卡耐基演講·1.使用統(tǒng)計數(shù)字

統(tǒng)計數(shù)字用以顯示某種情況統(tǒng)計計算的結果，它們也能給人留下深刻的印象，并且有說服力，特別是它有證據(jù)的效用，是孤立的事例所不能達到的。沙克預防小兒麻痹疫苗能被認為確實有效，是依靠來自全國各地的統(tǒng)計數(shù)字而得到確認的。個別無效者只是例外，因而根據(jù)這樣一個例外而發(fā)的議論，便不能讓那些父母相信沙克疫苗不能保護自己的孩子。Statistics are used to show the proportion of instances of a certain kind. They can be impressive and convincing, especially as evidence where an isolated example might not do as well. The effectiveness of the Salk anti-poliomyelitis vaccine program was measured by statistic gathered in all parts of the country. Isolated cases of ineffectiveness were the exceptions that proved the rule. A talk based on one of these exceptions would not, therefore, convince a parent that the Salk vaccine program would not protect his child.

但是數(shù)字本身卻是令人厭煩的，所以又應該明智而審慎地使用，使用時應該給它穿上語言的外衣，讓它鮮明生動。Statistics, of themselves, can be boring. They should be judiciously used, and when used they should be clothed in a language that makes them vivid and graphic.

這里有一個例子，說明了把統(tǒng)計數(shù)字和我們熟悉的事物進行比較，就能收到加強印象的效果。一位主管認為紐約人太懶，由于不立刻去接聽電話，造成大量的時間損失。為支持自己的論點，他說：Here is an example of how statistics can be impressive by comparing them with things familiar to us. In backing up his point that a vast amount of time is lost by New Yorkers, neglecting to answer telephones promptly an executive said:

“每100通電話當中，有7通顯示，要超過1分鐘的耽擱接聽電話的人才拿起話筒。每天共有280000分鐘損失在這種方式之下，如此6個月，紐約耽擱的時間便差不多與自哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲以來的所有交易日時間相等。”O(jiān)ut of each one hundred telephone connections made, seven show a delay of more than a minute before the person called answers. Every day 280, 000 minutes are lost in this way. In the course of six months, this minute delay in New York is about equal to all the business days that have elapsed since Columbus discovered America.

只提出數(shù)字、數(shù)量本身，是不會留給人什么印象的，它們必須輔以實例。如果可能，必須給它們加上我們自己的經(jīng)驗來講述。我記得在大壩水庫下面的大發(fā)電房里，聽過一個導游的解說。他本可以告訴我們這個房間面積的數(shù)字，但是這與他所使用的方法相比，說服力可就差得多。他告訴我們，這個房間的面積足夠容納一萬人在標準的球場上觀賞足球賽，另外每邊還有余地可用做數(shù)個網(wǎng)球場。Mere numbers and amounts, taken by themselves, are never very impressive. They have to be illustrated; they ought, if possible, to be put in terms of our experiences. I remember listening to a lecture by a guide in the vast power room under Grand Coulee Dam. He could have given us the square-foot figures of the room's size, but that would not have been so convincing as the method he used. He told us that the room was large enough for a crowd of 10,000 people to view a football game on a regulation field and, in addition, there would be room left over for several tennis courts at each end!

多年前，我在布魯克林中區(qū)青年基督教協(xié)會的演講班里有個學生，他在某次講演中提到了去年毀于火災的房屋數(shù)目，并進一步解說，如果這些他燒毀的建筑并肩排放，可由紐約排到芝加哥。而且，如果將死于火中的人們，每0.5公里放置一個，這條愁慘的長龍便又可從芝加哥排回布魯克林。Many years ago, a student in my course at the Brooklyn Central YMCA told in a talk the number of houses destroyed by fire during the previous year. He further said that, if these burned buildings had been placed side by side, !he line would have reached from New York to Chicago, and that if the people who had been killed in those fires had been placed half a mile apart, that gruesome line would reach back again from Chicago to Brooklyn.

他所列舉的數(shù)字，我?guī)缀跞攵赐?，但是過了這么多年，我卻毫不費力，依舊心有余悸地看到那一長列燃燒中的建筑，一路由曼哈坦島延伸至伊利諾伊州的庫克縣。The figures he gave I forgot almost immediately but years have passed, and, without any effort on my part, I can still see that line of burning buildings stretching from Manhattan Island to Cook County, Illinois.