卡耐基演讲·鼓动听众采取行动的演讲

第一次世界大战期间，一位著名的英国主教在额普顿营对正要前往战场作战的士兵讲话，有一些士兵明白作战的意义，但多数人并不了解。这一点我很清楚，因为我和他们聊过。可是这位主教大人大谈什么“国际亲善”以及“塞尔维亚在太阳下应有权占一席之地”。而士兵们大半对塞尔维亚是城镇还是疾病都不清楚。所以，他不如对谁也不懂的“星云学说”发表一篇响亮的颂辞，反正效果完全一样。不过，在他讲演过程中，倒没有一个骑兵跑开，因为有宪兵站在每个出口，防止他们逃掉。A FAMOUS ENGLISH BISHOP, during World War I, spoke to the troops at Camp Upton. They were on their way to the trenches; only a very small percentage of them had any adequate idea why they were being sent. I know; I questioned them. Yet the Lord Bishop talked to these men about "International Amity" and "Serbia's Right to a Place in the Sun". Why, half of them did not know. whether Serbia was a town or a disease. He might just as well have delivered a learned disquisition on the nebular hypothesis. However, not a single trooper left the hall while he was speaking; military police were stationed at every exit to prevent their escape.

我无意取笑这位主教，他是一位不折不扣的学者。在宗教人士面前，他很可能声势夺人，功力尽现。但面对这些军人他却失败了，而且是“全军覆没”。为什么？因为他不了解他的听众，也不知自己讲演的确实目的，当然也就不知道该怎么做了。I do not wish to belittle the bishop. He was every inch a scholar, and before a body of churchmen he would probably have been powerful; but he failed with these soldiers, and he failed utterly. Why? He evidently knew neither the precise purpose of his talk nor how to accomplish it.

讲演的目的指的是什么呢？任何讲演，不论自己是不是了解，一般都是指下面所列的四个目的之一：What do we mean by the purpose of a talk? Just this: every talk, regardless of whether the speaker realizes it or not, has one of four major goals. What are they?

——说服听众，取得响应。1.To persuade or get action.

——说明情况。2.To inform.

——增强印象，使人信服。3.To impress and convince.

——给人们带来欢乐。4.To entertain.

我们以林肯总统一系列具体的演讲实例来说明吧。Let us illustrate these by a series of concrete examples from Abraham Lincoln's speaking career.

林肯曾经发明过一种可将搁浅在沙滩或其他阻碍物中的船只吊起来的装置，并获得了专利。这一点好像很少有人知道。他制造出的这种器械模型放在他的律师事务所的办公室里，当朋友来看模型时，他就不厌其烦地讲解它的功用、制造方法等。这种讲解的主要目的，就是说明情况。Few people know that Lincoln once invented and patented a device for lifting stranded boats off sand bars and other obstructions. He worked in a mechanic's shop near his law office making a model of his apparatus. When friends came to his office to view the model, he took no end of pains to explain it. The main purpose of those explanations was to inform.

他在盖茨堡发表不朽的讲演，他作第一次和第二次总统就职讲演，亨利·柯雷过世时的致辞——在这样的场合里，林肯的主要目的是增强听众的印象，使他们信服。When he delivered his immortal oration at Gettysburg, when he gave his first and second inaugural addresses, when Henry Clay died and Lincoln delivered a eulogy on his life - on all these occasions, Lincoln's main purpose was to impress and convince.

他对陪审团讲话时，想赢得有利的决定；进行政治讲演，想赢得选票。这样的目的，就是取得行动上的响应。In his talks to juries, he tried to win favorable decisions. In his political talks, he tried to win votes. His purpose, then, was action.

而在林肯当选总统的前两年，曾经准备过一个有关发明的讲演。他就是想给大家带来一些欢乐；可惜他在这个方面没有成功。他原本想做个通俗的演讲家，结果遭遇了挫折。甚至有一次，在一个镇子里竟然没有任何人来听。Two years before he was elected president, Lincoln prepared a lecture on inventions. His purpose was to entertain. At least, that should have been his goal; but he was evidently not very successful in attaining it. His career as a popular lecturer was, in fact, a distinct disappointment. In one town, not a person came to hear him.

不过，林肯在另外的一些演讲中获得了很大的成功，其中一些已经成为人类语言中的经典之作。为什么呢？因为在其他方面的讲演中，他知道自己的目的，并且知道怎样去达到这个目的。But he succeeded notably in his other speeches, some of which have become classics of human utterance. Why? Largely because in those instances he knew his goal, and he knew how to achieve it.

而另外的一些讲演者不能把自己的目标与听众的目标相结合，所以导致手忙脚乱，说话不流畅，演讲也就不可避免地失败了。Because so many speakers fail to line up their purpose with the purpose of the meeting at which they are speaking, they often flounder and come to grief.

