Chapter 61 Let your words be full of pictures

Through your own speech, create an atmosphere for the audience, in this atmosphere, let him start to agree with and support your point of view, so as to achieve the best effect of the speech. Vitality, vigor, and enthusiasm—these three, I've always thought, are the first things a speaker should have.People flocked around a lively speaker as wild geese circle an autumn wheat field.How can you give such a powerful speech to grab the audience's attention?That is to have a deep feeling for your own topic. This is extremely important.If you have no particular preference for the subject you have chosen, you cannot expect your audience to believe you.The reason is very simple, if you have actual contact and experience with the topic you choose, you are passionate about it-like a hobby or pastime, etc., or if you have thought deeply about the topic or have a personal concern, so you are passionate about it , then you don’t have to worry about not being enthusiastic when giving a speech.

More than twenty years ago, in one of my shifts in New York, there was a lecture whose enthusiasm and persuasiveness was vividly displayed before my eyes.I've heard many convincing presentations, but this one—I call it a case of "bluegrass versus hickory ash"—stands out as an excellent case of sincerity over common sense. A first-rate salesman in a well-known New York sales company made the perverse claim that he had been able to make "bluegrass" grow without seeds and without roots.According to his story, he scattered hickory ash in the freshly plowed field, and in the blink of an eye bluegrass appeared!He was a firm believer in hickory ash, and only hickory ash grew from bluegrass.

Commenting on his lecture, I gently pointed out to him that his discovery, if true, would make him extremely rich overnight.Because bluegrass seeds are worth a few bucks a bushel.I also told him that this discovery would make him one of the greatest scientists in the history of mankind.I told him that no human being—living or dead—had ever performed, or been able to perform, the miracle he claimed.In other words, no one has ever grown life from inanimate matter. I told him this calmly, because I felt that his error was so obvious and ridiculous that I didn't need to refute him in particular.After I finished speaking, all the students in the class discovered the fallacy in the exposition, but he himself couldn't see it, and he didn't even realize it for a second.He was incorrigibly enthusiastic about his discovery.He immediately stood up and told me that he was not wrong, protesting that he was not citing theory but merely stating his own experiments.There was sincerity and honesty in his voice.

I told him again that he was probably right, or almost right, or "not a thousand miles from the truth."Presently he stood up again and offered to bet me five bucks that the USDA would settle the matter. Do you know what strange thing happened?Several students in the class stood by his side.If I had made a vote at that time, I believe that more than half of the businessmen in the class would not be on my side.I asked them, what swayed their original argument?One by one, they all said that the speaker's zeal and conviction had made them themselves doubt the views of common sense.

So, since the class was so gullible, I had to write to the Ministry of Agriculture.I told them I was embarrassed to ask such a boring question.Sure enough, they replied that it was impossible to grow bluegrass or other living things out of hickory ash.They also said they had received another letter from New York asking the same question.It turned out that the salesman was so sure of his claim that he wrote a letter immediately. This incident gave me an unforgettable revelation.A speaker who believes in something fervently and strongly, and speaks of it fervently and strongly, can gain a following and a following, even if it is as absurd as the man above.So, if the beliefs we have summarized and sorted out are in line with common sense and truth, and supplemented with great enthusiasm, how contagious will it be?

Almost all speakers will doubt whether the topic they choose will hold the interest of the audience.There is only one way I can guarantee to teach them to be interested: to ignite my own enthusiasm for the topic.Only in this way, it is not afraid of failing to attract people's interest.