如何像里根一樣演講

如何像里根一樣演講

半個(gè)世紀(jì)前，初出茅廬的羅納德·里根以一篇《抉擇時(shí)刻》的演講震撼了美國(guó)。它的影響是如此之大，以至于被稱為"The Speech"。英國(guó)作家薩姆·利思說(shuō)，我們能從里根那兒學(xué)到很多東西，比如“不要選比新娘更漂亮的伴娘”。

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí)：

make a case for 提出充分理由

detente 緩和局面

impromptu [?m'pr?m(p)tju?] 即興表演、演說(shuō)

Reaganomics 里根經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，主要內(nèi)容是依靠減稅、去管制和貨幣政策來(lái)治療“滯脹”問(wèn)題

lucid 清晰易懂的

bridesmaid 伴娘

ant heap 蟻丘

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Ronald Reagan’s career-making speech still shines 50 years on

by Sam Leith, October 27, 2014

* * *

What were the great turning points of the cold war? You could make a case that one was 50 years ago on Monday when Ronald Reagan gave a speech, “A Time For Choosing”, in support of the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.

The speech – or The Speech, as it became known – helped make Reagan’s political career. Shortly afterwards he was nominated to run for governor of California – which led on to the White House, the partnership with Margaret Thatcher, detente with Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika(“reform” in Russian), impromptu wall-demolition in Germany, and all that jazz.

So what made “the Great Communicator” such a great communicator? There are abundant examples in this speech. Wherever you stand on Reaganomics, that is a lucid, cogent and fiercely persuasive statement of the case for small government and market freedoms, and a refusal to accommodate with communism.

One thing any business communicator can learn from is how it deals with statistics. It is packed, at least in the first half, with facts and figures: a nightmare in unskilled hands. They are given persuasive life by Reagan. Here is folksy style; philosophical wit; and above all a clever use of metaphor – which provides an easily grasped interpretation for the statistics.

The most quoted passage is the pivot: “You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There’s only an up or down – [up to] a man’s old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.”

Here, introduced with that seductive “you and I” (inviting us into collusion against “they”), is a spatial metaphor: reframing right versus left as up versus down. And – with his ant heap image.

Also, instead of attacking the Democrats as a threat, he treated them as idiots who missed the point of a greater threat. His sonorous high style was reserved for the communist menace; the Democrats, he made fun of them. That’s far deadlier.

In a splendid reductio ad absurdum(reduction to absurdity), he quoted an optimist on the $298bn hole in the Social Security budget: “He said there should be no cause for worry because as long as they have the power to tax, they could always take away from the people whatever they needed to bail them out of trouble.”

Another jewel: “For three decades, we’ve sought to solve the problems of unemployment through government planning, and the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.” One more: “Well, the trouble with our Democrat friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

What did this brilliant speech do for Goldwater? He lost the election by miles. People concluded that someone had the vision thing; and that someone was Reagan rather than Goldwater. Which offers an extra lesson: don’t – figuratively speaking – pick a bridesmaid who’s much prettier than the bride.

請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測(cè)題目：

1. What is correct about this speech?

a. With it, Reagan accpeted his candidacy for governor of California.

b. The speech helped Barry Goldwater win the presidency in 1964.

c. Reagan called for the demolition of the Berlin Wall.

d. The speech paved the way for his future presidency.

2. How did Reagan manage statistics?

a. He was simply "the Great Communicator".

b. He used mataphors for the audience to grasp the idea.

c. He packed only the first half of his speech with numbers.

3. How did he criticize the Democrats?

a. He attacked them as a threat.

b. He pictured the opponents' policy as "ant heap".

c. He used reductio ad absurdum to make fun of them.

[1] 答案d. The speech paved the way for his future presidency.

解釋：這次演講helped make Reagan’s political career.

[2] 答案b. He used mataphors for the audience to grasp the idea.

解釋：他的接地氣的風(fēng)格、哲學(xué)般的睿智，以及最重要的是聰明的運(yùn)用了比喻，使得聽(tīng)眾能很容易把握他的數(shù)據(jù)的要點(diǎn)。presentation中堆積數(shù)據(jù)是生手容易犯的錯(cuò)誤。

[3] 答案c. He used reductio ad absurdum to make fun of them.

解釋：用歸謬法批判對(duì)手的觀點(diǎn)是非常好用的，以此來(lái)嘲弄對(duì)方是非常致命的。he treated them as idiots who missed the point.