本書是卡耐基較早的作品之一。它出版后,在人類出版史上創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)奇跡;10年之內(nèi)就發(fā)行了2000多萬冊(cè),遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過同期《圣經(jīng)》的發(fā)行量,而且被譯成了幾十種文字,成為世界上極受推崇的“語言教科書”。它促使人們努力向前,并向自我挑戰(zhàn),激發(fā)了人們追求人生理想、實(shí)現(xiàn)自我價(jià)值的堅(jiān)定信念。無論從事何種工作的人,如果能按照本書介紹的基本方法去做,都能獲得意想不到的收益。
Introduction
Part One/Fundamentals of Effective Speaking
1Acquiring the Basic Skills
Take Heart from the Experience of Others
Keep Your Goal Before You
Predetermine Your Mind to Success
Seize Every Opportunity to practice
2 Developing Confidence
Get the Facts About Fear of Speaking in Public
Prepare in the Proper Way
Predetermine Your Mind to Success
Act Confident
3 Speaking Effectively the Quick and Easy Way
Speak About Something You Have Earned the Right to Talk About Through Experience or Study
B Sure You Are Excited About Your Subject
Be Eager to Share Your Talk with Your Listeners
Part Two/Speech, Speaker, and and Audience
4 Earning the Right to Talk
Limit Your Subject
Develop Reserve Power
Fill Your Talk with Ilustrations
and Examples
Use Concrete, Familiar Words That
Create Pictures
5 Vitalizing the Talk
Choose Subjects You Are Earnest About Relive the Feelings You Have About
Your Topic
Act in Earnest
6 Sharing the Talk with the Audience
Talk in Terms of Your Listeners' Interests
Give Honest, Sincere Appreciation
Identify Yourself with the Audience Make Your Audience o Partner in Your
Talk
Play Yourself Down
Part Three/The Purpose of Prepared and Impromptu
Talks
7 Making the Short Talk to Get Action
Give Your Example, an, Incident
from Your Life
State Your Point, What You Want the
Give the Reason or Benefit the Audience
May Expect
8 Making the Talk to Inform
Part Four/The Art of Communicating
Part Five/The Challenge of Effective Speaking
I trained a number of men in the New York CityChapter of the American Institute of Banking to speakdurmg a thrift campaign.One of the men in particularwasn't getting across to l:us audience,The first step inhelping that man was to fire up his mind and heartwith zeal for his subject.I told him to go off by him-self and to think over this subject until he becameeathusiastic about it.I asked him to remember that theProbate Court Records in New York show that morethan 85 per cent of the people leave nothing at all atdeath;that only 3.3 per cent leave$10,000 0r over.He was to keep constantly in mind that he was notasking people to do him a favor or something thatthey could not afford to do.He was to say to himself:"I am preparing these people to have meat and breadand clothes and comfort in their old age,and to leavetheir wives and children secure."He had to rememberhe was going out to perform a great social service.Inshort,he had to be a crusader.
He thought over these facts.He burned them intohis mind.He aroused his own interest,stirred his ownenthusiasm,and came to feel that he,indeed,had amission.Then,when he went out to talk,there was aring to his words that carried conviction.He sold hislisteners on the benefits of thrift because he had aneager desire to help people.He was no longer just aspeaker armed with facts;he was a missionary see-king converts to a worthwhile cause.
At one time in my teaching career I relied con-siderably on the textbook rules of public speaking.Indoing this I was merely reflecting some of the badhabits that had been instilled into me by teachers whohad not broken away froru the stilted mechanics of el-ocution.
I shall never forget my first lesson in speakmg.Iwas taught to let my arm hang loosely at my side,with the palm turned to the rear,fmgers half-closedand thumb touchmg my leg.I was drilled to bring thearm up in a picturesque curve,to gwe the wrist aclassical turn,and then to unfold the forefmger first,the second fmger next,and the little finger last.Whenthe whole aesthetic and ornamental movement hadbeen executed,the arm was to retrace the course ofthe curve and rest again by the side of the leg.Thewhole performance was wooden and affected.Therewas nothing sensible or honest about it.
My instructor made no attempt to get me to putmy own individuality into my speaking;no attempt tohave me speak like a normal,living human being con-versing in an energetic mann_er with my audience.Contrast this mechanistic approach to speechtraining with the three primary rules I have been dis-cussing in this chapter.They are the basis of my en-tFe approach to training in effective speaking.Youwill come across them again and again in this book.In the next three chapters each of these rules will beexplained in detail.
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