卡耐基演講·2.避免使用專業(yè)術(shù)語

如果你是從事某種技術(shù)性的專業(yè)工作，例如律師、醫(yī)生、工程師，或是其他高度專業(yè)化的行業(yè)，當(dāng)你向本行以外的人談話時(shí)，要加倍小心地使用普通的詞句來解釋，同時(shí)加上必要的細(xì)節(jié)。If you belong to a profession the work of which is technical-if you are a lawyer, a physician, an engineer, or are in a highly specialized line of business-be doubly careful, when you talk to outsiders, to express yourself in plain terms and to give necessary details.

我說過，要加倍小心，是由于我的專業(yè)責(zé)任的關(guān)系。我已經(jīng)聽過幾百場(chǎng)因?yàn)椴恍⌒亩〉难葜v，是失敗得那么慘。演講者顯然完全不知道，一般聽眾對(duì)他們的特殊行業(yè)普遍缺乏了解。這樣的結(jié)果會(huì)怎么樣呢？他們滔滔不絕地高談闊論，用他們經(jīng)驗(yàn)中常用的詞句——這些詞句對(duì)他們當(dāng)然有意義，但對(duì)于外行的聽眾來說，卻是一頭霧水，不知所云，就像大雨過后，愛荷華和堪薩斯新翻的泥土把密西西比河弄得渾濁不清一樣。Be doubly careful, for, as a part of my professional duties, I have listened to hundreds of speeches that failed right at this point, and failed woefully. The speakers appeared totally unconscious of the general public's widespread and profound ignorance regarding their particular specialties. So what happened? They rambled on and on, uttering thoughts, using phrases that fitted into their experience and were instantly and continuously meaningful to them; but to the uninitiated, they were about as clear as the Missouri River after the June rains have fallen on the newly plowed cornfields of Iowa and Kansas.

這樣的情況應(yīng)該怎樣避免呢？應(yīng)該去讀一讀前任印第安納州參議員畢佛里吉的建議：What should such a speaker do? He ought to read and heed the following advice from the facile pen of former Senator Beveridge of Indiana:

“最好的方法，是從聽眾群中挑選出一個(gè)看起來最不聰明的人作為對(duì)象，然后努力讓那個(gè)人對(duì)你的演講產(chǎn)生興趣，那么你只能用清晰易懂的事實(shí)敘述，清楚地說明，這樣才能做到這一點(diǎn)。另一個(gè)更好的方法，就是把你的演講目放在那些讓爸爸陪著的小男孩或小女孩身上。It is a good practice to pick out the least intelligent-looking person in the audience and strive to make that person interested in your argument. This can be done only by lucid statements of fact and clear reasoning. An even better method is to center your talk on some small boy or girl present with parents.

“然后，你在心里對(duì)自己說——或者你也可以大聲對(duì)你的聽眾說出來，如果你喜歡的話——你會(huì)試著講簡單明白一些，讓那個(gè)小孩子也能夠了解并記住你對(duì)問題的解釋，而且還能夠把你告訴他的講給別人聽?！盨ay to yourself-say out loud to your audience, if you like-that you will try to be so plain that the child will understand and remember your explanation of the question discussed, and after the meeting be able to tell what you have said.

舉一個(gè)培訓(xùn)班上的例子，一個(gè)醫(yī)生演講說：“用橫膈膜呼吸，對(duì)腸子的蠕動(dòng)作用有顯著的幫助，是對(duì)健康的一種恩賜。”他想用這句話帶過這部分內(nèi)容，然后急忙講述別的東西。而老師打斷了他的講演，請(qǐng)他對(duì)橫膈膜式呼吸與其他方式呼吸有何不同，為什么它格外有益于健康以及蠕動(dòng)作用是什么這三個(gè)問題有明確概念的聽眾舉手。結(jié)果讓醫(yī)生大吃一驚，因此他回過頭重新講解：A physician in one of our classes remarked in a talk that" diaphragmatic breathing is a distinct aid to the peristaltic action of the intestines and a boon to health." He was about to dismiss that phase of his talk with that one sentence and to rush on to something else. The instructor stopped him, and asked for a show of hands of those who had a clear conception of how diaphragmatic breathing differs from other kinds of breathing, why it is especially beneficial to physical well-being, and what peristaltic action is. The result of the vote surprised the doctor; so he went back, explained, enlarged in this fashion:

