卡耐基演讲·四、表现出信心十足的样子

美国最著名的心理学家威廉·詹姆斯有这样一段论述：The most famous psychologist that America has produced, Professor William James, wrote as follows:

“行动似乎紧随于感觉之后，但事实上却是行动与感觉并行。行动在意志的直接控制之下，通过制约行动，我们也可以间接制约感觉，但感觉是不受意志的直接控制的。“因此，假如我们失去了原有的自然的欢乐，那么，使自己欢乐的最佳方法，即是快快乐乐地坐着或者说话，表现得自己本来就是欢乐的一样。如果这样的举动还不能让你觉得快乐，那就没有别的办法了。Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our spontaneous cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there. If such conduct does not make you feel cheerful, nothing else on that occasion can.

“所以，让自己感觉自己勇敢起来，而且表现得好像真的很勇敢，运用一切意志达到这个目标，勇气就很可能会取代恐惧感。”So, to feel brave, act as if we were brave, use all of our will to that end, and a courage-fit will very likely replace the fit of fear.

记住詹姆斯教授的劝告吧。为了培养勇气，面对观众的时候，不妨就表现得好像真有勇气一样。当然，前提是必须还得有充分的准备，否则再怎么表演也没有用了。如果已经对自己所要讲的内容了然于胸，那就轻松地大步而出，再做一次深呼吸。面对听众之前，深呼吸三十秒，增加的氧气供应可以提神，给你勇气。杰出的男高音姜·德·雷斯基常说：你如果气充胸臆，就可以“席气而坐”，紧张自然消逝无踪。Apply Professor James' advice. To develop courage when you are facing an audience, act as if you already had it. Of course, unless, you are prepared, all the acting in the world will avail but little. But granted that you know what you are going to talk about, step out briskly and take a deep breath. In fact, breathe deeply for thirty seconds before you ever face your audience. The increased supply of oxygen will buoy you up and give you courage. The great tenor, Jean de Reszke, used to say that when you had your breath so you "could sit on it" nervousness vanished.

把身体站直，看着听众的眼睛，开始信心十足地讲话。假想他们每个人都欠你的钱，他们聚在那儿不过是请求你宽限还债的时间。这种心理作用对你会很有帮助。Draw yourself up to your full height and look your audience straight in the eyes, and begin to talk as confidently as if every one of them owed you money. Imagine that they do. Imagine that they have assembled there to beg you for an extension of credit. The psychological effect on you will be beneficial.

你如果怀疑这种理论没有道理，可以找个同意这种意见的任何一位我班上的同学谈谈，不用几分钟，就会让你消除疑虑。如果你没有机会与他们交谈，就听听一个美国人的话吧，他常被视为勇气的象征，但曾经也非常胆小，后来练习自我信赖之后，才成了勇者之最——他便是反托拉斯斗士、常左右着听众、抡使巨杖的美国总统西奥多·罗斯福。If you doubt that this philosophy makes sense, you would change your mind after a few minutes' conversation with almost any of the class members who have preceded you in following the ideas on which this book is based. Since you can't talk to them, take the word of an American who will always be a symbol of courage. Once he was the most timorous of men; by practicing self-assurance, he became one of the boldest; he was the trust-busting, audience swaying, Big-Stick-wielding President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

他在自传里这样说：“因为小时候经常是病歪歪的，又很笨拙。年轻时，起先既紧张又对自己没有信心，我不得不艰难而辛苦地训练自己，不只是对身体，而且是对灵魂和精神进行训练。”Having been a rather sickly and awkward boy, he confesses in his autobiography, "I was, as a young man, at the first both nervous and distrustful of my powers. I had to train myself painfully and laboriously not merely as regards my body but as regards my soul and spirit."

