第1章 Acquiring the Basic Skills 获得演讲的基本技巧

Part One Fundamentals of Effective Speaking

In every art there are a few principles and many techniques.

In the chapters that make up the first part of this book, we discuss the basic principles of effective speaking and the attitudes to make these principles come alive.

As adults, we are interested in a quick and easy way to speak effectively. The only way we can achieve results quickly is to have the right attitude about achieving our goal and a firm foundation of principles to build upon.

I STARTED TEACHING classes in public speaking in 1912, the year the Titanic went down in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Since then, more than seven hundred and fifty thousand people have been graduated from these classes.

In the demonstration meetings preceding the first session of the Dale Carnegie Course, people are given the opportunity of telling why they intend to enroll and what they hope to gain from this training. Naturally, the phraseology varies; but the central desire, the basic want in the vast majority of cases, remains surprisingly the same: “When I am called upon to stand up and speak, I become so self-conscious, so frightened, that I can't think clearly, can't concentrate, can't remember what I intended to say. I want to gain self-confidence, poise, and the ability to think on my feet. I want to get my thoughts together in logical order, and I want to be able to talk clearly and convincingly before a business or social group.”

Doesn't this sound familiar? Haven't you experienced these same feelings of inadequacy? Wouldn't you give a small fortune to have the ability to speak convincingly and persuasively in public? I am sure you would. The very fact that you have begun reading the pages of this book is proof of your interest in acquiring the ability to speak effectively.

I know what you are going to say, what you would say if you could talk to me:“But Mr. Carnegie, do you really think I could develop the confidence to get up and face a group of people and address them in a coherent, fluent manner?”

I have spent nearly all my life helping people get rid of their fears and develop courage and confidence. I could fill many books with the stories of the miracles that have taken place in my classes. It is not, therefore, a question of my thinking. I know you can, if you practice the directions and suggestions that you will find in this book.

Is there the faintest shadow of a reason why you should not be able to think as well in a perpendicular position before an audience as you can sitting down? Is there any reason why you should play host to butterflies in your stomach and become a victim of the “trembles”when you get up to address an audience? Surely, you realize that this condition can be remedied, that training and practice will wear away your audience-fright and give you self-confidence.

This book will help you to achieve that goal. It is not an ordinary textbook. It is not filled with rules concerning the mechanics of speaking. It does not dwell on the physiological aspects of vocal production and articulation. It is the distillation of a lifetime spent in training adults in effective speaking. It starts with you as you are, and from that premise works naturally to the conclusion of what you want to be. All you have to do is cooperate—follow the suggestions in this book, apply them in every speaking situation, and persevere.

In order to get the most out of this book, and to get it with rapidity and dispatch, you will find these four guideposts useful:

FIRST/ TAKE HEART FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS

There is no such animal, in or out of captivity, as a born public speaker. In those periods of history when public speaking was a refined art that demanded close attention to the laws of rhetoric and the niceties of delivery, it was even more difficult to be born a public speaker. Now we think of public speaking as a kind of enlarged conversation. Gone forever is the old grandiloquent style and the stentorian voice. What we like to hear at our dinner meetings, in our church services, on our TV sets and radios, is straightforward speech, conceived in common sense and dedicated to the proposition that we like speakers to talk with, and not at, us.

Despite what many school texts would lead us to believe, public speaking is not a closed art, to be mastered only after years of perfecting the voice and struggling with the mysteries of rhetoric. I have spent almost all of my teaching career proving to people that it is easy to speak in public, provided they follow a few simple, but important, rules. When I started to teach at the 125th Street YMCA in New York City back in 1912, I didn't know this any more than my first students knew it. I taught those first classes pretty much the way I had been taught in my college years in Warrensburg, Missouri. But I soon discovered that I was on the wrong track; I was trying to teach adults in the business world as though they were college freshmen. I saw the futility of using Webster, Burke, Pitt, and O'Connell as examples to imitate. What the members of my classes wanted was enough courage to stand on their hind legs and make a clear, coherent report at their next business meeting. It wasn't long before I threw the textbooks out the window, got right up there on the podium and, with a few simple ideas, worked with those fellows until they could give their reports in a convincing manner. It worked, because they kept coming back for more.

I wish I could give you a chance to browse through the files of testimonial letters in my home or in the offices of my representatives in various parts of the world. They come from industrial leaders whose names are frequently mentioned in the business section of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, from governors of states and members of parliaments, from college presidents, and from celebrities in the world of entertainment. There are thousands more from housewives, ministers, teachers, young men and women whose names are not well known yet, even in their own communities, executives and executive trainees, laborers, skilled and unskilled, union men, college students, and business women. All of these people felt a need for self-confidence and the ability to express themselves acceptably in public. They were so grateful for having achieved both that they took the time to write me letters of appreciation.

Of the thousands of people I have taught, one example comes to mind as I write because of the dramatic impact it had on me at the time. Some years ago, shortly after he joined my course, D. W. Ghent, a successful businessman in Philadelphia, invited me to lunch. He leaned across the table and said:“I have sidestepped every opportunity to speak to various gatherings, Mr. Carnegie, and there have been many. But now I am chairman of a board of college trustees. I must preside at their meetings. Do you think it will be possible for me to learn to speak at this late date in life?”

I assured him, on the basis of my experience with men in similar positions who had been members of my classes, that there was no doubt in my mind that he would succeed.

