卡耐基演讲·三、演讲时充满热情

当你走上讲演台时，应该充满对讲演的企盼，而不能像一个要受绞刑的犯人。轻快的步伐也许大部分是装出来的，却能为你创造奇迹，会让听众觉得你有强烈的愿望要谈这件事。讲话前，再深深吸一口气，不要靠着讲桌。抬起头，仰起下巴，告诉自己你现在就要给听众讲一些有价值的事情，因此你全身每一部分都应该清楚无误地让他们知道这一点。想象自己大权在握，像威廉·詹姆斯所说的那样，就算是表现得好像是这样也可以。如果可以把声音传到大厅的后方，这样的音效会让你更有信心。一开始就使用手势，它们更能振奋你。When you walk before your audience to speak, do so with an air of anticipation, not like a man who is ascending the gallows. The spring in your walk may be largely put on, but it will do wonders for you and it gives the audience the feeling that you have something you are eager to talk about. Just before you begin, take a deep breath. Keep away from furniture or from the speaker's stand. Keep your head high and your chin up. You are about to tell your listeners something worthwhile, and every part of you should inform them of that clearly and unmistakably. You are in command, and as William James would say, act as if you are. If you make an effort to send your voice to the back of the hall, the sound will reassure you. Once you begin making gestures of any kind, they will help to stimulate you.

杜纳德和艾林诺·雷尔德把这些描述成“预热我们的反应”。这项原则对于任何需要心灵感觉的情况都适用。在他们的《有效记忆的技巧》一书中，指出罗斯福总统这个人“活泼愉快度过一生，带着一分雀跃、活力、冲撞和热情。这些是他的标记。他总是对自己处理的一切事情兴味浓厚，浑然忘我，或者他装得很像这个样子”。泰迪·罗斯福真是威廉·詹姆斯哲学的阐释者：“表现热烈，这样对自己所做的一切便会自然热烈起来。”This principle of "warming up our reactivity" as Donald and Eleanor Laird describe it, can be applied to all situations that demand mental awareness. In their book Techniques for Efficient Remembering, the Lairds point to President Theodore Roosevelt as a man who "breezed through life with a bounce, vigor, dash, and enthusiasm which became his trademark. He was absorbingly interested, or effectively pretended he was, in everything he tackled." Teddy Roosevelt was a living exponent of the philosophy of William James: "Act in earnest and you will become naturally earnest in all you do."

总之，牢记这句话：表现得热烈，就会使你感到热烈。Above all, remember this: acting in earnest will make you feel earnest.