卡耐基演講·三、下定決心是成功的關(guān)鍵

有一次，在一個廣播節(jié)目中，要我用三句話來說明我曾學到的最重要的一課。我是這么說的：“我所學過的最重要的一課是，我們的思想對我們自己是非常重要的。我如果能知道你的思想，就能了解你這個人，因為是你的思想塑造了你這個人。改變自己的思想，我們也就能夠改變自己的一生。”I was asked once, on a radio program, to tell in three sentences the most important lesson I have ever learned. This is what I said," The biggest lesson I have ever learned is the stupendous importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are, for your thoughts make you what you are. By changing our thoughts, we can change our lives."

現(xiàn)在你已把目光指向建立自信和能做有效交談的目標上了，那么從今天開始，你一定要積極地設想，自己的這番努力一定會成功的，必須對自己在大眾面前說話的努力成果持輕松樂觀的態(tài)度。要在每個詞句、每項行動上烙下決心的印記，竭盡全力培養(yǎng)這種能力。You have set your sights on the goal of increased confidence and more effective communication. From now on, you must think positively, not negatively, about your chances to succeed in this endeavor. You must develop a buoyant optimism about the outcome of your efforts to speak before groups. You must set the seal of determination upon every word and action that you devote toward the development of this ability.

任何人如果希望迎接語言的挑戰(zhàn)，使自己能言簡意賅地說話，就必須具備堅毅的決心。有一則故事，可以作為強有力的證明。故事里講的這個人，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)登上了高高的經(jīng)營層，成為商界里的傳奇人物。但是在他讀大學的時候，初次站起來講話，卻因為不善言辭而失敗。教師規(guī)定的五分鐘講演，他講不到一半，就臉色發(fā)白，噙著眼淚匆匆走下講臺。Here is a story that is dramatic proof of the need for resolute determination on the part of anyone who wants to meet the challenge of more expressive speaking. The man I am writing about has come up the management ladder so far that he has become a big business legend. But the first time he stood up to speak in college, words failed him. He couldn't get beyond the middle of the five-minute talk his teacher had assigned. His face went white, and he hurried off the platform in tears.

他雖有這樣的經(jīng)歷，卻不甘心被失敗擊倒。他立下決心要做個優(yōu)秀的演講家，并且一直做不懈的努力，最終成為政府的經(jīng)濟顧問，為世人仰慕。他就是克萊倫斯·B.藍道爾。他寫下許多發(fā)人深省的書，其中有一本《自由的信念》，提到他當眾講演的情況：“我的講演安排很緊湊，要參加廠商協(xié)會、商務部、扶輪社、基金籌募會、校友會以及其他各團體舉辦的集會。我曾經(jīng)在密歇根州的艾斯肯那巴發(fā)表愛國演講，慷慨激昂地投身到第一次世界大戰(zhàn)；我曾與米基·龍尼下鄉(xiāng)作慈善講演，與哈佛大學校長詹姆士·布朗特·柯南和芝加哥大學校長羅伯·M.胡欽斯下鄉(xiāng)宣導教育；我甚至還曾以極糟糕的法語作過一場餐后演講。The man who had that experience as a young student didn't let that failure frustrate him. He determined to become a good speaker and didn't stop in that determination until he became a world-respected economic consultant to the government. His name is Clarence B. Randall. In one of his thoughtful books, Freedom's Faith, he has this to say about public speaking, "I have service stripes all the way up one sleeve and all the way down the other from appearances before luncheons and dinners of manufacturers' associations, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, fund-raising campaigns, alumni organizations, and all the rest. I talked myself into World War I by a patriotic address in Escanaba, Michigan; I have barnstormed for charity with Mickey Rooney, and for education with President James Bryant Conant of Harvard and chancellor Robert M.Hutchins of the University of Chicago; and I have even made an after-dinner speech in very bad French.

我想我了解聽眾要聽的是什么以及他們喜歡聽到它被怎樣講出來。對于身負重責的人來說，這其中的竅門就是：只要他愿意去學，沒有什么學不會的?！盜 think I know something about what an audience will listen to, and how they want it said. And there is nothing whatever about it that a man worthy to bear important business responsibility cannot learn if he will.

我與藍道爾先生有同感。想要成功的決心，是能不能成為有效的說話者的關(guān)鍵。我如果可以了解你的心思，確知你的意志強度以及你是否抱有樂觀的態(tài)度，我就幾乎可以準確地預測，你在改進溝通技巧上的進步會有多快。I agree with Mr. Randall. The will to succeed must be a vital part of the process of becoming an effective speaker. If I could look into your mind and ascertain the strength of your desire and the light and shadow of your thought I could foretell, almost with certainty, the swiftness of your progress toward your goal of improved communicative skills.

