心理學家告訴我們,百分之八十五以上的知識,是由視覺印象被我們所接收的。這無疑說明了,電視之所以成為廣告與娛樂的媒介,而且收效甚好的原因。當眾講話也是一樣,是一種聽覺藝術(shù),也是一種視覺藝術(shù)。Psychologists tell us that more than eighty-five per cent of our knowledge comes to us through visual impressions. No doubt this accounts for the enormous effectiveness of television as an advertising as well as entertainment medium. Public speaking, too, is a visual as well as auditory art.
使用細節(jié)來豐富講演,最好的方法是在其中加入視覺展示。也許你花費數(shù)小時只為了告訴我如何揮動高爾夫球桿,而我卻可能感到厭煩了??墒?,你若站起來表演把球擊下球道時該怎么做,我就會全神貫注地傾聽了。同樣,你若以手臂和肩膀來描繪收音機飄移不定的情形,我肯定會更關(guān)注你講的鬼故事。One of the best ways to enrich a talk with detail is to incorporate visual demonstration into it. You might spend hours just telling me how to swing a golf club, and I might be bored by it. But get up and show me what you do when you drive a ball down the fairway and I am all eyes and ears. Likewise, if you describe the erratic maneuvers of an airplane with your arms and shoulders, I am more intent on the outcome of your brush with death.
我記得一個由工業(yè)界人士組成的班級里有一場講演,這里面展現(xiàn)的視覺細節(jié)真是難得的杰作。講演者模仿視察員和效率專家們檢查損壞的機器時做的手勢與滑稽動作,這比我在電視上所看過的一切都熱鬧生動多了。這些視覺細節(jié),使我們對那場講演很難忘記——至少我是再怎么也忘不了的,我也相信,其他的學員至今一定都還會談?wù)摰剿?。I remember a talk given in an industrial class that was a masterpiece of visual detail. The speaker was poking good-natured fun at inspectors and efficiency experts. His mimicry of the gestures and bodily antics of these gentlemen as they inspected a broken-down machine was more hilarious than anything I have ever seen on television. What is more, visual detail made that talk memorable - I for one shall never forget it, and I am sure the other members of that class are still talking about it.
這是一個好主意,問問你自己:“我怎樣才能把一些視覺細節(jié)融入到我的講話中?”然后繼續(xù)向大家展示,因為,正如中國古人所觀察到的,一張畫抵得上一萬個字。It is a good idea to ask yourself," How can I put some visual detail into my talk?" Then proceed to demonstrate, for, as the ancient Chinese observed, one picture is worth ten thousand words.