About three years later we lunched together again at the Manufacturers' Club. We ate in the same dining room and at the very same table we had occupied at our first meeting. Reminding him of our former conversation, I asked him whether my prediction had come true. He smiled, took a little red-backed notebook out of his pocket, and showed me a list of speaking engagements for the next several months.

“The ability to make these talks,” he confessed, “the pleasure I get in giving them, the additional service I can render in the community—these are among the most gratifying things in my life.”

But that was not all. With a feeling of justifiable pride, Mr. Ghent then played his ace card. His church group had invited the prime minister of England to address a convocation in Philadelphia. And the Philadelphian selected to make the introduction of the distinguished statesman, on one of his rare trips to America, was none other than Mr.D.W. Ghent.

This was the man who had leaned across that same table less than three years before and asked me whether I thought he would ever be able to talk in public!

Here is another example. The late David M. Goodrich, Chairman of the Board of the B. F. Goodrich Company, came to my office one day. “All my life,” he began, “I have never been able to make a talk without being frozen with fear. As Board Chairman I have to preside at our meetings. I have known all the board members intimately for years, and I have no trouble talking to them when we are sitting around the table. But the moment I stand up to talk, I am terrified. I can hardly say a word. I have been that way for years. I don't believe you can do anything for me. My trouble is too serious. It has existed too long.”

“Well,” I said, “if you don't think I can do anything for you, why did you come to see me?”

“For one reason only,” he replied. “I have an accountant who takes care of my personal accounting problems. He is a shy chap, and to get into his little office, he has to walk through my office. He has been sneaking through my office for years, looking at the floor and hardly ever saying a word. But lately, he has been transformed. He walks into my office now with his chin up, a light in his eye; and he says, ‘Good morning, Mr. Goodrich, ' with confidence and spirit. I was astonished at the change. So, I said to him:‘ Who has been feeding you meat? ' He told me about taking your course of training; and it is only because of the transformation that I have witnessed in that frightened little man that I have come to see you.”

I told Mr. Goodrich that if he attended the classes regularly and did what we asked him to do, within a few weeks he would enjoy speaking before audiences.

“If you can do that,” he replied, “I'll be one of the happiest men in the country.”

He joined the course, made phenomenal progress, and three months later, I invited him to attend a meeting of three thousand people in the ballroom of the Hotel Astor, and talk to them on what he had gotten out of our training. He was sorry—couldn't come—a previous engagement. The next day he phoned me. “I want to apologize,” he said. “I have broken that engagement. I'll come and speak for you. I owe it to you. I'll tell the audience what this training did for me. I'll do it with the hope that my story will inspire some of the listeners to get rid of the fears that are devastating their lives.”

I asked him to speak for two minutes only. He spoke to three thousand people for eleven minutes.

I have seen thousands of similar miracles worked in my courses. I have seen men and women whose lives were transformed by this training, many of them receiving promotions far beyond their dreams or achieving positions of prominence in their business, profession,and community. Sometimes this has been done by means of a single talk delivered at the right moment. Let me tell you the story of Mario Lazo.

Years ago, I received a cable from Cuba that astonished me. It read:“Unless you cable me to the contrary, I am coming to New York to take training to make a speech.” It was signed:“Mario Lazo.” Who was he? I wondered! I had never heard of him before.

When Mr. Lazo arrived in New York, he said: “The Havana Country Club is going to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the founder of the club; and I have been invited to present him with a silver cup and to make the principal talk of the evening. Although I am an attorney, I have never made a public talk in my life. I am terrified at the thonght of speaking. If I fail, it will be deeply embarrassing to my wife and myself socially; and, in addition, it might lower my prestige with my clients. That is why I have come all the way from Cuba for your help. I can stay only three weeks.”

During those three weeks, I had Mario Lazo going from one class to another speaking three or four times a night. Three weeks later, he addressed the distinguished gathering at the Havana Country Club. His address was so outstanding that Time Magazine reported it under the head of foreign news and described Mario Lazo as a “silver-tongued orator.”

Sounds like a miracle, doesn't it? It is a miracle—a twentieth-century miracle of conquering fear.

SECOND/ KEEP YOUR GOAL BEFORE YOU

When Mr. Ghent spoke of the pleasure his newly acquired skill in public speaking gave him, he touched upon what I believe (more than any other one factor) contributed to his success. It's true he followed the directions and faithfully did the assignments. But I'm sure he did these things because he wanted to do them, and he wanted to do them because he saw himself as a successful speaker. He projected himself into the future and then worked toward bringing that projection into reality. That is exactly what you must do.

Concentrate your attention on what self-confidence and the ability to talk more effectively will mean to you. Think of what it may mean to you socially, of the friends it will bring, of your increased capacity to be of service in your civic, social, or church group, of the influence you will be able to exert in your business. In short, it will prepare you for leadership.

In an article entitled “Speech and Leadership in Business,” S.C. Allyn, Chairman of the Board of the National Cash Register Company and Chairman of UNESCO, wrote in the Quarterly Journal of Speech: “In the history of our business, many a man has drawn attention to himself by a good job done on the platform. A good many years ago a young man, who was then in charge of a small branch in Kansas, gave a rather unusual talk, and is today our vice-president in charge of sales.” I happen to know that this vicepresident is now the president of the National Cash Register Company.

There is no predicting how far the ability to speak on your feet will take you. One of our graduates, Henry Blackstone, President of the Servo Corperation of America, says, “The ability to communicate effectively with others and win their cooperation is an asset we look for in men moving to the top.”

