卡耐基演講·1.不要逐字背誦演講詞

“完全的準備”難道就是背下演講詞？對于這個問題，我得斷然說聲“不”。為了保護自己的形象，以免在聽眾面前腦中一片空白，許多講演者一頭栽進記憶的陷阱里。一旦犯了這種毛病，便會不可救藥地浪費時間進行這樣的準備，而那只會毀掉整個演講。By "perfect preparation" do I mean that you should memorize your talk? To this question I give back a thunderous NO. In their attempts to protect their egos from the dangers of drawing a mental blank before an audience, many speakers fall headlong into the trap of memorization. Once a victim of this type of mental dope addiction, the speaker is hopelessly bound to a time-consuming method of preparation that destroys effectiveness on the platform.

資深的美國新聞評論家，H.V.卡特波恩還在哈佛大學(xué)讀書時，參加過一次講演競賽。他選了一則短篇故事，題為《先生們，國王》。然后把它逐字背誦，并預(yù)講了數(shù)百次。比賽那天，他剛說出題目《先生們，國王》，腦子里就變成空白一片；豈止是空白，它壓根兒就變黑了。他嚇得差點兒蒙了，絕望之下，只得用自己的話來講這個故事?？僧斣u審把第一名頒給他的時候，他簡直就不敢相信。從那天起，H.V.卡特波恩就不再去讀或者背任何一篇講稿，這就是他在廣播事業(yè)里成功的秘訣。他只記些筆記，然后自然地對聽眾說話，絕不去用講稿。When H. V. Kaltenborn, the dean of American news commentators, was a student at Harvard University, he took part in a speech contest. He selected a short story entitled" Gentlemen, the King." He memorized it word for word and rehearsed it hundreds of times. The day of the contest he announced the title, "Gentlemen, the King." Then his mind went blank. It not only went blank; it went black. He was terrified. In desperation he started telling the story in his own words. He was the most surprised boy in the hall when the judges gave him first prize. From that day to this, H. V. Kaltenborn has never read nor memorized a speech. That has been the secret of success in his broadcasting career. He makes a few notes and talks naturally to his listeners without a script.

寫出講稿并且去背下來，不但浪費時間、精力，而且容易導(dǎo)致失敗。我們一生說話都是自然而然的事，從沒有費心去推敲字眼。我們隨時都在思考著，等到思想明澈時，言語便像我們呼吸的空氣一樣，不知不覺地自然流出。The man who writes out and memorizes his talks is wasting his time and energy, and courting disaster. All our lives we have been speaking spontaneously. We haven't been thinking of words. We have been thinking of ideas. If our ideas are clear, the words come as naturally and unconsciously as the air we breathe.

溫斯頓·丘吉爾也是很辛苦才學(xué)到這一課的。年輕時，丘吉爾也要寫講稿、背講稿。直到有一天，他在英國國會上背誦他的講稿時，思路突然中斷，腦海里一片空白。他尷尬極了，同時也感到了羞辱。他把上一句重復(fù)一遍，可是依然什么也想不起來，臉也變成了豬肝色。他頹然坐下。從那以后，丘吉爾再也不背講稿了。Even Winston Churchill had to learn that lesson the hard way. As a young man, Churchill wrote out and memorized his speeches. Then one day, while delivering a memorized talk before the British Parliament, he stopped dead in his mental tracks. His mind went blank. He was embarrassed, humiliated! He began his last sentence all over again. Again his mind went blank and his face scarlet. He sat down. From that day to this, Winston Churchill has never attempted to deliver a memorized talk.

我們?nèi)绻鹱直诚卵葜v詞，面對聽眾的時候，很容易就會因為緊張而遺忘。即使沒有忘記，恐怕講起來也是呆板的。為什么呢？因為它不是來自我們內(nèi)心的，只是出于記憶而已。私下與別人交談時，我們總是一心想著要說的事，然后就直接說出來了，并未特別去留心詞句。既然一直都是這么做的，現(xiàn)在又為什么要改呢？如果我們非要寫講稿、背演講詞，就很可能重蹈凡斯·布須內(nèi)的覆轍。If we memorize our talk word for word, we will probably forget it when we face our listeners. Even if we do not forget our memorized talk, we will probably deliver it in a mechanical way. Why? Because it will not come from our hearts, but from our memories. When talking with people privately, we always think of something we want to say, and then we go ahead and say it without thinking of words. We have been doing that all our lives. Why attempt to change it now? If we do write out and memorize our talks, we may have the same experience that Vance Bushnell had.

