This topic is part of
the sentence, "Reading maketh a full man,
conference a ready man, and writing an exact man" which occurs in
Bacon's essay "Of Studies." Our topic for discussion here is the
second point in the statement, "Conference a ready man."
The word "Conference" is the noun derivative from
the verb "confer" which means to talk or discuss together. And the
word "ready" here means ready-witted, or prompt in talking about or
discussing things with other people. Talking is a social skill, and much of our
success in life depends on this skill. Of course, talking here does not mean
idle-talking, which is often indulged in a meeting between friends. Here talking
means talking with people for the
purpose of effective oral communication. It
is required in many spheres of our life: we need to talk to our family members,
to our friends, members of our community, to strangers in different situations,
to members of a meeting or conference,
to members of the interview board in a job
interview, and so on. But in all such situations we should not bungle
our talk or conversation, if we want success. We should handle our conversation
expertly, by all means. But expertness, what Bacon calls
"ready"-ness, does not come of itself. It has to be acquired through
long and constant and regular practice in "conference” that is
participating in various forms
of conversation. One should talk carefully, and'
with the purpose of communication, even with his family members. One should not
be entirely callous about effective communication while talking even with his
most intimate friends and close relatives. And one has to be very careful in a
situation of a gathering of more than two people. Only having practiced
conference (conversation) in such different situations can one become an expert
conversationalist. Bacon's words mean that.
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