Think of the satisfaction and pleasure that will be yours when you stand up and confidently share your thoughts and feelings with your audience. I have traveled around the world several times, but I know of few things that give greater delight than holding an audience by the power of the spoken word. You get a sense of strength, a feeling of power.“Two minutes before I begin,” said one of my graduates, “I would rather be whipped than start; but two minutes before I finish, I would rather be shot than stop.”

Begin now to picture yourself before an audience you might be called upon to address. See yourself stepping forward with confidence, listen to the hush fall upon the room as you begin, feel the attentive absorption of the audience as you drive home point after point, feel the warmth of the applause as you leave the platform, and hear the words of appreciation with which individual members of the audience greet you when the meeting is over. Believe me, there is a magic in it and a never-to-be-forgotten thrill.

William James, Harvard's most distinguished professor of psychology, wrote six sentences that could have a profound effect on your life, six sentences that are the open sesame to Ali Baba's treasure cave of courage:“In almost any subject, your passion for the subject will save you. If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. If you wish to be good, you will be good. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. Only then you must really wish these things and wish them with exclusiveness and not wish one hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”

Learning to speak effectively to groups brings other benefits than merely the ability to make formal public speeches. As a matter of fact, if you never give a formal public speech in your life, the benefits to be derived from this training are manifold. For one thing, public speaking training is the royal road to self-confidence. Once you realize that you can stand up and talk intelligently to a group of people, it is logical to assume that you can talk to individnals with greater confidence and assurance. Many men and women have taken my course in Effective Speaking primarily because they were shy and self-conscious in social groups. When they found they were capable of speaking on their feet to their fellow class members without having the roof fall in, they became aware of the ridiculousness of self-consciousness. They began to impress others, their families, friends, business associates, customers, and clients, with their newly found poise. Many of our graduates, like Mr. Goodrich, were impelled to take the course by the remarkable change in the personalities of those around them.

This type of training also affects the personality in ways that are not immediately apparent. Not long ago I asked Dr. David Allman, the Atlantic City surgeon and former president of the American Medical Association, what in his opinion were the benefits of public speaking training in terms of mental and physical health. He smiled and said he could best answer that question by writing a prescription that “no drugstore can fill. It must be filled by the individual; if he thinks he can't, he is wrong.”

I have the prescription on my desk. Every time I read it, I am impressed. Here it is, just as Dr. Allman jotted it down:

Try your best to develop an ability to let others look into your head and heart. Learn to make your thoughts, your ideas, clear to others, individually, in groups, in public. You will find, as you improve in your effort to do this, that you—your real self—are making an impression, an impact, on people such as you never made before.

You can reap a double benefit from this prescription. Your self-confidence strengthens as you learn to speak to others, and your whole personality grows warmer and better.This means that you are better off emotionally, and if you are better off emotionally, you are better off physically. Public speaking in our modern world is for everybody, men and women, young and elderly. I do not know personally about its advantages to one in business or industry. I only hear that they are great. But I do know its advantages in health. Speak when you can, to a few or to many; you will do it better and better, as I have found out, myself; and you will feel a buoyancy of spirit, a sense of being a whole, rounded person, such as you never felt before.

It is a wonderful sense to have, and no pill ever made can give it to you.

The second guidepost, then, is to picture yourself as successfully doing what now you fear to do, and to concentrate on the benefits you will receive through your ability to talk acceptably before groups. Remember the words of William James:“If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.”

THIRD / PREDETERMINE YOUR MIND TO SUCCESS

I was asked once, on a radio program, to tell in three sentences the most important lesson I have ever learned. This is what I said:“The biggest lesson I have ever learned is the stupendous importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are, for your thoughts make you what you are. By changing our thoughts, we can change our lives.”

You have set your sights on the goal of increased confidence and more effective communication. From now on, you must think positively, not negatively, about your chances to succeed in this endeavor. You must develop a buoyant optimism about the outcome of your efforts to speak before groups. You must set the seal of determination upon every word and action that you devote toward the development of this ability.

Here is a story that is dramatic proof of the need for resolute determination on the part of anyone who wants to meet the challenge of more expressive speaking. The man I am writing about has come up the management ladder so far that he has become a big business legend. But the first time he stood up to speak in college, words failed him. He couldn't get beyond the middle of the five-minute talk his teacher had assigned. His face went white, and he hurried off the platform in tears.

The man who had that experience as a young student didn't let that failure frustrate him. He determined to become a good speaker and didn't stop in that determination until he became a world-respected economic consultant to the government. His name is Clarence B. Randall. In one of his thoughtful books, Freedom's Faith, he has this to say about public speaking: “I have service stripes all the way up one sleeve and all the way down the other from appearances before luncheons and dinners of manufacturers' associations, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, fund-raising campaigns, alumni organizations, and all the rest. I talked myself into World War I by a patriotic address in Escanaba, Michigan; I have barnstormed for charity with Mickey Rooney, and for education with President James Bryant Conant of Harvard and chancellor Robert M.Hutchins of the University of Chicago;and I have even made an after-dinner speech in very bad French.

“I think I know something about what an audience will listen to, and how they want it said. And there is nothing whatever about it that a man worthy to bear important business responsibility cannot learn if he will.”

I agree with Mr. Randall. The will to succeed must be a vital part of the process of becoming an effective speaker. If I could look into your mind and ascertain the strength of your desire and the light and shadow of your thought I could foretell, almost with certainty, the swiftness of your progress toward your goal of improved communicative skills.

