卡耐基演講·二、預(yù)先做好準備

做浮光掠影、只及表面的演講，要比深入事實、發(fā)掘內(nèi)涵的演講容易多了。只是，選擇容易的路，聽眾僅能獲得很少的印象，甚至全無印象。題目縮小之后，就要問自己一些問題，以加深自己的了解，讓準備更充分一些，最終可以用權(quán)威的口吻來講述這個題目：“我為什么要相信這些？在現(xiàn)實生活中，我有沒有看到過并可以證實我沒有錯？我到底想要證明什么？它到底是怎樣發(fā)生的？”It is far easier to give a talk that skims over the surface than to dig down for facts. But when you take the easy way you make little or no impression on the audience. After you have narrowed your subject, then the next step is to ask yourself questions that will deepen your understanding and prepare you to talk with authority on the topic you have chosen: "Why do I believe this? When did I ever see this point exemplified in real life? What precisely am I trying to prove? Exactly how did it happen?"

像這樣一類的問題的答案，可以成為你的儲備力量。這種力量能使人們正襟坐起，集中注意力。據(jù)說，植物界的怪杰路德·柏班克培養(yǎng)100萬種植物品種，只為尋找一兩種最高級的品種。講演也是如此，圍著主題匯集100種思想，然后舍去其中的90種。Questions like these call for answers that will give you reserve power, the power that makes people sit up and take notice. It was said of Luther Burbank, the botanical wizard, that he produced a million plant specimens to find one or two superlative ones. It is the same with a talk. Assemble a hundred thoughts-around your theme, then discard ninety.

“我總是搜集10倍于我所要使用的材料，有時甚至達到百倍。”約翰·甘德不久前這樣說。他是暢銷書《內(nèi)在》的作者。他說的是準備寫書或講演的方法。I always try to get ten times as much information as I use, sometimes a hundred times as much. said John Gunther not long ago. The author of the best-selling "Inside" books was speaking of the way he prepared to write a book or give a talk.

有一回，他的行動印證了他的話。1956年，他著手寫有關(guān)精神病院的文章。他前往各地的醫(yī)院，與院長、護理者和病患者分別談話。我有一位朋友同他一起，為他的研究工作提供了一點小小的協(xié)助。我朋友后來告訴我，他們從這棟建筑到另外一棟建筑，上上下下樓梯，沿著走道，日復(fù)一日，走了數(shù)不清的路。甘德先生記滿了許多筆記本。在他的辦公室里，則堆滿了政府與各州的報告、私立醫(yī)院的報告、委員會成摞的統(tǒng)計資料。On one occasion in particular, his actions bore out his words. In 1956, he was working on a series of articles on mental hospitals. He visited institutions, talked to supervisors, attendants, and patients. A friend of mine was with him,giving some small assistance in the research, and he told me they must have walked countless miles up stairs and down, along corridors, building to building, day after day. Mr. Gunther filled notebooks. Back in his office, he stacked up government and state reports, private hospital reports, and reams of committees' statistics.

“最后，”我朋友說，“他寫了四篇短文，簡單而又有趣，是很好的講演題材。寫著文章的幾張紙，也許只重七八十克?？墒?，那些密密麻麻的筆記本及其他別的東西——他用來作為這七八十克產(chǎn)品的依據(jù)的，卻一定超過九千克?！盜n the end, my friend told me, "he wrote four short articles, simple enough and anecdotal enough to make good speeches. The paper on which they were typed weighed, perhaps, a few ounces. The filled notebooks, and everything else he used as the basis for the few ounces of product, must have weighed twenty pounds" .

甘德先生知道自己挖掘的，是價值連城的礦石，他知道不能忽視任何一部分。他是干這行的老手，他把心思全放在上面，然后把金塊篩出。Mr. Gunther knew that he was working with pay dirt. He knew he couldn't overlook any of it. An old hand at this sort of thing, he put his mind to it, and he sifted out the gold nuggets.

我的一位外科醫(yī)師朋友也說得好：“我可以在十分鐘內(nèi)教會你如何取出盲腸，然而，要教你出了差錯時怎樣應(yīng)付，卻得花我四年的時間?！敝v演也同樣是如此：總要周密準備，以應(yīng)付變化。比方說，可能由于前一名講演者的觀點，你不得不改變自己觀點的重心，或是在演講后的討論時間里，要回答聽眾更多其所關(guān)注的問題。A surgeon friend of mine said, "I can teach you in ten minutes how to take out an appendix.But it will take me four years to teach you what to do if something goes wrong." So it is with speaking: Always prepare so that you are ready for any emergency, such as a change of emphasis because of a previous speaker's remarks, or a well-aimed question from the audience in the discussion period following your talk.