“橫膈膜是一層薄薄的肌肉，在肺葉基部形成胸腔的底部和腹腔的頂部。當(dāng)胸腔呼吸時(shí)，它弓起來，像只上下倒置的洗臉盆。The diaphragm is a thin muscle forming the floor of the chest at the base of the lungs and the roof of the abdominal cavity. When inactive and during chest breathing, it is arched like an inverted washbowl.

“在做腹腔式的呼吸時(shí)，每一次呼吸都會(huì)迫使肌肉弓狀物往下推，使它幾乎成平坦?fàn)?，此時(shí)人便會(huì)感覺到胃腸受到了腰帶的壓擠。橫膈膜這種往下的壓力會(huì)按摩并刺激到腹腔的上部器官——胃、肝、胰、脾等。In abdominal breathing every breath forces this muscular arch down until it becomes nearly flat and you can feel your stomach muscles pressing against your belt. This downward pressure of the diaphragm massages and stimulates the organs of the upper part of the abdominal cavity-the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the spleen, the solar plexus.

“當(dāng)把氣呼出時(shí)，胃和腸又往上擠迫著橫膈膜，再進(jìn)行了一次按摩，這種按摩有助于排泄過程。When you breathe out again, your stomach and your intestines will be forced up against the diaphragm and will be given another massage. This massaging helps the process of elimination.

“許多影響健康的原因都來自腸胃的不適。假使我們的腸胃因?yàn)樯钌畹臋M膈膜呼吸而有適當(dāng)?shù)倪\(yùn)動(dòng)，大部分的不消化、便秘及體內(nèi)中毒現(xiàn)象都會(huì)消失。”A vast amount of ill health originates in the intestines. Most indigestion, constipation, and autointoxication would disappear if our stomachs and intestines were properly exercised through deep diaphragmatic breathing.

不論作什么解說，總是由簡入繁好。比如，你想對(duì)一群家庭主婦解釋為什么冰箱必須除霜。如果像下面這樣開始便錯(cuò)了：It is always best to go from the simple to the complex in giving explanations of any kind. For example, suppose you were trying to explain to a group of housewives why refrigerators must be defrosted. This would be the wrong way to go about it:

“冷凍的原理是蒸發(fā)器從冰箱內(nèi)部吸收熱氣散發(fā)到外面。當(dāng)熱被吸出的時(shí)候，伴隨的濕氣會(huì)附著在蒸發(fā)器上，堆起厚厚的一層，造成蒸發(fā)器絕熱的現(xiàn)象，進(jìn)而造成頻頻開動(dòng)馬達(dá)，以補(bǔ)償逐漸增厚的霜層形成的絕熱?！盩he principle of refrigeration is based on the fact that the evaporator pulls heat from the inner portion of the refrigerator. As the heat is pulled out, the accompanying humidity clings to the evaporator, piling up into a thickness which insulates the evaporator and necessitates more frequent turning on of the motor to compensate for the thickening frost.