In one of my classes in the Middle West, a man stood up the first night and unabashedly said that as a builder of homes he wouldn't be content until he became a spokesman for the American Home Builders' Association. He wanted nothing more than to go up and down this country and tell everybody he met the problems and achievements of his industry. Joe Haverstick meant what he said. He was the kind of class member that delights an instructor:he was in dead earnest. He wanted to be able to talk, not on local issues only, but on national ones, and there was no halfheartedness about his desires. He prepared his talks thoroughly, practiced them carefully, and never missed a single session, though it was the busy season of the year for men in his business. He did precisely what such a class member always does—he progressed at a rate that surprised him. In two months he had become one of the outstanding members of the class. He was voted its president.

The instructor handling that class was in Norfolk, Virginia, about a year later, and this is what he wrote: “I had forgotten all about Joe Haverstick back in Ohio when, one morning while I was having breakfast, I opened the Virginia Pilot. There was a picture of Joe and a write-up about him. The night before, he had addressed a large meeting of area builders, and I saw that Joe was not just a spokesman for the National Home Builders' Association; he was its president.”

So, to succeed in this work, you need the qualities that are essential in any worthwhile endeavor: desire amounting to enthusiasm, persistence to wear away mountains, and the self-assurance to believe you will succeed.

When Julius Ceasar sailed over the channel from Gaul and landed with his legions in what is now England, what did he do to insure the success of his army? A very clever thing:he halted his soldiers on the chalk cliff, of Dover; and, looking down over the waves two hundred feet below, they saw red tongues of fire consume every ship in which they had crossed. In the enemy's Country, with the last link with the Continent gone, the last means of retreat burned, there was but one thing left for them to do: to advance, to conquer. That is precisely what they did.

Such was the spirit of the immortal Ceasal. Why not make it yours, too, as you set out to conquer your fear of audiences? Throw every shred of negative thought into the consuming fires and slam doors of steel upon every escape into the irresolute past.

FOURTH / SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE

The course I gave in the 125th Street YMCA before World War I has been changed almost beyond recognition. Every year new ideas have been woven into the sessions and old ones cast away. But one feature of the course remains unchanged. Every member of every class must get up once, and in the majority of cases, twice, and give a talk before his fellow members. Why? Because no one can learn to speak in public without speaking in public any more than a person can learn to swim without getting in the water. You could read every volume ever written about public speaking—including this one—and still not be able to speak. This book is a thorough guide. But you must put its suggestions into practice.

When George Bernard Shaw was asked how he learned to speak so compellingly in public, he replied: “I did it the same way I learned to skate—by doggedly making a fool of myself until I got used to it.” As a youth, Shaw was one of the most timid persons in London. He often walked up and down the embankment for twenty minutes or more before venturing to knock at a door. “Few men,” he confessed, “have suffered more from simple cowardice or have been more horribly ashamed of it.”

Finally, he hit upon the best and qnickest and surest method ever yet devised to conquer timidity, cowardice, and fear. He determined to make his weak point his strongest asset. He joined a debating society. He attended every meeting in London where there was to be a public discussion, and he always arose and took part in the debate. By throwing his heart into the cause of socialism, and by going out and speaking for that cause, George Bernard Shaw transformed himself into one of the most confident and brilliant speakers of the first half of the twentieth century.

Opportunities to speak are on all sides. Join organizations and volunteer for offices that will require you to speak. Stand up and assert yourself at public meetings, if only to second a motion. Don't take a back seat at departmental meetings. Speak up! Teach a Sunday School class. Become a Scout leader. Join any group where you will have an opporunity to participate actively in the meetings. You have but to look around you to see that there is scarcely a single business, community, political, professional, or even neighborhood activity that does not challenge you to step forward and speak up. You will never know what progress you can make unless you speak, and speak, and speak again.

“I know all about that,” a young business executive once said to me, “but I hesitate to face the ordeal of learning.”

“Ordeal!” I replied. “Put that thought out of your mind. You've never thought of learning in the right—the conquering—spirit.”

“What spirit is that?” he asked.

“The spirit of adventure.” I told him, and I talked to him a little about a path to success, through public speaking, and the warming up, the unfolding, of one's personality.

“I'll give it a try,” he finally said. “I'll head into this adventure.”

As you read on in this book, and as you put its principles into practice, you, too, will be heading into adventure. You will find it is an adventure in which your power of self-direction and your vision will sustain you. You will find it is an adventure that can change you, inside and out.

第一篇 高效演讲的基本原则

每一门艺术中都会有一些基本原则和技巧。在组成本书第一篇的各章中，我们会讨论高效演讲的基本原则和让这些原则产生实效的态度。

作为成人，我们会对快速容易的有效演讲感兴趣。快速产生实效的唯一途径，就是要有实现目标的正确态度和建立其上的坚实原则基础。

我于1912年，也就是“泰坦尼克号”沉没在北大西洋冰海的那一年，开始教授当众讲话这门课程。如今，已经有75万多学员从我这里毕业了。

当众讲话教程的第一堂课是示范表演。一些学员会上台讲他们为什么选这门课程，以及期望从这一训练中学到什么。尽管每个人都有不同的说法，但大多数人的原因和基本需求几乎如出一辙：“面对众人讲话时，我会觉得浑身不自在，总担心不能清晰地思考，不能集中精力，甚至不知道自己究竟想说什么。我希望获得自信，能随心所欲地思考问题，逻辑清晰地归纳自己的思想，在商业场合和社交场合侃侃而谈，思路清晰而又不乏语言魅力。”

