卡耐基演講·一、了解當(dāng)眾說話恐懼的癥結(jié)

實情之一：害怕當(dāng)眾說話并不是個別現(xiàn)象。一份來自大學(xué)里的調(diào)查指出，演講課有百分之八九十的學(xué)生，剛上課的時候都會感到上臺的恐懼。在我的成人班里，在課程剛開始的時候，登臺恐懼的比例還要高，幾乎是百分之百。Fact Number One:You are not unique in your fear of speaking in public. Surveys in colleges indicate that eighty to ninety per cent of all students enrolled in speech classes suffer from stage fright at the beginning of the course. I am inclined to believe that the figure is higher among adults at the start of my course, almost one hundred per cent.

實情之二：某種程度的登臺恐懼感是有利的，我們天生有應(yīng)付來自環(huán)境的挑戰(zhàn)的能力。因此，當(dāng)你感到自己脈搏加快、呼吸急促時，不要緊張。這是你身體對外來刺激保持警覺的反應(yīng)，這是它為即將到來的行動作準(zhǔn)備，假如這種生理上的準(zhǔn)備是適度的，你會因此而想得更快，說得更流暢，常常會比普通情況之下說得更為精辟有力。Fact Number Two:A certain amount of stage fright is useful! It is nature's way of preparing us to meet unusual challenges in our environment. So, when you notice your pulse beating faster and your respiration speeding up, don't become alarmed. Your body, ever alert to external stimuli, is getting ready to go into action. If these physiological preparations are held within limits, you will be capable of thinking faster, talking more fluently, and generally speaking with greater intensity than under normal circumstances.

實情之三：很多職業(yè)演講者都坦白地說，他們從來沒有完全祛除登臺時的恐懼。幾乎每一次講演前，都會感到害怕，而且會持續(xù)到說最開始的幾句話里。要想當(dāng)賽馬，不當(dāng)馱馬，這些演講者必須經(jīng)歷這樣的磨煉。有些演講者常自詡“像黃瓜一般的冰涼”，其實是像黃瓜一般的皮厚，不過倒也沁人心脾得像黃瓜一樣。Fact Number Three:Many professionally speakers have assured me that they never completely lose all stage fright. It is almost always present just before they speak, and it may persist through the first few sentences of their talk. This is the price these men and women pay for being like race horses and not like draft horses. Speakers who say they are "cool as a cucumber" at all times are usually as thick-skinned as a cucumber and about as inspiring as a cucumber.

實情之四：你害怕當(dāng)眾說話的主要原因，只是因為你不習(xí)慣。羅賓生教授在《思想的醞釀》一書中說：“恐懼都衍生于無知與不確定。”對多數(shù)人來說，當(dāng)眾說話是一個不能確定的因素，于是不免產(chǎn)生焦慮和恐懼。特別是新手，面對一連串復(fù)雜而陌生的情境，當(dāng)眾說話要比學(xué)打網(wǎng)球或駕駛汽車困難得多。只有練習(xí)、練習(xí)再練習(xí)，通過不斷練習(xí)，才能把不確定的因素變得單純而輕松。你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，只要有了講演成功的經(jīng)驗以后，就不會覺得當(dāng)眾說話是一種痛苦，而是一種快樂了。Fact Number Four:The chief cause of your fear of public speaking is simply that you are unaccustomed to speak in public. "Fear is misbegotten of ignorance and uncertainty," says Professor Robinson in The Mind in the Making. For most people, public speaking is an unknown quantity, and consequently one fraught with anxiety and fear factors. For the beginner, it is a complex series of strange situations, more involved than, say, learning to play tennis or drive a car. To make this fearful situation simple and easy: practice, practice, practice. You will find, as thousands upon thousands have, that public speaking can be made a joy instead of an agony merely by getting a record of successful speaking experiences behind you.

這是杰出的演講家、著名的心理學(xué)家艾伯特·愛德華·威格恩的故事，我一直把它當(dāng)做一種鼓勵。他說在他讀中學(xué)時，一想到被要求起立作五分鐘的講演，他就感到非常的害怕。The story of how Albert Edward Wiggam, the prominent lecturer and popular psychologist, overcame his fear, has been an inspiration to me ever since I first read it. He tells how terror-struck he was at the thought of standing up in high school and delivering a five-minute declamation.

他這樣描述：“當(dāng)講演的日子要到時，我就病了。只要一想到那可怕的事情，血就直沖腦門，臉頰發(fā)燒，只有跑到學(xué)校后邊去，把臉貼在冷涼的磚墻上，以便褪去臉上涌起的緋紅。As the day approached, he writes, "I became positively ill. Whenever the dreadful thought occurred to me, my whole head would flush with blood and my cheeks would burn so painfully that I would go out behind the school building and press them against the cold brick wall to try to reduce their surging blushes. It was the same way with me in college.

