卡耐基演讲·3.在朋友面前预讲

当准备进行到一定程度的时候，要不要试讲一下呢？这完全是应该的。这是一个保证你万无一失且简单有效的方法。把你的想法，和朋友或同事们在日常谈话中聊聊，没有必要全部讲出来，只需要在午餐桌前倾过身去，用类似这样的话谈起：“乔，知不知道，那天我遭遇了一件不寻常的事。”乔可能愿意听听你的故事。这时你就要仔细观察他的反应，听听他有什么样的想法，说不定他会有什么新的有趣的主意，那就很有价值了。他不知道你是在预演，事实上知道也没关系。他或许会说，聊得真痛快。Should you rehearse your talk after you have it in some kind of order? By all means. Here is a surefire method that is easy and effective. Use the ideas you have selected for your talk in everyday conversation with your friends and business associates. Instead of going over the ball scores, just lean across the luncheon table and say something like this, "You know, Joe, I had an unusual experience one day. I'd like to tell you about it." Joe will probably be happy to listen to your story. Watch him for his reactions. Listen to his response. He may have an interesting idea that may be valuable. He won't know that you are rehearsing your talk, and it really doesn't matter. But he probably will say that he enjoyed the conversation.

杰出的历史学家艾兰·尼文斯对作家也有类似的忠告：“找一个对你的题材有兴趣的朋友，详尽地把你的想法讲给他听。这种方式，可以帮你发现你可能遗漏的见解、事先无法预料的争论以及找到最适合讲述这个故事的形式。”Allan Nevins, the distinguished historian, gives similar advice to writers, "Catch a friend who is interested in the subject and talk out what you have learned at length. In this way you discover facts of interpretation that you might have missed, points of arguments that had been unrealized, and the form most suitable for the story you have to tell."