卡耐基演讲·2.在自己的背景中找题目

有一回，有人请教我们的教师，问他们认为初学演讲者所遇到的最大的问题是什么。经统计发现，“教导初学者根据适合的题目进行演讲”，是这门课程上课初期最常碰到的问题。Once a group of our instructors were asked to write on a slip of paper what they considered was the biggest problem they had with beginning speakers. When the slips were tallied, it was found that" getting beginners to talk on the right topic" was the problem most frequently encountered in early sessions of my course.

什么才是适合的题目？如果它是你生活的一部分，是你的经验或经过思考使它属于你的，你就可以肯定这个题目适合你。又怎样去找寻题目呢？翻开自己久远的记忆，从自己的生活背景中去搜寻生命里那些有意义并给你留下鲜明印象的事情。我们曾就能够吸引听众注意的题目作过调查，发现最为听众欣赏的题目，都与某些特定的个人背景有关：What is the right topic? You can be sure you have the right topic for you if you have lived with it, made it your own through experience and reflection. How do you find topics? By dipping into your memory and searching your background for those significant aspects of your life that made a vivid impression on you. Several years ago, we made a survey of topics that held the attention of listeners in our classes. We found that the topics most approved by the audience were concerned with certain fairly defined areas of one's background:

——成长的历程：与家庭、童年回忆、学校生活有关的题目，一定会获得注意。因为，别人在成长过程中如何面对艰难的经过，最能引起我们的兴趣。Early Years and Upbringing. Topics that deal with the family, childhood memories, schooldays, invariably get attention, because most of us are interested in the way other people met and overcame obstacles in the environment in which they were reared.

不论何时，只要可能，就把自己早年的故事穿插在讲演中。有很多脍炙人口的戏剧、电影和故事，都是讲人们早年遭遇的挑战，这可以证明关于成长的历程的题材是很有价值的，当然也能适用于讲演。如何去确定别人会不会对自己小时候发生的事感兴趣呢？有个简单的方法：只要多年以后，如果某件事情依旧鲜明地印在你的脑海中，呼之欲出，那几乎可以保证是会令听众产生兴趣的。Whenever possible, work into your talks illustrations and examples from your early years. The popularity of plays, movies, and stories that deal with the ·subject of meeting the challenges of the world in one's early years attests to the value of this area for subject matter of talks. But how can you be sure anyone will be interested in what happened to you when you were young? There's one test. If something stands out vividly in your memory after many years have gone by, that almost guarantees that it will be of interest to an andience.

——为了出人头地所做的努力：这是洋溢着人情味的经历。例如，回忆自己早期为追求成功所做的努力，一定能吸引听众的注意。讲讲你是如何从事某种特别的工作或行业的，是什么样的机遇造就了你的事业；告诉我们，在这竞争激烈的世界里，创业时你遭遇的挫折、你的希望以及你的成功。真实地描述一个人的生活，至少它是吸引听众最保险的题材。Early Struggles to Get Ahead. This is an area rich in human interest. Here again the attention of a group can be held by recounting your first attempts to make your mark on the world. How did you get into a particular job or profession? What twist of circumstances accounted for your career? Tell us about your setbacks, your hopes, your triumphs when you were establishing yourself in the competitive world. A real-life picture of almost anyone's life-if told modestly-is almost surefire material.

——嗜好及娱乐：这方面的题目依各人的喜好而定，因此，也是能引起注意的题材。讲一件完全是因为自己喜欢才去做的事，一般不可能会出现失误。如果你对某一特别的嗜好有发自内心的热诚，你就能把这个题目讲得很生动有趣。Hobbies and Recreation. Topics in this area are based on personal choice and, as such, are subjects that command attention. You can't go wrong talking about something you do out of sheer enjoyment. Your natural enthusiasm for your particular hobby will help get this topic across to any audience.

——特殊的知识领域：多年在同一个领域里工作，你已经成为这行里的专家。如果用多年的经验或研究来讨论有关自己的工作或职业方面的事情，也可保证获得听众的注意与尊敬。Special Areas of Knowledge. Many years of working in the same field have made you an expert in your line of endeavor. You can be certain of respectful attention if you discuss aspects of your job or profession based on years of experience or study.

——不寻常的经历：有没有会见过名人？有没有经历战争炮火的洗礼？有没有经历过精神颓丧的危机？这些经验都可以成为最佳的演讲材料。Unusual Experiences. Have you ever met a great man? Were you under fire during the war? Have you gone through a spiritual crisis in your life? These are experiences that make the best kind of speech material.

——信仰与信念：或许你曾经花费许多时间和努力，思考对于今日世界所面临的重大情势自己所应持的态度。那么，你自然很有资格谈论它们。只是这样做的时候，一定要举例来说明。听众可不爱听空泛陈旧的讲演。千万不可以认为随意读些报章杂志，就可以谈论这些题目。如果自己所知的不比听众多多少，那还是避开为妙。但是反过来说，既然你曾经投注多年的时间研究它，那毫无疑问，这是注定该你说的题目，绝对要用它。Beliefs and Convictions. Perhaps you have given a great deal of time and effort to thinking about your position on vital subjects confronting the world today. If you have devoted many hours to the study of issues of importance, you have earned the right to talk about them. But when you do, be certain that you give specific instances for your convictions. Audiences do not relish a talk filled with generalizations. Please don't consider the casual reading of a few newspaper articles sufficient preparation to talk on these topics. If you know little more about a subject than the people in your audience, it is best to avoid it. On the other hand, if you have devoted years of study to some subject, it is undoubtedly a topic that is made to order for you. By all means, use it.

上一节已经指出，准备讲演并不只包括写些字在纸上，或者背诵一连串的字句；它也不是从匆忙读过的报章杂志里抽取第二手的意见。应该在自己的脑海及心灵里深掘，并将生命贮藏在那儿的信念提取出来。不必怀疑那里有没有材料，当然那里有，而且贮藏丰富，只等你去发掘。也不要以为这样的题材太个人化、太轻微，听众不会喜欢听。其实，这样的讲演比我听过的那些职业演讲家的演讲更能让我快乐，也更能让我感动。As was pointed out in Chapter Two, the preparation of a talk does not consist merely in getting some mechanical words down on paper, or in memorizing a series of phrases. It does not consist in lifting ideas secondhand from some hastily read book or news paper article. But it does consist in digging deep into your mind and heart and bringing forth some of the essential convictions that life has stored there. Never doubt that the material is there. It is! Rich stores of it, waiting for you to discover it. Do not spurn such material as too personal, too slight for an audience to hear, I have been highly entertained and deeply moved by such talks, more entertained and more moved than I have been by many professional speakers.