INTRODUCTION
Lecturing is an art that requires command of many technical aspects.
The novice tells all he knows, or worse — what he has read
about a subject. He either bores or overwhelms the listeners with his
flow of information. The master knows his audience and calls forth
wonder and insight. How is it done?
In 1921, to provide
prospective lecturers with some guidance, Rudolf Steiner gave two
courses on the art of lecturing: one in Stuttgart and the one
published here, in Dornach. The illustrative material — needed
in all lecturing — was taken from the theme and purpose of
these lectures: speaking on the need for a threefold social organism.
The Swiss political and social situation at that time was relevant to
the audience of about fifty Swiss members of the Anthroposophical
Society.
These lectures were not
intended for publication and were printed only fifty years later, in
1971. They were translated into English for the Newsletter of the
Anthroposophical Society and serialized in nine issues, Autumn
1976 to Winter 1978.
To make this valuable text
available at an affordable price, Mercury Press has printed 1,000
copies, using mostly the original pages of the Newsletter. The
illustrative material of the Swiss scene of 1921 (in lectures three
and four) omitted earlier, ahs been added for the sake of completion,
thanks to Maria St. Goar who also translated most of the other text.
A new paste-up, combining old and newly typeset material, resulted in
some type variation, which the grateful reader — aware of the
devotion that has gone into making this translation available —
will surely forgive.
Summer
1983
Gisela O'Neil,
editor of the Newsletter of the Anthroposophical Society in America
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