William Pittenger

“There is a strange sensation often experienced in the presenceof an audience. It may proceed from the gaze of the many eyes thatturn upon the speaker, especially if he permits himself to steadilyreturn that gaze. Most speakers have been conscious of this in anameless thrill, a real something, pervading the atmosphere,tangible, evanescent, indescribable. All writers have bornetestimony to the power of a speaker's eye in impressing anaudience. This influence which we are now considering is thereverse of that picture—the power their eyes mayexert upon him, especially before he begins to speak: after theinward fires of oratory are fanned into flame the eyes of theaudience lose all terror.”