在我中西部的一個班級里，喬·哈弗斯蒂第一晚就站起來信心十足地說，他不以做一名房屋建造商而滿足，他要做“全美房屋建造協(xié)會”的代言人。他最想做的是，能在全國上下奔走，告訴人們，他在房屋建造業(yè)中遭遇的問題與獲得的成就。喬·哈弗斯蒂真的說到做到了，他是那種讓老師高興的學生，有著對理想狂熱的追求。他想講的，不只是地方性的問題，同時還包括全國性的問題。對于這個想法，他沒有三心二意，他詳盡地準備自己的講演，認真地練習，從不耽擱一次上課，哪怕是遇上他一年里最忙碌的時節(jié)，也一絲不茍地按照學生的要求去做。結(jié)果他進步神速，這一點連他自己都感到吃驚。兩個月的時間，他就已經(jīng)成了班上的佼佼者，被選為該班班長。In one of my classes in the Middle West, a man stood up the first night and unabashedly said that as a builder of homes he wouldn't be content until he became a spokesman for the American Home &lilders' Association. He wanted nothing more than to go up and down this country and tell everybody he met the problems and achievements of his industry. Joe Haverstick meant what he said. He was the kind of class member that delights an instructor: he was in dead earnest. He wanted to be able to talk, not on local issues only, but on national ones, and there was no halfheartedness about his desires. He prepared his talks thoroughly, practiced them carefully, and never missed a single session, though it was the busy season of the year for men in his business. He did precisely what such a class member always does-he progressed at a rate that surprised him. In two months he had become one of the outstanding members of the class. He was voted its president.

約一年后，在弗吉尼亞州的諾佛克主持該班的教師這樣寫道：“我已經(jīng)完全忘了俄亥俄州的喬·哈弗斯蒂了。直到一天早晨，在我用早餐的時候我打開《弗吉尼亞向?qū)А罚渲泻杖挥蟹鶈痰恼掌鸵黄Q贊他的報道：前一天晚上，他在地區(qū)建造商的盛大聚會中發(fā)表演講。這時的喬，豈止是全國房屋建造協(xié)會的發(fā)言人，他已經(jīng)成為會長了！”The instructor handling that class was in Norfolk, Virginia, about a year later, and this is what he wrote, "I had forgotten all about Joe Haverstick back in Ohio when, one morning while I was having breakfast, I opened the Virginia Pilot. There was a picture of Joe and a write-up about him. The night before, he had addressed a large meeting of area builders, and I saw that Joe was not just a spokesman for the National Home Builders' Association; he was its president."

因此，要想成功，必須具備這樣的條件：有強烈的欲望保持熱忱，有堅強的毅力翻越高山；重要的是相信自己一定會成功。So, to succeed in this work, you need the qualities that are essential in any worthwhile endeavor: desire amounting to enthusiasm, persistence to wear away mountains, and the self-assurance to believe you will succeed.

當凱尤斯·愷撒由高廬而來，穿過海峽，帶領(lǐng)他的軍團登陸現(xiàn)在的英格蘭時，他是怎樣讓自己的軍隊成功的呢？非常聰明的方法：他把軍隊帶到多佛海峽的白堊懸崖上，讓士兵們望著腳底兩百尺下燃燒的船只——置身敵國，與大陸的最后聯(lián)系已經(jīng)沒有了，用來退卻的工具被焚毀，留下來唯一可做的事只有：前進！征服！愷撒和他的軍團就這樣做了。When Julius Ceasar sailed over the channel from Gaul and landed with his legions in what is now England, what did he do to insure the success of his army? A very clever thing: he halted his soldiers on the chalk cliff, of Dover; and, looking down over the waves two hundred feet below, they saw red tongues of fire consume every ship in which they had crossed. In the enemy's Country, with the last link with the Continent gone, the last means of retreat burned, there was but one thing left for them to do: to advance, to conquer. That is precisely what they did.

這便是不朽的愷撒精神。當你要去征服面對聽眾而產(chǎn)生的恐懼的時候，為什么不把這種精神變成自己的精神呢？把任何一點一滴的消極思想都扔進熊熊的火中，而且把身后通往躊躇的大門緊緊關(guān)上。Such was the spirit of the immortal Ceasar. Why not make it yours, too, as you set out to conquer your fear of audiences? Throw every shred of negative thought into the consuming fires and slam doors of steel upon every escape into the irresolute past.