Richard Garber tells the story of the Four-Minute Men, a network of ordinary, respectable men charged with winning support for the US Government’s involvement in World War I:
“Well-known speakers are too accustomed to longer speeches, with room for anecdotes and the introduction, and should be avoided for this service in favor of young lawyers and business men who will present messages within the four-minute limit…”
The volunteers attended cinema screenings and spoke during the interval while the projectionist changed reels. It took, on average, four minutes to change a film reel: hence the time limit for speeches on topics such as the Red Cross, food conservation, “Why We Are Fighting”, the importance of speed…
The entire program cost US$102,000. They certainly got value for money:
“During the war there were about 75,000 Four Minute Men, who gave an estimated 755,000 speeches to a total audience of 314 million people. The average audience was 416 people. On the average everyone in the US got to hear 3 speeches.”
Garber summarises tips for public speaking that were published in a newsletter for these volunteers. The tips are as relevant to today’s Powerpoint presentation as they were to last century’s propagandists.
