PT Barnum the Great Showman Describes the Characteristics Necessary for a Speaker to Captivate an Audience
He recommends the manager of his Museum, who is "a good writer - a fine speaker, and his lecture gives great satisfaction and really abounds with interest.".
Before Barnum opened his now famous circus, he was an impresario who searched the world for unique acts and presented them in his Barnum’s American Museum, which operated from 1841 through 1865. This operation required not only the managerial and marketing skills to bring people to the museum and make his shows...
Before Barnum opened his now famous circus, he was an impresario who searched the world for unique acts and presented them in his Barnum’s American Museum, which operated from 1841 through 1865. This operation required not only the managerial and marketing skills to bring people to the museum and make his shows a success but also the manpower to go around the country and world to bring in the talent. In this he was primarily aided by the manager of his museum, John Greenwood, who is credited with discovering many of the people and things that filled his museum and shows.
After closing the museum in 1865 and before founding his circus, Barnum made a run at politics and Greenwood went off on his own, evidently running into trouble.
Although PT Barnum, now best known for creating Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, was a businessman and innovator, this is not primarily how he saw himself. “I am a showman by profession… and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.” His personal aims, he claimed, were to put money in his own coffers.
In this letter to his friends at a New York publication, Barnum requests aid for his old friend and business partner and in the process describes the attributes necessary for a speaker to entertain.
Autograph letter signed, October 26, 1868, to the Editors of the Independent, located on Fifth Avenue in New York City. “A few months since my former assistant manager John Greenwood Jr was obliged to have his right arm amputated just below the elbow. Previous to this he had prepared and delivered 3 lectures on Palestine. He subsequently condensed them so that when desired he embodies all in one lecture. He is a good writer – a fine speaker, and his lecture gives great satisfaction and really abounds with interest. Mr G. resides in Bethel Ct. He will be able to commence lecturing about Christmas and may be addressed at Bethel. As friend Greenwood has now no means of support except lecturing, I hope you will kindly give him a lift. Through your columns he would be glad to go the present season on reasonable terms.”
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