卡耐基演講·說明情況的演講

一次，有個人把美國參議院調(diào)查委員會搞得坐立不安，如墜霧中，可能你聽到的演說者就常常說這樣，此人是政府高級官員，但卻只一味不停的說著，說著，含混不清地說，絕不把自己的意思講清楚。他毫無重點(diǎn)，曖昧不明，整個委員會的困惑與進(jìn)俱增。最后，一位委員——北卡羅萊納州的參議員小撒姆爾·詹姆士·厄文，好不容易逮著機(jī)會說了幾句話——卻字字含意深刻。PROBABLY YOU OFTEN have heard speakers like one who once made a United States Senate investigating committee squirm with annoyance. He was a high-ranking government official, but he did not know any better than to talk on and on, vaguely, without ever making his meaning clear. He was pointless and obscure, and the committee's confusion mounted by the moment. Finally one of its members, Samuel James , Jr., speaking as the senior Senator from North , got a chance to say a few words-and they were telling ones.

他說，這位官員令他想起家鄉(xiāng)的一個做丈夫的人，這個丈夫通知律師，說要把妻子休掉，不過他卻承認(rèn)她很漂亮，是個好廚子，也是個模范母親。He said the official reminded him of a husband he knew back home. The husband notified his lawyer he wanted to divorce his wife, although he conceded she was beautiful, a fine cook, and a model mother.

“那為何還要休掉她？”他的律師問。They why do you want to divorce her? his lawyer asked.

“因為她總是說個不停，”丈夫答。Because she talks all the time, the husband replied.

“她都說些什么呢？”What does she talk about?

“就是這個討厭呀，”丈夫說，“她從來沒說清楚過?！盩hat's the trouble, the husband answered, "she never says!"

許許多多的演說者——男的女的，也就是這個討厭，聽者根本不知道他們在提些什么，他們從來就說不清楚，也從來沒有把意思講明白過。This is the trouble, too, with many speakers, both women and men. Their hearers don't know what such speakers are talking about. They never say. They never make their meaning clear.

在上節(jié)里，你才得了套公式，可以做簡短的講演而有效地獲致聽眾的行動?，F(xiàn)在，我要給你一些法子，幫助你在向聽眾說明時，能把自己的意思表達(dá)清楚。In Chapter Seven, you received a formula for making short talks to get action from your listeners. Now, I am going to give you methods to help make your meaning clear when you set out to inform, and not motivate, your listeners.

每天，我們要做說明性的談話的時間很多，象提出說明或指示，提出解釋和報告。每星期在各地對聽眾所做的各種類型的講演中，說明的演說僅次于說服或獲致行動的演說。清楚說話的能力，其實(shí)還應(yīng)先于打動聽眾去行動的能力。歐文·D.楊是美國工業(yè)巨子之一，他也強(qiáng)調(diào)當(dāng)今之世清晰的表達(dá)能力的必要：We make informative talks many times every day: giving directions or instructions, making explanations and reports. Of all the types of talks given every week to audiences everywhere, the talk to inform is second only to the talk to persuade or get action. The ability to speak clearly precedes the ability to move others to action. Owen D. Young, one of America's top industrialists, emphasizes the need for clear expression in today's world:

當(dāng)一個人擴(kuò)大了讓人們了解自己的能力時，他也開展了自己的用處。當(dāng)然，在我們的社會里，那便是最簡單的事情，人們亦應(yīng)彼此合作，因而，他們首先必須相互了解。語言是了解的主要傳遞媒介，所以我們必須學(xué)會使用它，不是粗略地，而是精確地。As one enlarges his ability to get others to understand him. he opens up to that extent his opportunity for usefulness. Certainly in our society, where it is necessary for men even in the simplest matters to co-operate with each other, it is necessary for them first of all to understand each other. Language is the principal conveyor of understanding, and so we must learn to use it, not crudely but discriminatingly.

本節(jié)中有些建議，可以讓你清晰而精確地使用語言，使聽眾能毫無困難地了解你，陸德威·魏根斯坦曾說：“凡是可以想到的事情，都是可以清楚地思考的。而凡是可以說出口的事，也都可以清楚地講述?！盜n this chapter are some suggestions to help you see language so clearly and discriminately that your audience will have no difficulty understanding you. "Everything that can be thought at all," said Ludwig Wittgenstein, "can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said, can be said clearly."