这番话听起来不觉得耳熟吗？你是否有过这种心有余而力不足的感觉？你不希望自己在演讲时口若悬河，侃侃而谈，令人折服吗？现在你正在翻开这本书，说明你也希望获得这种成功演讲的能力。

我知道你想说什么。我猜想你一定会问我：“卡耐基先生，你真的认为我能培养自信，面对众人而口齿流利地对他们演讲吗？”

我这一生几乎全都用于帮助人们消除恐惧、培养勇气和自信。在我班上发生的种种奇迹，可以写出几十本书。因此，你问的问题不在于我“认为”；如果你能根据书中的方法和建议去练习，那么你一定能做到。

为什么站在众人面前就不能像坐着那样冷静地思考呢？为什么当众站起来讲话，你的胃部就会翻腾，身体就会不停地发抖呢？这些问题肯定是可以克服的，只要接受训练和练习，你就会消除面对听众的恐惧，并充满了自信。

这本书将帮助你实现这一目标。它不是一本普普通通的教科书。它既不罗列一大堆说话的技巧，也不教你如何出声发音，而是致力于用具体的方法来训练人们如何成功演讲。它以你现有的基础为起点，逐渐使你成为自己想成为的人。而你所需要做的就是合作——遵循书中的各种建议，并将它们应用于一切需要说话的场合，并且坚持不懈。

为了从本书获得最大教益，并对它有一个快速了解，以下四条指引十分有用：

一、学习别人的经验，激发自己的勇气

不论是否处于被囚禁的状态，没有任何一种动物是天生的大众演讲家。在历史上某些时期，当众演讲是一门精致的艺术，要求谨遵修辞法与优雅的演讲方式，因此想成为一名优秀的演讲家十分困难。但现在我们却将当众讲话看作一种范围有所扩大的交谈，从前边说边唱的演讲方式和如雷贯耳的声音已经永远过去了。我们无论是在晚餐聚会上，还是在教堂做礼拜、在家里看电视听收音机，都更愿意听到率真的语言，根据常理来思考，诚恳地交流，而不是对着我们夸夸其谈。

当众讲话并不是一门封闭的艺术，它并不像许多教科书中所说的那样，必须经过多年的美化声音以及艰苦的修辞训练之后才能掌握。我的教学生涯几乎全都致力于向人们证明：当众讲话很容易，只要遵循一些简单却又重要的规则就可以。当我于1912年在纽约市第125大街的青年基督教会开始成人教育时，和最初的学员一样懵懂无知。我最初教这些课的方法和我自己在密苏里州华伦堡学院所接受的教育大同小异。但我很快就发现自己错了：我竟然将那些商场人士当成了大学新生。我发现以演讲大师韦伯斯特、巴克、皮特及欧·康奈尔等人为模仿的例子，对他们毫无裨益。我的学员需要的是在下次商务会议上有足够的勇气站起来，做一番明晰而连贯的报告。于是，我抛掉了教科书，站在讲台上，只教给他们一些简单的概念，直到他们的报告词达意尽，充满自信。这个办法果然有效，因为他们毕业后又再回来学习了。

我希望大家有机会去我家或我在世界各地的代表的办公室，看看学员寄给我的信。这些信来自企业界的领袖，他们的大名常常见诸各大报纸，如《纽约时报》和《华尔街日报》，有的来自州长、国会议员、大学校长和娱乐圈明星，还有更多的信来自家庭主妇、牧师、教师和青年男女，他们全都是一些默默无闻的普通人，以及企业中已经接受训练或尚未接受训练的主管人员、技术娴熟或生疏的工人、工会成员、大学生和职业女性。所有这些人都觉得自己需要足够的自信心和在公众场合表达自己的能力。他们在这两方面都取得了一定成效而心存感激，所以给我写信表示感谢。

当我开始写这本书的时候，有一个人立刻闪现在我的脑海里。在我教过的几千名学员中，我对他的印象很深。根特先生是费城一名成功的企业家，刚参加我的训练班不久就邀请我和他共进午餐。在餐桌上，他倾身向前，对我说：“卡耐基先生，我曾有许多机会在公众场合说话，但我总是试图逃避。现在我是一家大学的董事会主席，必须经常主持各种会议。你认为我在迟暮之年是否还能学会当众讲话？”

由于在我的训练班上像他这样的人很多，因此，我向他保证，他一定能够成功。

大约3年后，我们又一次在企业家俱乐部共进午餐。我们在以前那个餐厅的同一张桌上吃饭，又谈起了从前谈过的话。我问他我的预言是否实现了，他微微一笑，从口袋里面掏出了一个红色的小笔记本，向我展示了未来几个月已经预定的演讲日程表。“有能力做这些演讲，”他承认，“演讲时所获得的快乐，以及我能为社会提供更多的服务——这些都是我人生中最高兴的事。”

