卡耐基演講·四、把握每一次練習演講的機會

第一次世界大戰(zhàn)前，我在125號街青年基督協(xié)會所教授的課程已經有了改變，不再是當年的樣子。每年都有新觀念加入課程，舊思想被淘汰出去。但是，有一點一直沒有改變，那就是每個學生至少站起來在同學面前講演一次（很多時候都是兩次）。為什么呢？因為不當眾說話，誰也不可能學會在眾人面前講演。就好像一個人不下水，就一定學不會游泳一樣。你就算把有關當眾講演的著作都讀遍，包括本書，卻依舊開不了口，那也是沒有用的。本書只是指引，你得進行實踐才行。The course I gave in the 125th Street YMCA before World War I has been changed almost beyond recognition. Every year new ideas have been woven into the sessions and old ones cast away. But one feature of the course remains unchanged. Every member of every class must get up once, and in the majority of cases, twice, and give a talk before his fellow members. Why? Because no one can learn to speak in public without speaking in public any more than a person can learn to swim without getting in the water. You could read every volume ever written about public speaking-including this one-and still not be able to speak. This book is a thorough guide. But you must put its suggestions into practice.

當有人問蕭伯納是怎樣學得氣勢逼人地當眾演講時，他說：“我是以自己學會溜冰的方法來做的——我固執(zhí)地一個勁兒地讓自己出丑，直到習以為常?！蹦贻p時，蕭伯納是倫敦最膽小的人之一，常常在走廊里徘徊20分鐘或更多的時間，才能鼓起勇氣去敲開別人的屋門。他承認很少有人像他這樣僅僅因為膽小而痛苦，或者深深地為它感到羞恥。When George Bernard Shaw was asked how he learned to speak so compellingly in public, he replied:I did it the same way I learned to skate-by doggedly making a fool of myself until I got used to it. As a youth, Shaw was one of the most timid persons in London. He often walked up and down the Embankment for twenty minutes or more before venturing to knock at a door. "Few men," he confessed, "have suffered more from simple cowardice or have been more horribly ashamed of it".

后來，他不經意地使用了最好、最快、最有效的方法來克服羞怯、膽小和恐懼。他決心把弱點變成自己最強勁的資本。他加入一個辯論學會，只要倫敦有公眾討論的聚會，他都去參加。蕭伯納全心投入到社會主義運動中，四處講演，如此他把自己變成20世紀上半葉最有自信心、最出色的演講家之一。Finally, he hit upon the best and quickest and surest method ever yet devised to conquer timidity, cowardice, and fear. He determined to make his weak point his strongest asset. He joined a debating society. He attended every meeting in London where there was to be a public discussion, and he always arose and took part in the debate. By throwing his heart into the cause of socialism, and by going out and speaking for that cause, Gorge Ternary Shaw transformed himself into one of the most confident and brilliant speakers of the first half of the twentieth century.

說話的機會隨處都有，不妨去參加一些組織，從事一些需要講話的職務。在聚會里站起身來，說上兩句，即使只是附議也好。開會時，千萬別躲在角落里。說話吧！去教教主日學吧！或做個童子軍領隊，或加入任何團體，讓自己有機會活躍地參加各種聚會。你只要往自己周圍瞧瞧便會發(fā)現，沒有哪種工作和生活是不需要開口說話的，甚至住宅小區(qū)里的活動也一樣。如果你不去說，就永遠也不知道自己會有怎樣的進步。Opportunities to speak are on all sides. Join organizations and volunteer for offices that will require you to speak. Stand up and assert yourself at public meetings, if only to second a motion. Don't take a back seat at departmental meetings. Speak up! Teach a Sunday School class. Become a Scout leader. Join any group where you will have an opportunity to participate actively in the meetings. You have but to look around you to see that there is scarcely a single business, community, political, professional, or even neighborhood activity that does not challenge you to step forward and speak up. You will never know what progress you can make unless you speak, and speak, and speak again.

“這些我都明白?！币粋€年輕的商務主管對我說，“可是我總是猶豫，害怕學習的艱難考驗?！盜 know all about that, a young business executive once said to me, "but I hesitate to face the ordeal of learning."

“什么艱難考驗？”我說，“快把這種想法丟掉。你怎么從來不用一種正確的精神——征服性的精神——來想學習呢?！監(jiān)rdeal! I replied. "Put that thought out of your mind. You've never thought of learning in the right-the conquering-spirit."

“那是什么精神？”他問。What spirit is that? he asked.

“冒險精神呀，”我告訴他說。接著我對他談起一些借當眾說話而能獲得的成功，同時使個性因此也開朗起來的事例。The spirit of adventure, I told him, and I talked to him a little about a path to success, through public speaking, and the warming up, the unfolding, of one's personality.

“我要試試，”最后他說，“我要投身到這項冒險中。”I'll give it a try, he finally said. "I'll head into this adventure."

在你繼續(xù)閱讀此書并將書中所需求的付諸實踐的時候，你也是在冒險。你會發(fā)現，在這項冒險中，你的自我引導力和敏銳的觀察力會幫助你。你會發(fā)現這項冒險會改變你，從內到外。As you read on in this book, and as you put its principles into practice, you, too, will be heading into adventure. You will find it is an adventure in which your power of self-direction and your vision will sustain you. You will find it is an adventure that can change you, inside and out.