and volume according to the mood or emotion to be expressed in musical terms, and this is usually indicated by musical symbols indicating where to slow down, where to speed up, where to play louder, where to play softer, where to play with feeling, and where to play with force. Even pauses play their part. Good modulation of speech must be similarly varied, colorful, and rich in contrast.

Now, it is this melodious variety in part that keeps interest constantly keyed to the theme both in music and in Biblical speech, which is a spiritual song to the praise of Jehovah. In speaking on a subject of absorbing interest without the use of modulation a speaker may be able to hold the interest of a friendly and patient audience for a

short time, but if his talk is of any length he will soon realize that their interest is lagging, their minds wandering, that they are longing for the end. One can see it in their behavior. As soon as one senses this, even before he sees it, he should change pace and pitch and power of voice. One does it in everyday conversation. So change pitch, pace, volume, degree of stress, and inflection. Alternate slow deliberate pace, by which at times one stresses weighty statements, with appropriate periods of speeding up and speaking with fluency, and sometimes even rapidity. Relieve sound with silence, with a pause that refreshes the ear, with a pause that creates expectation, even suspense, and emphasizes most effectively. This keeps the attention of the audience alive, so that when one comes to the end of his talk it might be too soon for them. Then, in order to top off one's conclusion, his closing words must have the ring of finality. His hearers must sense the approach of the conclusion not by the words only; they must hear it in the slow, deliberate, emphatic delivery. His tone must also convincingly close the subject.

All this theory can be best illustrated and practiced by reading aloud from the Bible. There is no human emotion that would not find expression in the Bible. Some thoughts should be spoken lightly, casually; others with utter simplicity, or deep feeling, or even sarcasm. Keep in mind: The printed letter itself is dead. It is the human voice alone, made alive by modulation, that can make the dead letter live.