事情还远不仅于此。根特先生还得意地告诉我，他所在的教区曾邀请英国首相来费城演讲，负责向人们介绍这位旅美之行的杰出政治家的人不是别人，正是根特先生。

正是这个人，3年前还在这张桌子旁问我，他将来是否能够当众畅谈自如？

还有另外一个例子：已故的格力屈公司董事长大卫·格力屈先生，有一天来我的办公室说：“在我的一生中，每次面对众人讲话时总是惊恐万状。而我作为董事长，又不能不主持会议。我和各位董事都十分熟悉；大家围着桌子谈话时我能够对答如流。但是当我站起身时，就会有一种恐惧，一个字也说不出来。这种情况已存在多年了。我现在想知道你是否能给我一些帮助。我觉得十分严重，这种情况持续多年了。”

“噢，”我说，“既然你怀疑我是否能给你帮助，那你为什么还来找我呢？”

“只有一个原因，”他回答说，“我有一个会计，他专门为我处理私人账目。他原本是一个害羞的小伙子，每天进自己的办公室时必须经过我的办公桌。许多年来，他一直都是蹑手蹑脚的十分小心，双眼紧盯着地面，也难得说一个字。但是他最近却改头换面了，变得神采奕奕，走进办公室时也敢抬头挺胸了，并且还大大方方地问候我。我对他的这种变化十分惊讶，于是问他为什么会发生这种改变。他告诉我说他参加了你的训练课程。正是因为我亲眼目睹了这个小伙子的改变，我才来寻求你的帮助的。”

我对格力屈先生说，如果他能定期来上课，并且按照我的要求训练，不出几个星期，他就敢在大众面前讲话了。

“如果你真的能改变我，”他回答说，“那我可真的是全美国最快乐的人了。”

他坚持上课，并且进步神速。3个月后，我请他参加了一次宴会，地点是在阿斯特饭店舞厅，参加者有3000人。我让他谈谈在演讲训练中的获益情况。由于他事先有约会，他对自己不能前来表示歉意，但是第二天他又给我打电话说自己要来。他说：“我把约会取消了。我很高兴为你演讲。我要告诉人们这次训练带给我的好处，用我自己的故事来激励人们，消除那正在摧毁他们生活的恐惧。”

我只让他讲两分钟时间，结果他面对3000人说了11分钟。

类似的奇迹，我曾在班上亲眼目睹过几千次。我看到了许多人的人生也因为参加了这项训练而得以改观：一些人获得了梦寐以求的提升，而另一些人则在商场、工作和沟通中大大获利。有时候，一场演讲就足以办成一件重要的事情。我们来看玛利欧·拉卓的故事。

几年前，我意外地收到了一封寄自古巴的电报。电报中说：“除非你给我发电报阻止我，否则我将立即赶往纽约，接受演讲训练。”落款人是玛利欧·拉卓。我不知道这个人是谁，从前也没有听说过他。

拉卓先生到了纽约。他说：“哈瓦那乡村俱乐部准备为创始人的50岁生日举行庆祝大会，安排我在晚会上担任主持人，并为他颁发纪念杯。虽然我是一名律师，但从来没有公开发表过演讲。一想到要当众讲话我就害怕。如果把事情办砸了，我和我太太该有多难为情啊！这将会大大影响我在我的委托人面前的形象。因此，我特意从古巴来向你求助。但我只能待3周。”

在那3周时间内，我让玛利欧从一个班换到另一个班，每晚都要作三四次演讲。3个星期之后，他在哈瓦那乡村俱乐部的盛大宴会上发表了一场演讲，这场演讲如此精彩，《时代周刊》还专门在国外新闻栏目中做了特别报道，称他为“银舌演讲家”。

听起来像是奇迹，是吗？它的确是一个奇迹——20世纪的人们克服恐惧的奇迹。

二、时刻不忘自己的目标

当根特先生说到他新掌握的当众讲话的技巧给他带来的极大乐趣时，我认为这也正是他获得成功的原因（这一因素比其他因素更为重要）。他的确遵循了我们的指导，毫不懈怠地完成了任务。但是，我相信他之所以能坚持下来，完全是出于一种自我需要，他想让自己成为一名成功演讲家。他将自己投入了未来的良好形象中，然后不懈地努力，终于梦想成真。这也是你必须做的。

集中全部精力，时刻不忘自信与侃侃而谈的演讲能力，对你而言十分重要：想想由此结交的朋友在社交方面对你的重要性，想想自己为大众、为社会服务的能力将大大增强，想想它对你的人生和事业所产生的深远影响。总之，它将为你领袖群伦铺平道路。

国家现金注册公司董事会主席、联合国教科文组织主席艾林，在《演讲季刊》中发表了一篇文章《演讲与领导在事业上的关系》。他说：“在历史上从事商业的人当中，有不少人是凭借在演讲方面的杰出表现而获得赏识的。许多年前，有一位青年，他当时主管堪萨斯一个小分行，但是当他发表了一场精彩的演讲之后，今天成了我们公司负责业务的副总裁。”我正好还知道，这位副总裁是现任国家现金注册公司总裁。

能够从容不迫地站起来演讲，将使你的前途不可估量。我的一名学员亨利·布莱克斯通是美国舍弗公司的总裁。他说：“和别人进行有效的交谈，并争取他们的合作，是我们所寻找的追求进步的人应具备的宝贵财富。”

想想，当你充满了自信，站起来与听众们共同分享你自己的思想和感觉时，该是多么的满足和舒畅啊！我曾多次做环球旅行，深知一个道理，那就是用语言的力量影响全场听众的那种愉悦感是其他任何事物都不能相比的。你会有一种力量感、一种强大感。有一位毕业生曾这样说：“在演讲开始的前两分钟，即使用鞭子抽打我也无法开口。但到结束前的两分钟，我情愿挨枪子儿也不愿停下来。”

