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卡耐基演讲·一、学习他人的经验,激发自己的勇气

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2021年10月21日

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一、学习他人的经验,激发自己的勇气

无论是否处于被束缚的状态,没有哪一种动物是天生的大众演讲家。人类历史的某些时期,当众讲演是一门精致的艺术,必须谨遵修辞法和优雅的演讲技巧,那时想成为一名优秀的演讲家十分艰难。而今,我们却将当众演讲看成一种扩大的交谈。以往边说边唱的演讲方式和如雷贯耳的声音已经永远消失了。人们无论是在与他人共进晚餐时,还是在教堂中做礼拜、在家里看电视时,更愿意听到一些率真的话,彼此之间根据世事常理思考,诚挚、专心致志地讨论问题,而不是对着我们大放厥词。There is no such animal, in or out of captivity, as a born public speaker. In those periods of history when public speaking was a refined art that demanded close attention to the laws of rhetoric and the niceties of delivery, it was even more difficult to be born a public speaker. Now we think of public speaking as a kind of enlarged conversation. Gone forever is the old grandiloquent style and the stentorian voice. What we like to hear at our dinner meetings, in our church services, on our TV sets and radios, is straightforward speech, conceived in common sense and dedicated to the proposition that we like speakers to talk with, and not at, us.

当众演讲并不是一门封闭的艺术,也不像许多教科书中所说的那样,只有经过多年去美化声音和修辞学训练之后才能取得成功。我的教学生涯几乎全部是在向人们证明一点:当众说话其实并不困难,只要遵循一些简单而重要的规则就可以了。1912年,我在纽约市125街的青年基督协会开始从事教学工作时,对此和学生们一样无知懵懂。早期我的教育训练方法,和自己在密苏里州的华伦堡上大学时接受的教育方式大同小异。但很快,我就发现自己走上了歧路:我竟然将那些商界人士当成大学一年级的新生来教育了。我发现以韦伯斯特、柏克匹特及欧康内尔(以上人物皆以演讲著称)为例,一味模仿,毫无裨益。我所教授的学生需要的是在商务会议中有足够的勇气站起来,向与会者作一番明晰、连贯的报告。于是,我将教科书全部抛弃,站在讲台上,用一些简单的概念,和那些难兄难弟们埋头苦干,直到他们的报告词达意尽、深入人心为止。这种方法果然取得了一定的效果,以至于他们毕业后希望再回来,希望学习更多的东西。Despite what many school texts would lead us to believe, public speaking is not a closed art, to be mastered only after years of perfecting the voice and struggling with the mysteries of rhetoric. I have spent almost all of my teaching career proving to people that it is easy to speak in public, provided they follow a few simple, but important, rules. When I started to teach at the l25th Street YMCA in New York City back in 1912, I didn't know this any more than my first students knew it. I taught those first classes pretty much the way I had been taught in my college years in Warrensburg, Missouri. But I soon discovered that I was on the wrong track; I was trying to teach adults in the business world as though they were college freshmen. I saw the futility of using Webster, Burke, Pitt, and O'Connell as examples to imitate. What the members of my classes wanted was enough courage to stand on their hind legs and make a clear, coherent report at their next business meeting. It wasn't long before I threw the textbooks out the window, got right up there on the podium and, with a few simple ideas, worked with those fellows until they could give their reports in a convincing manner. It worked, because they kept coming back for more.

我希望大家能有机会到我家里看看世界各地的学员寄来的感谢函。这些信有的来自企业界的领袖们,他们的大名常见于《纽约时报》和《华尔街日报》,也有州长、国会议员、大学校长和娱乐圈的明星,当然更多的则是来自家庭主妇、牧师、教师,他们都是一些默默无闻的普通人,还有企业中已经接受训练和尚未接受训练的主管人员、技术纯熟和生疏的工人、工会会员、大学生和职业女性等。所有这些人都觉得自己需要足够的自信心,需要有在公开场合中表达自己思想的能力,以便让人接纳自己。那些实现自己目标的人心怀感激,特意写信给我以示谢意。I wish I could give you a chance to browse through the files of testimonial letters in my home or in the offices of my representatives in various parts of the world. They come from industrial leaders whose names are frequently mentioned in the business section of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, from governors of states and members of parliaments, from college presidents, and from celebrities in the world of entertainment. There are thousands more from housewives, ministers, teachers, young men and women whose names are not well known yet, even in their own communities, executives and executive trainees, laborers, skilled and unskilled, union men, college students, and business women. All of these people felt a need for self-confidence and the ability to express themselves acceptably in public. They were so grateful for having achieved both that they took the time to write me letters of appreciation.