大多數(shù)家庭主婦是不會(huì)明白你所說的內(nèi)容的。如果從主婦們所熟悉的事物開始，那就容易讓她們明白了：Notice how much easier it is to understand if the speaker starts with what the housewives are familiar with:

“各位知道肉類是放在冰箱的哪里。那各位也知道霜如何凝結(jié)在冷凍器上了。霜一天天的越結(jié)越厚，最后冷凍器就得進(jìn)行除霜，以保持冰箱運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)良好。冷凍器四周的霜就像你躺在床上時(shí)蓋的毯子，或者像墻里用來隔熱的石棉。霜結(jié)得越厚，冷凍器就越難從冰箱里吸出熱氣保持冰箱的溫度。于是，冰箱馬達(dá)就要開動(dòng)得更頻繁、更久，這樣才能保持箱內(nèi)的冷度。如果在冰箱里裝個(gè)自動(dòng)除霜器，霜便沒有機(jī)會(huì)結(jié)厚，馬達(dá)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的次數(shù)和時(shí)間也能減少了?！盰ou know where you freeze meat in your refrigerator. Well, you know, too, how the frost gathers on that freezer. Every day the frost gets thicker and thicker until the freezer must be defrosted to keep the refrigerator in good working order. You see, frost around the freezer is really like a blanket covering you in bed or like rock wool between the walls insulating your house. Now the thicker the frost gets, the harder it is for the freezer to pull the warm air out of the rest of the refrigerator and keep the refrigerator cold. The refrigerator motor then must work more often and longer to keep the box cold. Not with an automatic defroster on your refrigerator, the frost never gets a chance to build up thickly. Consequently, the motor works less often and for shorter periods.

關(guān)于這個(gè)問題，亞里士多德也曾有一句忠言：“思維如智者，說話如常人?！比绻仨毷褂脤I(yè)術(shù)語，要在給聽眾解釋過后再用，這樣能讓人人都懂得講演的主旨，而你頻繁使用關(guān)鍵詞更要這樣。Aristotle gave some good advice on the subject: Think as wise men do, but speak as the common people do. If you must use a technical term, don't use it until you have explained it so everybody in the audience knows what it means. This is especially true of your keystone words, the ones you use over and over.

一次，我去聽一位證券經(jīng)紀(jì)商對(duì)一群婦女講話。這些婦女想了解一些有關(guān)銀行與投資的基本原則，他使用簡單的語言，談話的方式讓她們輕松下來。本來他每件事情都說得清清楚楚，只有一些基本詞對(duì)她們很陌生。比如他提到“票據(jù)交換所”、“課稅與償付”、“退款抵押”以及“短期買賣和長期買賣”。這樣就把好好一場(chǎng)精彩動(dòng)人的討論就變成了一團(tuán)迷霧，只因?yàn)樗幻靼茁牨妼?duì)他的行話不熟悉。I once heard a stock broker speak to a group of women who wanted to learn fundamentals of banking and investment. He used simple language and he put them at ease in a conversational way. He made everything clear except his foundation words, which were strange to them. He spoke of the" clearing house", "puts and calls", "refunding mortgages" and "short sales and long sales". What could have been a fascinating discussion became a puzzle because he did not realize his hearers were unfamiliar with the words that were part and parcel of his trade.

不過，即使你知道某個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞聽眾不會(huì)了解，也沒有必要非得避免它，只要在使用時(shí)盡快解釋就行。一定要去解釋，要知道你有的是詞典供你使用！There is no reason to avoid a keystone word which you know will not be understood. Just explain it as soon as you use it. Never fail to do this, the dictionary is all yours.

你對(duì)歌唱廣告可有意見要發(fā)表嗎？或者關(guān)于沖動(dòng)購買，關(guān)于人文科學(xué)課程或者成本會(huì)計(jì)，關(guān)于政府津貼，或反方向開的汽車，是否對(duì)孩童采取寬容的態(tài)度，或是LIFO評(píng)估存貨的方法，等等。不論什么題材，都一定要讓聽眾對(duì)你這些領(lǐng)域里的關(guān)鍵詞，和你一樣對(duì)它們有同樣的了解。Do you want to say something about singing commercials? Or about impulse buying? About liberal arts courses, or cost accounting? About government subsidies, or automobiles that pass on the wrong side? Would you like to advocate a permissive attitude toward children, or the LIFO system of valuing inventories? Merely make sure that your hearers accept your keystone words in these specialized fields in the same sense in which you accept them.