现在，闭上你的眼睛想象一下：面对听众，充满自信地走上演讲台，听听开场后全场的鸦雀无声，感觉一下听众们在你深入浅出、一语中的时的那种全神贯注，感受一下当你离开演讲台时听众们掌声的温馨，并带着微笑接受大家对你的赞赏。请相信我，这里有一种魔力和一种永难忘怀的惊喜。

哈佛大学最卓越的心理学教授威廉·詹姆斯曾写过六句话，它们对你的一生可能会产生深远的影响。这六句话就是阿里巴巴勇探藏宝穴的开门秘诀：“不论什么课程，只要充满热情，就可以顺利完成。如果你对结果足够关注，你就一定会得到它。只要你想做好，你就一定能做好。如果你渴望致富，你便会拥有财富。如果你想博学，你就会学富五车。只有真正地渴望这些事情，你才会心无旁骛，而不会白费心思、胡思乱想许多不相干的杂事。”

学习有效地当众讲话，其好处不仅仅是可以做正式的公开演讲。事实上，即使你一辈子都不需要正式公开演讲，但接受这种训练仍有许多好处。例如，当众演讲训练可以帮助你培养自信。因为一旦你发现自己能够站起来，有条不紊地对着众人说话，那么当你和别人谈话时，一定会更有信心和勇气。很多来上我的“高效演讲”课程的人，大多是因为在社交场合中感到害羞和拘束。当他们发现自己站着和同事讲话天也不会塌下来时，便会发现自己的拘束是多么可笑。他们在训练中培养出来的自然洒脱，让他们的家人、朋友、事业伙伴和顾客刮目相看。许多毕业的学员也都是因为看到身边的人个性发生了巨大的变化才来上课的。如格力屈先生就是这样。

这种类型的训练，也会在不同方面影响人的个性，但不会立即显现出来。不久前，我曾问大西洋城一位外科医生、美国医学会会长大卫·奥尔曼博士，就心理和生理健康而言，接受当众演讲训练有什么好处？他笑着说：“回答这个问题，最好是开一个处方，这个处方在药房里是抓不到药的，每个人得自己给自己配药；如果他认为自己不行，那他就错了。”

我桌上就放着这份处方，我每读一次，就觉得有所收获。以下便是奥尔曼博士开的处方：

努力培养一种能力，让别人走进你的脑海和心灵。试着面对单独的人，或者在大众面前清晰地表达你的思想和理念。当你通过这种努力获得进步时，你便会发觉：你——你真正的自我——正在塑造一个别人以前从未见过的崭新的形象。

你可以从这个处方中获得双倍的益处。当你试着和别人讲话时，你的自信心也会随之增强，你的性格也会变得越来越温柔美好。这就意味着你的情绪已经渐入佳境。既然情绪渐入佳境，那么身体也就会随之好起来。在我们这个世界，不论男女老少都需要当众讲话。我并不清楚这在工商业中究竟会带来什么利益，但我听说它们有无穷的好处。不过我的确了解它对于健康的益处。只要一有机会，就对几个人或许多人说话——你将会越说越好，我自己就是这样。同时，你会感到神清气爽，觉得自己完美无缺，而这是你从前所感受不到的。

这是一种美妙的感觉，没有任何药物能给你这种感受。

因此，第二项指引便是想象你自己正在成功地做着你目前所害怕的事，想象你已经能够当众说话并且被接纳，由此获得了很多益处。牢记威廉·詹姆斯的话：“假如你对结果足够关心，你一定会实现它。”

三、下定成功的决心

有一次在一个广播节目中，我被要求用三句话来说明我曾学到的最重要的一课。我是这么说的：“我所学过的最重要的一课，就是我们的思想非常重要。如果我知道你的所思所想，就能了解你这个人，因为正是你的思想造就了你。通过改变我们的思想，就能改变我们的一生。”

你的目标已经指向了建立自信和进行有效交谈。那么，从现在开始，你就要积极地设想自己的这些努力终将会成功。你必须对自己当众演讲的努力成果保持轻松乐观的态度。一定要把你的决心烙在每个词句、每项行动上，竭尽全力培养这种能力。

这里有一个故事，可以作为这一观点的强有力证明：任何人如果希望迎接语言表达的挑战，就一定要具备坚毅的决心。这个故事里的这个人，现在已经登上了企业最高层而成为商界的传奇人物。但是他在大学第一次站起来讲话时，却因为不善言辞而失败了。老师规定每个人5分钟的演讲，他讲了不到一半，就脸色发白，不得不含着眼泪匆匆走下讲台。

虽然有这样的不幸经历，但他不甘心被击倒。他决心要成为一个优秀的演讲家，并且不懈地努力，最终成了世人尊敬的政府经济顾问。他名叫克劳伦斯·蓝道尔。在他富有思想性的作品之一《自由的信念》中，他提到了当众演讲的情况：“我的演讲安排十分紧凑，要参加各种聚会，如厂商协会、商务部、扶轮社、基金筹募会、校友会以及其他团体举办的聚会。我曾在密歇根州的艾斯肯那巴发表爱国主义演讲，谈到我投身于第一次世界大战；我还和米基·龙尼进行巡回慈善演讲，与哈佛大学校长詹姆士·布朗特·柯南及芝加哥大学校长罗伯特·哈钦斯进行教育宣传；我甚至还曾以糟糕的法语发表过一次餐后演讲。