你要盡快選好題目，獲得儲備力。千萬別猶豫不決，等到要講的前一兩天才作出決定。如果及早把題目決定好，你的潛意識便能為你發(fā)揮很大的作用，這是有很大的好處的。在每天工作完成后的零星時間里，你便可以深入思考自己的題材，把要傳達給聽眾的理念加以琢磨使其更加精練。在駕車回家的途中、等候公車或乘地鐵時，常會讓人胡思亂想，你不如將這些時間用來思索自己的講演題材。靈光一閃的頓悟，多來自這段孕育期間。你很早就把題目決定好，腦子便能在潛意識里將它千錘百煉。You, too, can acquire reserve power by selecting your topic as soon as possible. Don't put it off until a day or two before you have to speak. If you decide on the topic early you will have the inestimable advantage of having your subconscious mind working for you. At odd moments of the day when you are free from your work, you can explore your subject, refine the ideas you want to convey to your audience. Time ordinarily spent in reverie while you are driving home, waiting for a bus, or riding the subway, can be devoted to mulling over the subject matter of your talk. It is during this incubation period that flashes of insight will come, just because you have determined your topic far in advance and your mind subconsciously works over it.

諾曼·陶瑪斯是位世界一流的演講家，面對強烈反對他政治觀點的聽眾，他也能駕馭他們的注意力，獲得他們的敬佩。他說：“如果一篇演講真的是十分重要，講演者就應(yīng)該和其主題或內(nèi)涵進退與共。在頭腦里反復(fù)思考，他會驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，不管是走在街上，讀著報紙，在準備睡覺或者清晨醒來時，很多自己觀點的例證和很好的講演方式就會像潮水一般向他涌來。平庸的思考只能產(chǎn)生平庸的講演，這種不可避免的正常反射現(xiàn)象，就是對題目認識不清楚的結(jié)果?！盢orman Thomas, a superb speaker who has commanded the respectful attention of audiences quite opposed to his political point of view, said, "If a speech is to be of any importance at all, the speaker should live with the theme or message, turning it over and over in his mind. He will be surprised at how many useful illustrations or ways of putting his case will come to him as he walks the street, or reads a newspaper, or gets ready for bed,or wakes up in the morning. Mediocre speaking very often is merely the inevitable and the appropriate reflection of mediocre thinking, and the consequence of imperfect acquaintance with the subject in hand."

當(dāng)置身在這個過程中，你會感到一種很強烈的誘惑，總想把自己的講演內(nèi)容寫下來?？汕f不要這樣做，因為你一寫下來就成了一個固定的形式，自己就會覺得很滿意了。這樣，也就會停止更有價值的思考。而且，你也有可能會掉進試著去背誦它的陷阱里。馬克·吐溫說背誦講稿是：“筆寫的東西不是為講演作的；形式是文學(xué)的，生硬而沒有靈活性，無法再通過嘴愉悅而有效地傳達。如果講演的目的是讓聽眾感到快樂，不是說教，你就需要把它們變得溫和、簡潔，盡量口語化，使用就像平常并不怎么經(jīng)過認真考慮就說話的方式；假設(shè)你并不是如此，就會煩死一屋子的人，而不能讓他們感到高興。”While you are involved in this process you will be under strong temptation to write your talk out, word for word. Try not to do this, for once you have set a pattern, you are likely to be satisfied with it, and you may cease to give it any more constructive thought. In addition, there is the danger of memorizing the script. Mark Twain had this to say about such memorization: "Written things are not for speech; their form is literary; they are stiff, inflexible, and will not lend themselves to happy effective delivery with the tongue. Where their purpose is merely to entertain, not to instruct, they have to be limbered up, broken up, colloquialism, and turned into the common form of unpremeditated talk; otherwise they will bore the house - not entertain it."

查爾斯·F.吉特林的發(fā)明天才，造就了通用汽車公司的成長。他也是美國最有名也最真誠的演講家之一。當(dāng)被問到有沒有把講演的部分或全部寫下來的時候，他說：“我相信，我要講的話實在太重要了，不能在紙上寫下來。我需要把自己一絲一毫的東西都寫進聽眾的腦子里，記在他們的情感中。小小的一張紙，在我和我準備用來感動聽眾的東西之間，是沒有它存在的空間的?！盋harles F. Kettering, whose inventive genius sparked the growth of General Motors, was one of America's most renowned and heartwarming speakers. Asked if he ever wrote out any part or all of his talks, he replied: "What I have to say is, I believe, far too important to write down on paper. I prefer to write on my audience's mind, on their emotions, with every ounce of my being. A piece of paper cannot stand between me and those I want to impress."