在我开始酝酿这本书的写作计划时,有一个人立刻就闪现在我的脑海里,在我所教过的数千名学员中,他对我的影响颇大。D.W.根特,费城一名成功的企业家,参加训练班不久就邀请我共进午餐。餐桌上,他倾身向前对我说:“卡耐基先生,我曾有许多在公众场合说话的机会,但在潜意识中总是试图躲避与人正面交流。但现在我已当选为大学董事会主席,必须经常主持各种会议。你觉得我在迟暮之年是否还能学会当众说话?”Of the thousands of people I have taught, one example comes to mind as I write because of the dramatic impact it had on me at the time. Some years ago, shortly after he joined my course, D. W. Ghent, a successful businessman in Philadelphia, invited me to lunch. He leaned across the table and said." I have sidestepped every opportunity to speak to various gatherings, Mr. Carnegie, and there have been many. But now I am chairman of a board of college trustees. I must preside at their meetings. Do you think it will be possible for me to learn to speak at this late date in life?"

在我的训练班上有许多像他这样的人,他们经过一段时间的训练取得了很大的成效。为此,我以自己的经验向他保证,他一定能取得成功。I assured him, on the basis of my experience with men in similar positions who had been members of my classes, that there was no doubt in my mind that he would succeed.

三年后,我们在企业家俱乐部共进午餐时再一次相遇。同一餐厅,同一张桌子,我们又谈起从前说过的话。当我问及我的预言是否已经实现时,他微微一笑,从口袋中掏出一本红色小笔记本,上面记录着他未来几个月预定的演讲日程表。“有能力作这些讲演、讲演时所获得的快乐以及我能够为社会提供更多的服务……这些是我一生中最为高兴和满足的事。”他很自豪地说道。About three years later we lunched together again at the Manufacturers' Club. We ate in the same dining room and at the very same table we had occupied at our first meeting. Reminding him of our former conversation, I asked him whether my prediction had come true. He smiled, took a little red-backed notebook out of his pocket, and showed me a list of speaking engagements for the next several months. "The ability to make these talks," he confessed, "the pleasure I get in giving them, the additional service I can render in the community-these are among the most gratifying things in my life."

事情远不仅仅如此,根特先生还十分得意地告诉我,他所在的教区曾邀请英国首相前来费城发表演讲,负责向听众介绍这位杰出政治家的人就是根特先生。But that was not all. With a feeling of justifiable pride, Mr. Ghent then played his ace card. His church group had invited the prime minister of England to address a convocation in Philadelphia. And the Philadelphian selected to make the introduction of the distinguished statesman, on one of his rare trips to America, was none other than Mr.D.W.Ghent.

而就是这个人,三年前还在这张桌子旁倾身问我,有朝一日他是否能够当众畅谈如流。This was the man who had leaned across that same table less than three years before and asked me whether I thought he would ever be able to talk in public!

还有一个例子。有一天,已故的顾立区公司董事长大卫·M.顾立区,有一天来到我的办公室对我说:“在我的一生中,我每一次面对众人讲话总是惊恐万分。而身为董事长,我又不能不主持会议。董事们已彼此熟悉,大家围桌而坐谈话时,我能够对答如流,毫无障碍。然而一旦站起身,我就会有一种莫名其妙的惊恐感,一个字也说不出来了。这种情形已持续多年,已十分严重了,我都担心你是否能够帮得了我。”Here is another example. The late David M. Goodrich, Chairman of the Board of the B. F. Goodrich Company, came to my office one day. "All my life," he began, "I have never been able to make a talk without being frozen with fear. As Board Chairman I have to preside at our meetings. I have known all the board members intimately for years, and I have no trouble talking to them when we are sitting around the table. But the moment I stand up to talk, I am terrified. I can hardly say a word. I have been that way for years. I don't believe you can do anything for me. My trouble is too serious. It has existed too long."

“噢,”我说,“既然你对我是否能帮助还表示疑惑,为什么还要来找我呢?”Well, I said, "if you don't think I can do anything for you, why did you come to see me?"

“因为有一个原因,”他回答道,“我有一个专门负责处理私人账目的会计师,是一个十分害羞的家伙。他进自己的办公室时必须从我的办公桌前走过。多年来,他一直都是蹑手蹑脚、小心翼翼的,眼观地面不敢抬头,也难得说一个字。但是,最近他却改头换面,变得神采奕奕了,走进办公室时抬头挺胸,并且大大方方地向我道早安。我对他的这种改变表示惊讶,于是问他是什么促成了这种改变,他告诉了我参加你的训练课程一事。正是因为那个家伙身上的改变,让我来寻求您的帮助的。”For one reason only, he replied. "I have an accountant who takes care of my personal accounting problems. He is a shy chap, and to get into his little office, he has to walk through my office. He has been sneaking through my office for years, looking at the floor and hardly ever saying a word. But lately, he has been transformed. He walks into my office now with his chin up, a light in his eye; and he says, 'Good morning, Mr. Goodrich, with confidence and spirit. I was astonished at the change. So, I said to him,' Who has been feeding you meat?' He told me about taking your course of training; and it is only because of the transformation that I have witnessed in that frightened little man that I have come to see you."

