演講者用飽含感情和感染力的熱情來講述自己的理念時，聽眾就很少會產(chǎn)生相反的理念。我說“感染力的”，因?yàn)闊崆榫褪悄菢拥?。它會將一切相反的理念拋棄于一邊。你的目?biāo)是說服別人，請記住動之以情比曉之以理效果更好。要激蕩起情感，自己必須先熱烈如火。即使一個人能夠編造精妙的詞句，能搜集許多例證，聲音無比和諧，手勢非常優(yōu)雅，但如果不能真誠講述，這些就只能變成空洞耀眼的裝飾罷了。要讓聽眾印象深刻，自己就應(yīng)該先有深刻的印象。你的精神從你的雙眼迸發(fā)出光彩，從你的聲音中四面回蕩，因?yàn)槟愕膽B(tài)度而自我抒發(fā)，它便能與聽眾溝通。Contradicting ideas are much less likely to arise in the listener's mind when the speaker presents his ideas with feeling and contagious enthusiasm. I say "contagious" for enthusiasm is just that. It thrusts aside all negative and opposing ideas. When your aim is to convince, remember it is more productive to stir emotions than to arouse thoughts. Feelings are more powerful than cold ideas. To arouse feelings one must be intensely in earnest. Regardless of the petty phrases a man may concoct, regardless of the illustrations he may assemble, regardless of the harmony of his voice and the grace of his gestures, if he does not speak sincerely, these are hollow and glittering trappings. If you would impress an audience, be impressed yourself, Your spirit, shining through your eyes, radiating through your voice, and proclaiming itself through your manner, will communicate itself to your audience.
每次講演，特別當(dāng)講演的目的是要說服時，你的行為決定著聽眾的態(tài)度。你冷淡，他們同樣如此。“當(dāng)聽眾們昏昏睡去時，”亨利·華德·畢這么寫，“只有一件事可做：給招待員一把錐子，讓他去猛刺講演者?！盓very time you speak, and especially when your avowed purpose is to convince, what you do determines the attitude of your listeners. If you are lukewarm, so will they be; if you are flippant and antagonistic, so will they be. "When the congregation falls asleep," wrote Henry Ward Beecher, "there is only one thing to do; provide the usher with a sharp stick and have him prod the preacher."
一次，在哥倫比亞大學(xué)，我是被請上臺去頒發(fā)“寇蒂斯獎?wù)隆钡脑u委之一。有六位畢業(yè)生，經(jīng)過精心調(diào)教，急于好好表現(xiàn)自己?？墒?，他們費(fèi)盡心思地只為贏得獎?wù)?，除了一個是例外，就少有或根本沒有說服的欲望。I was once one of three judges called on to award the Curtis medal at Columbia University. There were half a dozen undergraduates, all of them elaborately trained, all of them eager to acquit themselves well. But-with only a single exception-what they were striving for was to win the medal. They had little or no desire to convince.
他們選擇題目的唯一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，就是這些題目容易在講演上滔滔不絕地談?wù)?。他們對自己的議論，沒有一點(diǎn)兒興趣，他們一連串的講演僅是表達(dá)藝術(shù)的練習(xí)而已。They had chosen their topics because these topics permitted oratorical development. They had no deep personal interest in the arguments they were making. And their successive talks were merely exercises in the art of delivery.
唯一的例外是一位秘魯王子。他選的題目是《非洲對現(xiàn)代文明的貢獻(xiàn)》。他的每個字里都飽含強(qiáng)烈的情感。他的演講不是練習(xí)，是出于信念和熱情的宣言。他把自己作為自己人民的代表，那片大陸的代表。他聰慧地、品格高尚地、滿腔善意地向我們傳遞出他的人民的希望。同時也帶來請求，熱切希望我們的了解。The exception was a Zulu Prince. He had selected as his theme "The Contribution of Africa to Modem Civilization." He put intense feeling into every word he uttered. His talk was no mere exercise; it was a living thing, born of conviction and enthusiasm. He spoke as the representative of his people, of his continent; with wisdom, high character, and good will, he brought us a message of his people's hopes and a plea for our understanding,
雖然講話技巧他可能不比其他人表現(xiàn)得更好，我們還是把獎?wù)骂C給了他。我們這些評委所看到的，是他燃燒的真誠之火，閃出的真理的光芒。除他之外，其余的講演都只是一閃而過的火星兒。We gave him the medal, although he was possibly no more accomplished in addressing a large group than two or three of his competitors. What we judges recognized was that his talk had the true fire of sincerity; it was ablaze with truth. Beside it, the other talks were only flickering gas-logs.
這位王子也以自己的方式習(xí)得一課：僅僅運(yùn)用理智，而沒有在講演中把自己的個性展現(xiàn)，是沒有力量的講演；你必須展露出你對自己所說內(nèi)容的誠摯。The Prince had learned in his own way in a distant land that you can't project your personality in a talk to others by using reason alone; you have to reveal to them how deeply you yourself believe in what you say.
