卡耐基演講·二、有充分的準(zhǔn)備

幾年前，一位顯赫的政府官員在紐約扶輪社午餐會(huì)上做主講人，我們等著他開始講演，想聽一聽他部里的作業(yè)情形。The principal speaker at a New York Rotary Club luncheon several years ago was a prominent government official. We were looking forward to hearing him describe the activities of his department.

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他事前沒有準(zhǔn)備。他開始想隨意即興講講，結(jié)果找不到什么說的。于是，他從口袋里掏出一疊筆記來。然而筆記雜亂無章，像一貨車的碎鐵片。他手忙腳亂地在這些東西里翻來翻去，找不到有用的東西，說起話來便越發(fā)顯得尷尬而笨拙。隨著時(shí)間一分一秒地過去，他感到越來越窘迫，也越來越不知道講點(diǎn)什么。他不停地道歉，掙扎著還想從筆記里理出一點(diǎn)頭緒來，他用顫抖的手端起一杯水，湊到焦干的唇邊。這情景真是慘不忍睹，他完全被恐懼擊倒了，就只因?yàn)閹缀鯖]有為講演作一丁點(diǎn)兒的準(zhǔn)備。最后，他坐了下來，我見到一個(gè)最丟臉的演講者的形象。他演講的方式正像盧梭所說的情書的書寫方式一樣：始于不知何所云，止于不知己所云。It was obvious almost at once that he had not planned his speech. At first he tried to talk impromptu. Failing in that attempt, he pulled out of his pocket a sheaf of notes which evidently had no more order than a flatcar full of scrap iron. He fumbled awhile with these, all the time becoming more embarrassed and inept in his delivery. Minute by minute he became more helpless, more bewildered. But he kept on floundering, apologizing, trying to make some semblance of sense out of his notes and raising a glass of water with a trembling hand to his parched lips. He was a sad picture of a man completely overcome by fright, due to almost total lack of preparation. He finally sat down, one of the most humiliated speakers I have ever seen. He made his talk as Rousseau says a love letter should be written: he began without knowing what he was going to say, and finished without knowing what he had said.

1912年以來，因?yàn)槁殬I(yè)上的原因，我每年都要對五千多次演講進(jìn)行評析。這給我上了最重要的一課，它像圣母峰一樣高高聳立于群山之上：只有準(zhǔn)備充分的演講者才能有完全的自信。就像上戰(zhàn)場攜著不能用的武器，不帶半點(diǎn)兒彈藥，還怎么談得上去攻克恐懼的堡壘呢？林肯說：“我若是無話可說時(shí)，就算年紀(jì)一大把經(jīng)驗(yàn)一大堆，也免不了要為此難為情的。”假如你想培養(yǎng)自信，為什么不去做好那些在你演講時(shí)能給你安全感的事？使徒約翰說：“完全的愛，會(huì)置恐懼于度外?！蓖耆臏?zhǔn)備也可以做到這樣。丹尼爾·韋伯斯特曾說，他如果沒有準(zhǔn)備就出現(xiàn)在聽眾面前，跟沒有穿衣服是一樣的。Since 1912, it has been my professional duty to evaluate over five thousand talks a year. From that experience, one great lesson stands out like Mt. Everest, towering above all the others: only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident. How can anyone ever hope to storm the fortress of fear if he goes into battle with defective weapons, or with no ammunition at all? "I believe," said Lincoln, "that I shall never be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to say." If you want to develop confidence, why not do the one thing that will give you security as a speaker? "Perfect love," wrote the Apostle John, "casteth out fear." So does perfect preparation. Daniel Webster said he would as soon think of appearing before an audience half-clothed as half-prepared.