我对顾立区先生说:“定期来上课,并且严格按照我的要求做,不出几个星期,你就会喜欢在大众面前讲话了。”I told Mr.Goodrich that if he attended the classes regularly and did what we asked him to do, within a few weeks he would enjoy speaking before audiences.

“如果你真的能改变我,”他回答说,“那我可就要成为全国最快乐的人之一了。”If you can do that, he replied, "I'll be one of the happiest men in the country."

他坚持上课并且进步神速。三个月后,我邀请他参加在阿斯特饭店舞厅举行的一个三千人的聚会,希望他谈一谈自己是如何从口才训练课程中获益的。他对自己不能前来表示歉意,因为事先有约了。但是第二天,他又打电话给我,说自己要来,他说:“我把约会取消了。为你讲演是我欠你的。我要告诉听众这些训练带给我的助益,借自己的故事来激励人们祛除残害他们生命的恐惧。”He joined the course, made phenomenal progress, and three months later, I invited him to attend a meeting of three thousand people in the ballroom of the Hotel Astor, and talk to them on what he had gotten out of our training. He was sorry-couldn't come-a previous engagement. The next day he phoned me. "I want to apologize," he said," I have broken that engagement. I'll come and speak for you. I owe it to you. I'll tell the audience what this training did for me. I'll do it with the hope that my story will inspire some of the listeners to get rid of the fears that are devastating their lives."

我给他两分钟演讲时间,结果面对着三千人,他足足说了十一分钟。I asked him to speak for two minutes only. He spoke to three thousand people for eleven minutes.

类似的奇迹,我亲眼目睹过不下数千起。许多人的人生由于这项训练而彻底改变,一些人在职场获得了梦寐以求的提升,一些人则在生意上、事业上、工作中大获其利。有时候,一场适时的演讲就足以使事情大功告成。玛利欧·拉卓的故事就是这样。I have seen thousands of similar miracles worked in my courses. I have seen men and women whose lives were transformed by this training, many of them receiving promotions far beyond their dreams or achieving positions of prominence in their business, profession, and community. Sometimes this has been done by means of a single talk delivered at the right moment. Let me tell you the story of Mario Lazo.

几年前,我十分意外地收到一封来自古巴的电报。电报上说:“除非你拍电报来阻止我,否则我立即来纽约接受讲演训练。”落款是玛利欧·拉卓。我不知道他是谁,也从来没有听说过。Years ago, I received a cable from Cuba that astonished me. It read," Unless you cable me to the contrary, I am coming to New York to take training to make a speech." It was signed:" Mario Lazo." Who was he? I wondered! I had never heard of him before.

拉卓先生来到了纽约,他告诉我说:“哈瓦那乡村俱乐部要庆祝创建人50岁生日,安排我在晚会上担任主持,并为他颁发银制纪念杯。我虽然是一名律师,但从未公开发表过演讲。一想到要面对众多的来宾,我害怕极了。在这样隆重的社交场合,如果事情办砸了,我和太太该多难为情啊,这会大大影响我在客户心中的形象。为此,我特意从古巴赶来向你求援,但我只能停留三周时间。”When Mr. Lazo arrived in New York, he said, "The Havana Country Club is going to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the founder of the club; and I have been invited to present him with a silver cup and to make the principal talk of the evening. Although I am an attorney, I have never made a public talk in my life. I am terrified at the thought of speaking. If I fail, it will be deeply embarrassing to my wife and myself socially; and, in addition, it might lower my prestige with my clients. That is why I have come all the way from Cuba for your help. I can stay only three weeks."

在三周时间里,我让玛利欧从这个班换到另一个班,每晚坚持发表三四次演讲。回到古巴之后,他在哈瓦那乡村俱乐部盛大宴会上发表了一场精彩绝伦的讲演。对此,《时代》杂志在国外新闻栏目中进行了特别报道,称誉他为“银舌雄论家”。During those three weeks, I had Mario Lazo going from one class to another speaking three or four times a night. Three weeks later, he addressed the distinguished gathering at the Havana Country Club. His address was so outstanding that Time Magazine reported it under the head of foreign news and described Mario Lazo as a "silver-tongued orator."

听着像是奇迹,是不是?它的确是一个奇迹——20世纪克服恐惧的奇迹。Sounds like a miracle, doesn't it? It is a miracle—a twentieth-century miracle of conquering fear.


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