Cards
"Over the years Reagan invented a unique system to prepare, edit, and deliver speeches. He hated drafts of speeches typewritten on thin letter paper. They were annoying to carry and bothersome to read from, especially when standing behind an outside lectern on a windy day. . .4 x 6 cards filled his requirements neatly. They were small enough to fit into his suitcoat pocket, yet large enough to accommodate the full text of a major speech on twenty-five to thirty cards. They were like large playing cards, thick enough to sort and control easily while giving a speech.
But the space on a 4 x 6 card is very limited. You can't write very much on it. And that space limitation becomes even more critical when words have to be large enough to read in swift glances from a distance of two feet or so. Reagan solved that problem by inventing his own shorthand. Some words he left out. Other words he compressed or shortened by dropping letters or using abbreviations. Every now an then he would make up a word. Using his shorthand system he could condense a full typewritten page onto one side of a single 4 x 6 card. The result, crystal clear to Reagan's eyes, looks like secret code to anyone else.
To further refine his system, and to pack more text on a card, Reagan eliminated all indentations and paragraphs. One sentence follows right after the other, separated only by thick black lines. To make sure he can read the cards easily, he painstakingly printed each shorthand word in bold, block letters, usually in black ink, sometimes in dark blue. Each card is numbered in the upper right-hand corner so he can keep track of them, and finally, the finished pack of cards is bound together with a thick elastic band.
The result is a simple and effective speech system. People who speak on important issues take great care to ensure that what they say is accurate, cogent and complete. The reason is simple: what you say is recorded by the press for posterity, and can be dragged up later to embarrass and confute you. But the truth is that nothing bores and irritates the listener more than a speaker carefully reading the text of a prepared speech. All spontaneity and rapport with the audience is lost. So this is the conflict. Speak extemporaneously and you run the risk of misspeaking; but read your text carefully and you run the risk of boring your audiences stiff.
Reagan's speech system allows him to be precise and lively. As he walks across the stage to the lectern to address his audience, both arms swing back and forth; there is no sign anywhere of a prepared speech. Only those seated on the stage behind him notice, if they watch him closely, that his left hand drops into his suitcoat pocket and pulls out a neat, small packet of 4 x 6 cards, each one packed with tightly written shorthand."
Martin Anderson
Revolution
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