例如：一个美国国会议员在纽约旧马戏场去作说明性的讲演，讲什么美国在如何备战等等。听众开始耐心而礼貌地听了十分钟，然后十五分钟，总之希望他的讲话最好能快快结束。可是他不去理会这些，喋喋不休地扯了个没完没了。听众想要的是娱乐，可不想在这里挨训，所以就没有耐心听他演讲了。开始有人嘲讽地喝倒彩，其他人接着起哄，立刻就有上千人吹起口哨，吼叫起来。议员真是很愚蠢，居然在这个时候还感觉不出观众的心情，仍然闷头继续讲。观众的不耐烦激化成怒气，他们决定叫他安静下来。于是，观众的吼叫和愤怒淹没了他的声音——他被观众的吼叫、嘘声哄下了讲台，令他羞愧难当。For example: A United States congressman was once hooted and hissed and forced to leave the stage of the old New York Hippodrome, because he had-unconsciously, no doubt, but nevertheless, unwisely-chosen to make an informative talk. The crowd did not want to be instructed. They wanted to be entertained. They listened to him patiently, politely, for ten minutes, a quarter of an hour, hoping the performance would come to a rapid end. But it didn't. He rambled on and on; patience snapped; the audience would not stand for more. Someone began to cheer ironically. Others took it up. In a moment, a thousand people were whistling and shouting. The speaker, obtuse and incapable as he was of sensing the temper of his audience, had the bad taste to continue. That aroused them. A battle was on. Their impatience mounted to ire. They determined to silence him. Louder and louder grew their storm of protest. Finally, the roar of it, the anger of it, drowned his words-he could not have been heard twenty feet away. So he Was forced to give up, acknowledge defeat, and retire in humiliation.

让我们以之为鉴吧，让自己讲演的目的适合于听众和场合。前面所说的议员如果事先斟酌一下自己要演讲的目标是否适合前来想得到快乐的观众的目标，他就不会惨败了。所以，一定要事先把听众和场合分析清楚后，才可以从四种目的中选出一种作为你的目的。Profit by his example. Fit the purpose of your talk to the audience and the occasion. If the congressman had decided in advance whether his goal of informing the audience would fit the goal of the audience in coming to the political rally, he would not have met with disaster. Choose one of the four purposes only after you have analyzed the audience and the occasion which brings them together.

每一目标都需要进行不同的处理，都有不同的组织形态，都有各自容易犯的错误和阻碍。为了能把演讲中重要部分的组织结构解说清楚，以下将分四个章节进行谈论。本章讨论“简短讲演以获得行动响应”这个话题。另外三章，则讨论另外三个话题：说明情况，增强印象使人信服以及带给听众的欢乐。To give you guidance in the important area of speech construction, this entire chapter is devoted to the short talk to get action. The next three chapters will be devoted to the other major speech purposes: to inform, to impress and convince, and to entertain. Each purpose demands a different organizational pattern of treatment, each has its own stumbling blocks that must be hurdled.

首先，我们来谈谈如何组织讲演，使听众乐意采取行动。First, let's get down to the brass tacks of organizing our talks to get the audience to act.

有没有一种方法，把我们要演讲的材料安排好，让人们能轻松地抓住我们要求听众去做的事情呢？或者哪怕仅仅是一种策略而已。Is there some method of marshaling our material so that we will have the best chance for successful follow through on what we ask the audience to do? Or is it just a matter of hit-and-miss tactics?

我在1930年和同事们讨论过这个问题。我的课程当时在全国各地开始受到欢迎。由于班级人数众多，我们便对学生的演讲采取两分钟的限制。如果讲演者的目标只在娱乐或说明，这个限制对讲演不会造成影响。但是，等我们进行到要鼓励听众采取行动的演讲时，就不一样了。如果采用老套的自亚里士多德以来就被讲演家所遵循的组织结构形式——绪论、本论和结论结构，便会使这种激励听众行动的演讲无法施展。我们需要一些新鲜的东西，一个稳当的方法，在两分钟的限制内得到结果，并获得听众的响应。I remember discussing this subject with my associates back in the thirties when my classes were beginning to catch on all over the country. Because of the size of our groups we were using a two-minute limit on the talks given by class members. This limitation did not affect the talk when he purpose of the speaker was merely to entertain or inform. But when we came to the talk to actuate, that was something else. The talk to get action just didn't get off the ground when we used the old system of introduction, body, and conclusion-the organizational pattern followed by speakers since Aristotle. Something new and different was obviously needed to provide us with a surefire method of obtaining results in a two-minute talk designed to get action from the listeners.