“我认为我了解听众想听什么，以及他们喜欢听到这些内容如何被讲出来。对于肩负重任的人来说，这里面的窍门就是，只要愿意学，就没有什么学不会的。”

我与蓝道尔先生深有同感。成功的决心，正是决定了你能不能成为一个有效说话者的关键因素。如果我了解你的心思，知道你的意志强度，以及你是否有乐观的态度，那么我就几乎可以准确地预测你在改进沟通技巧上会有多快的进步。

在我中西部的一个班上，一位学员在第一天晚上就站起来信心十足地说，他不满足于当一名房屋建造商，他要做“全美房屋建筑协会”的发言人。他最想做的是在全国各地奔走，将他在房屋建筑业中遭遇的问题与获得的成就告诉人们。乔·哈弗斯蒂真的说到做到，他也正是那种让老师高兴的学生，有着狂热的追求。

他想讲的，不仅仅包括地方性的问题，还包括全国性的问题。对于这个想法，他没有三心二意，而是详细地准备自己的演讲，并认真地练习，从没有耽搁一堂课，即使是遇上一年中最忙的时节，他仍然一丝不苟地按照要求去做——结果他的进步连他自己都感到吃惊。在两个月内，他就成为班上的佼佼者，被选为班长。

大约一年以后，在弗吉尼亚州的诺佛克市管理这个班的教师这样写道：“我已经完全忘了来自俄亥俄州的乔·哈弗斯蒂。有一天早晨，我正在吃早餐，我打开了《弗吉尼亚指南》，里面竟然有一幅乔的照片和一篇称赞他的报道。前天晚上，他在一次地区建筑商的盛大聚会中发表了精彩的演讲。我看到这时的乔可不仅仅是全国房屋建筑协会的发言人，简直就是会长！”

因此，要想成功演讲，就必须有强烈的欲望：高度的热忱，翻越高山的坚强毅力，以及相信自己一定会成功。

当裘里斯·恺撒从高卢奔驰而来，穿越海峡，率领他的军团登陆英格兰时，他是怎样确保自己的军队成功的呢？他想出了一个非常聪明的办法：他把军队带到了多佛海峡的白岩石悬崖上，让士兵们望着自己脚底下两百英尺的海面上曾运送他们渡海的船只被火焰吞没。由于置身敌国，与大陆的最后联系已经断绝，退却的工具已经被焚毁，唯一可做的事情就只有前进！征服！恺撒和他的军团就这样成功了。

这正是不朽的恺撒精神。当你想征服面对听众的恐惧时，为何不把这种精神用于自己身上呢？把消极思想全都扔进熊熊烈火中，并把身后通往犹豫退缩的大门紧紧关上。

四、抓住一切练习演讲的机会

第一次世界大战前，我在第125大街青年基督教协会教的课程已经有了变化，不再像当年的情况。每年都会有新观念加入课程，而那些旧思想则被淘汰。但是有一点却一直没有改变，那就是每个学员至少要当众演讲一次，很多时候都是两次。为什么这样做呢？因为不当众说话，谁都不可能学会如何当众演讲，这好比一个人不下水就永远学不会游泳一样。就算你读遍了所有关于当众演讲的著作，包括本书，也仍然开不了口，对你也没有任何帮助。本书只是指引，你得付诸实践。

当有人问萧伯纳是如何获得气势逼人的当众演讲的经验时，他说：“我借鉴了自己学滑冰的方法——固执地让自己一个劲儿地出丑，直到学会为止。”萧伯纳年轻时，是伦敦最胆小的人之一，当他去找人时，常常在走廊上徘徊20分钟或更长时间，才敢鼓起勇气敲门。他承认：“很少有人仅仅因为胆小而痛苦，或者深深地为它感到羞耻。”

终于，他无意中使用了最好、最快而且最有效的方法来克服羞怯、胆小和恐惧。他决定把这个弱点变成自己最强有力的资本。他参加了一个辩论学会，只要伦敦有公众讨论的集会他都会参加。萧伯纳全身心地投入到社会主义事业中，四处演讲，终于把自己变成了20世纪上半叶最有信心、也最出色的演讲家之一。

说话的机会随处都有，你不妨参加一些组织，从事一些需要讲话的工作。你可以在聚会上站起来说上几句，哪怕只是附议他人也好。开会时不要躲在角落里。说话吧！去教堂为人讲道！或者做一个童子军的领队，或者加入一个有机会活跃地参加各种聚会的团体。你只要看看自己周围，便会发现没有哪个工作和活动是不需要开口说话的，甚至连住宅小区里的活动也是如此。如果你不说话，就永远不知道自己会有怎样的进步。

“这些我也都明白，”一位年轻的商务主管曾对我说，“可我总是担心学习的严峻考验。”

“严峻考验？”我说，“赶快丢掉这种想法。否则你永远不会用正确的征服性的精神来看待这个问题。”

“那是什么精神？”他问。

“就是冒险精神呀！”我告诉他。接着我又对他谈了一些通过当众演讲而获得成功，并且使个性也因此开朗起来的真实例子。

“我也要试试，”他最后说，“我要去从事这项冒险。”

当你继续阅读此书，并将其付诸实践的时候，你也是在冒险。你将会发现，在这项冒险活动中，你的自我引导力量和观察力将会给你帮助。你还会发现，这项冒险会从里到外彻底改变你。