凡斯是馬黎波歐藝術(shù)學(xué)校的畢業(yè)生，世界最大的保險公司之一的衡平人壽保險公司的副總裁。多年前，被要求在西弗吉尼亞州的“白磺泉”召開的“衡平人壽”代表會議中發(fā)表演講，有來自全美的2000名“衡平人壽”代表參加這次會議。當時，他從事人壽保險的行業(yè)才兩年，可是已經(jīng)非常成功，所以就安排他去作20分鐘的講演。Vance was a graduate of the Beaux Arts School in Paris, and later became vice-president of one of the largest insurance companies in the world-the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Years ago, he was asked to address a conference of two thousand Equitable Life representatives from all over America at a meeting in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At that time, he had been in the life insurance business for only two years, but he had been highly successful, so he was scheduled to make a twenty-minute talk.

凡斯很高興，他知道這是一次提高身價的好機會。然而，不幸的是，他把演講詞寫下來背。他在鏡子面前演練了40次，把一切仔細準備好：每句詞語，每個手勢，每個表情，甚至怎樣上臺和回來的細節(jié)。真是恰到好處，完美無瑕了，他想。Vance was delighted to do so. He felt it would give him prestige. But, unfortunately, he wrote out and memorized his talk. He rehearsed forty times in front of a mirror. He had everything down pat: every phrase, every gesture, every facial expression. It was flawless, he thought.

可是，當他站起來要講演的時候，面對著2000名聽眾，他忽然感到害怕了。他只說了：“我在本計劃里的職位是……”腦子里就只剩下一片空白?；艁y之中，他后退了兩步，想要重新開始，可是腦子里依然空白一片。于是再退后兩步，企圖重新開始，依然沒有用。講臺有四尺高，后邊沒有欄桿，和墻隔有兩米寬的距離。所以，當他第四次重復(fù)剛才的表演的時候，他掉下了講臺，消失到隔縫里去了。聽眾哄堂大笑，笑得人仰馬翻，有的還跌出椅子，滾到走道上。衡平人壽保險公司做這種滑稽表演的，前無古人，后無來者。讓人拍案叫絕的是，聽眾還真以為這是特意安排的助興節(jié)目?！昂馄饺藟邸崩锏睦锨拜厒?，現(xiàn)在還津津樂道他的演出。However, when he stood up to deliver his address, he was terrified. He said,"My part in this program is ..." His mind went blank. In his confusion, he took two steps backward and tried to start all over again. Again, his mind went blank. Again he took two steps back and tried to start. He repeated this performance three times. The platform was four feet high; there was no railing at the back; and there was a space five feet wide between the back of the platform and the wall. So, the fourth time he stepped back, he toppled backwards off the platform and disappeared into space. The audience howled with laughter. One man fell off his chair and rolled in the aisle. Never before nor since in the history of the Equitable Life Assurance Society has anyone ever given such a comic performance. The astonishing part of the story is that the audience thought it was really an act. The old-timers of the Equitable Life are still talking about his performance.

可是凡斯·布須內(nèi)自己呢？他親口對我說，那是他一生中最沒面子的一次。他覺得羞愧難當，因此寫了辭呈。但是凡斯的上司說服了他，把辭呈撕了，并幫助他重建自信。而凡斯在這次經(jīng)歷以后，成了公司里數(shù)一數(shù)二的演講高手。不過，他再也不去背講稿了。我們應(yīng)該以此為鑒，以免再干出這樣愚蠢可笑的事情。But what about the speaker, Vance Bushnell? Vance Bushnell himself told me it was the most embarrassing occasion of his life. He felt so disgraced that he wrote out his resignation.Vance Bushnell's superiors persuaded him to tear up his resignation. They restored his self-confidence; and Vance Bushnell, in later years, became one of the most effective speakers in his organization. But he never memorized a talk again. Let us profit by his experience.

我聽說過很多人背講稿，卻不記得有誰把講稿扔進紙簍以后，不能說得更生動、更有效果、更富人性。扔掉講稿，或許會忘掉幾點，說起來散亂些，但至少顯得更有人情味。I have heard countless scores of men and women try to deliver memorized talks, but I don't remember even one speaker who wouldn't have been more alive, more effective, more human, if he had tossed his memorized talk into the waste basket. If he had done that, he might have forgotten some of his points. He might have rambled, but at least he would have been human.

林肯說過：“我不喜歡聽刀削式的、枯燥無味的講演。當我聽人講演時，我喜歡看他像在跟蜜蜂搏斗一樣去講話?！彼矚g聽一個演講者自在、隨意、激情澎湃地演講。背講稿，是絕不會表現(xiàn)得像在跟蜜蜂拼命似的。Abe Lincoln once said," I don't like to hear a cut and-dried sermon. When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees." Lincoln said he wanted to hear a speaker cut loose and get excited. No speaker ever acts as if he were fighting bees when he is trying to recall memorized words.