我们分别在芝加哥、洛杉矶和纽约举行会议，所有的老师都参加研讨。这里有在名牌大学演讲系执教的；有在事业经营上占着举足轻重地位的；有来自正在快速扩展的广告促销界的。我们希望结合这些背景和智慧，探讨出演讲结构的新方法——一个合理的、能反映出我们时代所需要的、合乎心理学和管理学的方法，以影响听众，让他们采取行动。We held meetings in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. We appealed to all our instructors, many of them on the faculties of speech departments in some of our most respected universities. Others were men who held key posts in business administration. Some were from the rapidly expanding field of advertising and promotion. From this amalgam of background and brains, we hoped to get a new approach to speech organization, one that would be streamlined, and one that would reflect our age's need for a psychological as well as a logical method for influencing the listener to act.

天道酬勤，我们终于研究出讲演结构的“魔法公式”，在培训班上采用后一直使用到今天。这个“魔法公式”是什么?请看： ——一开始讲，描述实例的细节，生动说明你希望传达给听众的理念。 ——详细清晰地说出你的论点。 ——陈述缘由，强调听众如果按照你所说的去做，会获得什么好处。We were not disappointed. From those discussions came the Magic Formula of speech construction. We began using it in our classes and we have been using it ever since. What is the Magic Formula? Simply this: Start your talk by giving us the details of your Example, an incident that graphically illustrates the main idea you wish to get across. Second, in specific-clear-cut terms give your Point, tell exactly what you want your audience to do; and third, give your reason, that is, highlight the advantage or benefit to be gained by the listener when he does what you ask him to do.

这个公式，非常适合如今快节奏的生活。讲演者不能再沉湎于冗长、闲散的绪论之类的东西。人们越来越忙，他们希望讲演者以直接的言语，一针见血地说出要说的话。他们习惯了精简浓缩的新闻报道，让他们可以不必转弯抹角便能直接获得事实。他们淹没在麦迪逊街节节进逼的广告招牌、电视、杂志和报纸的一些有力的，词语鲜明的，把信息全部倾出——一字千金没有半点浪费的广告中。所以，利用这个“魔法公式”，可以确定能获得听众的注意，并可将焦点对准重点。它能避免无趣的开场白，像是“我没有时间把这场讲演准备得很好”，或“你们的主席请我谈论这个题目时，我在想，为何他要挑选我”。听众对道歉或辩解不感兴趣，不论是真是假。他们要的是行动，在“魔法公式”里，你一开口便让他们看到了你的行动。This is a formula highly suited to our swift paced way of life. Speakers can no longer afford to indulge in long, leisurely introductions. Audiences are composed of busy people who want whatever the speaker has to say in straightforward language. They are accustomed to the digested, boiled-down type of journalism that presents the facts straight from the shoulder. They are exposed to hard-driving Madison Avenue advertising that shoots the message in forceful, clear terms from signboard, television screen, magazine, and newspaper. Every word is measured and nothing is wasted. By using the Magic Formula you can be certain of gaining attention and focusing it upon the main point of your message. It cautions against indulgence in vapid opening remarks, such as: I didn't have time to prepare this talk very well, or "When your chairman asked me to talk on this subject, I wondered why he selected me." Audiences are not interested in apologies or excuses, real or simulated. They want action. In the Magic Formula you give them action from the opening word.

这套公式是非常理想的作简短谈话的方式，因为其中有着某种程度的悬念。当你开始叙述时，听众被你的故事所吸引，但要等到两分钟或三分钟的时间接近尾声时，才能知道你的重点。要是希望听众照你的要求去做，这一招就很有必要。讲演者如果想让听众为某事而慷慨解囊，假如这样开口：“各位先生，各位女士，我来这儿要向各位每人收取五美元。”不管这件事是多么值得他们掏钱，但这样听众一定争先恐后夺门而逃。反过来，如果讲演者描述了自己去儿童医院探访的时候，看到一个幼童在偏远的医院里因缺乏经济援助而无法动手术后，那么他获得听众支持的机会，就不知要增加多少倍。由此可见，为期望中的行动铺路的，正是故事和实例。The formula is ideal for short talks, because it is based upon a certain amount of suspense. The listener is caught up in the story you are relating but he is not aware of what the point of your talk is until near the end of the two-or three-minute period. In cases where demands are made upon the audience, this is almost necessary for success. No speaker who wants his audience to dig deep in their pocketbooks for a cause, no matter how worthy, will get very far by starting like this: "Ladies and gentlemen. I'm here to collect five dollars from each of you." There would be a scramble for the exits. But if the speaker describes his visit to the Children's Hospital, where he saw a particularly poignant case of need, a little child who lacked financial help for an operation in a distant hospital, and then asks for contributions, the chances of getting support from his audience would be immeasurably enhanced. It is the story, the Example, that prepares the way for the desired action.