他这样讲述自己蜕变的经过：“孩提时期，我在马利埃特的一本书里读到一段话，印象极深刻，时时萦绕在心。那是一艘小型英国军舰的舰长，向主角讲解怎样才能做到气宇轩昂、无畏无惧时所说的一段话。他说：刚开始的时候，每个人想有所行动时，都会害怕。应该学会驾驭自己，让自己表现得好像一点儿也不害怕。这样持之以恒，原先的假装就会变成事实，他只不过凭借练习无畏的精神，在不知不觉中真的变成无所畏惧的勇者了。Fortunately, he has disclosed how he achieved the transformation. "When a boy," he wrote, "I read a passage in one of Marryat's books which always impressed me. In this passage, the captain of some small British man-of-war is explaining to the hero how to acquire the quality of fearlessness. He says that at the outset almost every man is frightened when he goes into action, but that the course to follow is for the man to keep such a grip on himself that he can act just as if he were not frightened. After this is kept up long enough, it changes from pretense to reality, and the man does in very fact become. fearless by sheer dint of practicing fearlessness when he does not feel it.

“这便是我训练自己的理论根据。一开始，我害怕的事情真多，从大灰熊到野马还有枪手，无一不怕，可是我故意装出不怕的样子，慢慢地我就不再感到害怕。人们若是愿意，也能像我一样做到的。”This was the theory upon which I went. There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first, ranging from grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gunfighters; but by acting as if I were not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid. Most men can have the same experience if they choose.

克服当众说话的恐惧，对我们做其他任何事情都会有极大的潜移默化的影响。那些接受这项挑战的人，会发现自己的人品渐渐完美，因为战胜当众说话的恐惧，已使他们脱胎换骨，进入更丰富、更圆满的人生了。Overcoming fear of public speaking has a tremendous transfer value to everything that we do. Those who answer this challenge find that they are better persons because of it. They find that their victory over fear of talking before groups has taken them out of themselves into a richer and fuller life.

有个推销员如此写道：“在班上站起来几次之后，我觉得对于任何人我都可以应付了。一天早上我走到一个特别凶悍的买主面前，他还没来得及说‘不’，我就已经把样品摊开在他的桌上。结果，他给了我一份最大的订单。”A salesman wrote, "After a few times on my feet before the class, I felt that I could tackle anyone. One morning I walked up to the door of a particularly tough purchasing agent, and before he could say, 'no', I had my samples spread out on his desk, and he gave me one of the biggest orders I have ever received."

一位家庭主妇告诉我：“原来我不敢请邻居上家里来，怕和客人不能融洽地谈笑。但是上过几次课，并站起来讲过话之后，我决定开一次宴会。那次宴会开得非常成功。我往来于宾客之间，毫无困难地和他们尽情谈笑。”A housewife told one of our representatives, "I was afraid to invite the neighbors in for fear that I wouldn't be able to keep the conversation going. After taking a few sessions and getting up on my feet, I took the plunge and held my first party. It was a great success. I had no trouble stimulating the group along interesting lines of talk."

在另一个毕业班会上，一名店员说：“最初我很怕顾客，总是战战兢兢的。在班上讲演过几次后，我觉得说起话来有自信了，也从容了。我开始理直气壮地说出不同的意见。我在班上讲演后的第一个月里，我的销售业绩便上升了百分之四十五。”At a graduating class, a clerk said, "I was afraid of the customers, I gave them a feeling that I was apologetic. After speaking to the class a few times, I found that I was speaking up with more assurance and poise, I began to answer objections with authoritativeness. My sales went up forty-five per cent the first month after I started to speak to this class."

他们发现，自己已经能够轻易地克服别的恐惧或焦虑，从前可能会失败的事，现在却能成功了。从当众说话获得的信心，让自己信心满怀地面对每一天的到来。你同样可以获得这种从来没有过的胜利感，用来迎接生命的难题和困扰，曾经接二连三的困境，也可以变成生活中增添情趣的愉快挑战了。They discovered that it was easy to conquer other fears and anxieties and to be successful where before they may have failed. You, too, will find that speaking in public will enable you to face what each day presents with a sure touch that confidence brings. You will be able to meet the problems and conflicts of life with a new sense of mastery. What has been a series of insoluble situations can become a bright challenge to increased pleasure in living.