“我在讀大學(xué)時還是這樣。有一次，我小心地背下一篇演講詞的開頭：‘亞當(dāng)斯與愛德華已經(jīng)不再是……’。但當(dāng)我面對聽眾，腦袋里轟地一下，幾乎不知身在何處了。勉強擠出開場白：‘亞當(dāng)斯與杰斐遜已經(jīng)過世……’然后再也說不出一句話，因此便鞠躬……在如雷的掌聲中沉重地回到座位上。校長站起來說：‘唔，愛德華，我們聽到這則悲傷的消息真是震驚，不過現(xiàn)在我們會盡量地節(jié)哀的?！又呛逄么笮ΑＮ艺嫦胍运澜饷?，不過那次只是病了幾天。On one occasion, I carefully memorized a declamation beginning, 'Adams and Jefferson are no more.' When I faced the audience, my head was swimming so I scarcely knew where I was. I managed to gasp out the opening sentence, stating that ,' Adams and Jefferson have passed away.' I couldn't say another word, so I bowed ... and walked solemnly back to my seat amid great applause. The president got up and said, 'Well, Edward, we are shocked to hear the sad news, but we will do our best to bear up under the circumstances.' During the uproarious laughter that followed, death would surely have been a welcome relief. I was ill for days afterward.

“活在這世上，我最不敢期望做到的，便是當(dāng)個大眾演講家?！盋ertainly the last thing on earth I ever expected to become was a public speaker."

但是，1896年——他離開大學(xué)一年后，丹佛掀起一場關(guān)于“自由銀幣鑄造”問題的政治運動。他認為“自由銀幣人士”布萊安及其徒眾的建議犯了錯誤，承諾空洞，于是十分憤怒，因此當(dāng)了手表做盤纏，回到家鄉(xiāng)印第安納州。然后他自告奮勇，就健全的幣制發(fā)表演講。聽眾席上有不少是老同學(xué)?！皠傞_始，”他寫道，“大學(xué)里‘亞當(dāng)斯和杰斐遜’的演講那一幕又掠過我的腦海，恐懼快要讓我窒息了，我講話結(jié)巴，我?guī)缀醵家獜闹v臺上逃走了。不過，就如區(qū)安西·德普常說的那樣，聽眾和我都勉強撐過緒論部分，然后這小小的成功增添了我的勇氣，我就繼續(xù)往下說了自以為大約15分鐘的光景。其實，我說了一個半鐘頭，這讓我驚異極了。A year after he left college, Albert Wiggam was in Denver. The political campaign of 1896 was raging over the issue of Free Silver. One day he read a pamphlet explaining the proposals of the Free Silverites; he became so incensed over what he considered the errors and hollow promises of Bryan and his followers, that he pawned his watch for enough money to get back to his native Indiana. Once there, he offered his services to speak on the subject of sound money. Many of his old school friends were in the audience. "As I began," he writes, "the picture of my Adams and Jefferson speech in college swept over me. I choked and stammered and all seemed to be lost. But, as Chauncey Depew often said, both the audience and I managed somehow to live through the introduction; and encouraged by even this tiny success, I went on talking for what I thought was about fifteen minutes. To my amazement, I discovered I had been talking an hour and a half!

“結(jié)果，在以后的幾年里，我是令全世界最感吃驚的人，竟然會把當(dāng)眾演講當(dāng)成自己吃飯的行當(dāng)。As a result, within the next few years, I was the most surprised person in the world to find myself making my living as a professional public speaker.

“我終于體會到威廉·詹姆斯說的‘成功的習(xí)慣’是什么意思了?！? knew at first hand what William James meant by the habit of success."

艾伯特·愛德華·威格恩終于認識到，要克服當(dāng)眾說話那種天翻地覆的恐懼感，最穩(wěn)妥的方法是以獲取成功的經(jīng)驗做后援。Yes, Albert Edward Wiggam learned that one of the surest ways of overcoming the devastating fear of speaking before groups is to get a record of successful experiences behind you.

你要當(dāng)眾說話，產(chǎn)生一定程度的恐懼是自然的，但同時你也要學(xué)會憑借適度的登臺恐懼，使你說得更好。You should expect a certain amount of fear as a natural adjunct of your desire to speak in public, and you should learn to depend on a limited amount of stage fright to help make you give a better talk.

即使登臺的恐懼一發(fā)而不可收拾，造成了心靈滯塞、言語不暢、肌肉痙攣無法控制，因而嚴重影響到你說話的能力，也沒有必要絕望。這些癥狀在初學(xué)者中很常見，只要你多下工夫，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)這種恐懼很快會減少到適當(dāng)?shù)某潭?，這時它就是一種助力，而不是一種阻力了。If stage fright gets out of hand and seriously curtails your effectiveness by causing mental blocks, lack of fluency, uncontrollable tics, and excessive muscular spasm, you should not despair. These symptoms are not unusual in beginners. If you make the effort, you will find the degree of stage fright soon reduced to the point where it will prove a help and not a hindrance.