再看看列兰·史多是怎样打动听众、支持联合国儿童救援行动的：Note how the incident-example is used by Leland Stowe to predispose his audience to support the United Nations' Appeal for Children:

“我祈祷自己再不要这样了：一个孩子和死亡之间只差一颗花生。难道还有比这更凄惨的吗？我希望永远不要这样，不要在事后永远活在这种悲惨的记忆里。如果一月的一天，在雅典被炸弹炸得千疮百孔的工人区里，你曾听到他们的声音，见到他们的眼睛……可是，我所留下的一切，只是半磅重的一罐花生而已。当我费力地打开它时，成群衣衫褴褛的孩子把我团团围住，疯狂地伸出他们的手。更有大批的母亲，怀抱婴儿推挤争抢……她们都把婴儿举向我，只剩皮骨的小手抽搐地伸张着。我尽力使每个花生都发生作用。I pray that I'll never have to do it again. Can there be anything much worse than to put only a peanut between a child and death? I hope you'll never have to do it, and live with the memory of it afterward. If you had heard their voices and seen their eyes, on that January day in the bomb scarred workers' district of Athens ... Yet all I had left was a half-pound can of peanuts. As I struggled to open it, dozens of ragged kids held me in a vise of frantically clawing bodies. Scores of mothers, with babes in their arms, pushed and fought to get within arm's reach. They held their babies out toward me. Tiny hands of skin and bone stretched convulsively. I tried to make every peanut count.

“在他们的疯狂挤拥之下，我几乎被他们撞倒。举目只见百来只手：乞求的手、抓握的手、绝望的手，全是瘦小得可怜的手。这里分一颗盐花生，那里分一颗盐花生。再在这里一颗，再在那里一颗。数百只的手伸着，请求着；数以百只的眼睛闪出希望的光芒。我无助地站在那里，手中只剩个蓝色的空罐子……啊，我希望这种情形永远不会发生在你身上。”In their frenzy they nearly swept me off my feet. Nothing but hundreds of hands: begging hands, clutching hands, despairing hands; all of them pitifully little hands. One salted peanut here, and one peanut there. Six peanuts knocked from my fingers, and a savage scramble of emaciated bodies at my feet. Another peanut here, and another peanut there. Hundreds of hands, reaching and pleading; hundreds of eyes with the light of hope flickering out. I stood there helpless, an empty blue can in my hand ... Yes, I hope it will never happen to you.

这套“魔法公式”也可运用于书信和对员工作指示。母亲可以利用它来激发孩子，而孩子也会发现使用它向父母要求什么也很容易。它像一把心理利刃，在生活中，你可以用它把自己的理念传达给别人。The Magic Formula can be used also in writing business letters and giving instructions to fellow employees and subordinates. Mothers can use it when motivating their children, and children will find it useful when appealing to their parents for a favor or privilege. You will find it a psychological tool that can be used to get your ideas across to others every day of your life.

即使在广告界里，“魔法公式”也是每天都会被使用的。伊弗雷迪电池公司最近在电视上做了一系列的广告，就是根据这套公式设计的。首先，主持人讲述一个故事——比如，某个人在深夜被困在一辆翻倒的汽车里。在把这个意外绘声绘色地描述后，请出受害者把故事说完，即怎样通过使用伊弗雷迪电池的手电筒发出的亮光，及时为他带来援助。然后，主持人再回到他的目的，点出“重点和缘由”：“购买伊弗雷迪电池，你便可在类似的紧急事故中活命。”这些故事都来自伊弗雷迪电池公司真人实事的档案资料。我不知道这套广告帮伊弗雷迪卖了多少电池，可我确信“魔法公式”真的很管用，可以有效地向听众陈述你要他们去做或避免去做的事情。下面，我们就一步步地进行讨论吧。Even in advertising the Magic Formula is used every day. Eveready Batteries recently ran a series of radio and television commercials built upon this Formula. In the Example step, the announcer told of someone's experience of being trapped, for instance, in an overturned car late at night. After giving the graphic details of the accident, he then called upon the victim to finish the story by telling how the beams of the flashlight, powered by Eveready Batteries, brought help in time. Then the announcer went on to the Point and Reason: "Buy Eveready Batteries and you may survive a similar emergency." These stories were all true experiences out of the Eveready Battery Company's files. I don't know how many Eveready Batteries this particular advertising series sold, but I do know that the Magic Formula is an effective method of presenting what you want an audience to do, or to avoid. Let us take up the steps, one at a time.