Chapter 9 proper way to prepare

A few years ago, the keynote speaker at a Rotary Club luncheon in New York was a prominent government official, and everyone was looking forward to hearing what he would say about the work of the Ministry. As soon as he stood on the platform, we immediately saw that he had not prepared beforehand.At first, he wanted to give an impromptu speech at random, but it didn't work.Then he hastily produced another stack of notes from his pocket.But these things seemed so disorganized, like scraps of iron in a freight car.He fumbled through these things for a while, and his speech became more and more awkward and clumsy.Time passed by, and he became more and more helpless and confused.At this point, he continued to struggle, and occasionally said something apologetic.He hoped to sort out the notes a little bit, and at the same time raised a glass of water with trembling hands, and brought it to his parched lips.It was horrible!He was completely overwhelmed by fear because he had so little preparation for the speech.At last he had no choice but to sit down.It can be said that this is one of the most humiliating speakers I have ever seen.The way he delivered his speech was just like Rousseau said: he began without knowing and ended with not knowing.

Since 1912, professionally, I have judged more than 5,000 speeches every year.These speakers also taught me a great lesson: Confidence comes only from those who come prepared.Just think about it, when a person goes to the battlefield, if he is carrying a faulty weapon and has no ammunition, how can he talk about launching a fierce attack on the enemy?Lincoln said: "I believe that if I have nothing to say, no matter how much experience I have, no matter how sophisticated my skills are, I will not be immune to embarrassment." If you want to develop a sense of confidence, why not increase your sense of security by preparing yourself well before you give a speech?Daniel Webster once said that being in front of an audience unprepared is like running down the street with no clothes on.

Below we will mention some specific techniques when speaking. H. V. Kattenborn, a senior American news critic, participated in a speech contest when he was a student at Harvard University.At that time he chose a short story entitled "Gentlemen, Kings".He memorized it verbatim and rehearsed it hundreds of times to make it a success.At the game scene, when he said the title "Gentlemen, King", his mind immediately went blank.Not only was it blank, but it was completely dark inside.He was suddenly overwhelmed with fear.In desperation, he began to tell the story in his own words.He finally made it!He was really surprised when the judges awarded him the first prize.Since that day, Kattenborn has not read or memorized a single speech.Summing up the secret to his success in journalism, he said he just takes notes and speaks to his audience naturally, never in script.

Vance was a graduate of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and later became a vice president of one of the world's largest insurance companies.Years ago, he spoke in Virginia to more than 2,000 life insurance salesmen from all over the United States.At that time, he had actually only been engaged in the life insurance industry for two years. Although he was not long, he was quite successful, so the host arranged for him to give a 20-minute speech. Knowing this arrangement, Vance was very happy. He felt that this was a rare opportunity to improve his social status.In order to win this opportunity, he wrote down the speech, then desperately memorized it, and rehearsed 40 rounds in front of the mirror.Before going on stage, he even prepared every detail very meticulously-every line, every gesture, every facial expression was just right.He thought he was perfectly prepared, flawless.

However, when he stood up to give a speech, he suddenly became frightened.He only said one sentence: "My function in this plan is..." After that, his mind went blank.In a panic, he took two steps back, wanting to start over.But his mind was still blank, so he took two steps back and wanted to start all over again.He repeated this performance three times.The podium is 4 feet high, there is no railing behind it, and the space between the podium and the wall is 5 feet wide.So, when he stepped back a fourth time, he fell backwards off the podium and disappeared into the gap.The audience roared with laughter, and one person even fell out of his chair and rolled into the aisle with so much laughter.The antics of the head of an insurance company were never seen before or since.It's ridiculous that the audience thought this was an episode deliberately arranged for fun.

But what did the speaker himself, Vance Bussler, do about it?He told me himself that it was the most disgraceful speech of his life.He felt so humiliated that he wrote his resignation. Fortunately, Vance's superiors persuaded him and tore up his resignation letter. They helped him rebuild his confidence.After this experience, Vance miraculously became one of the best talkers in the company.However, he never recited his speeches again.Let us use his experience as a reference. Is there a proper way to prepare a speech?There is, and it's not complicated and esoteric.You just need to search for those meaningful experiences in your life background that have taught you about the meaning of life, and then gather the thoughts, concepts, insights, etc. extracted from these experiences.The real preparation you have to do is to think deeply about your topic.As Dr. Charles Reynolds Brown said in a series of evocative lectures given at Yale some years ago:

"Ponder over your subject until it's mature and flavorful...and write down all these thoughts, a few words are enough to express the concept...write them on a piece of paper—after organizing the material like this, these loose The pieces are easy to arrange and organize." Sounds easy, right?Of course not difficult.All it takes is a little focus and thought to get there. When the speech is prepared a little bit, should it be rehearsed?Yes.Here's a foolproof, simple, and effective method: use the topic you choose to give a speech as a daily conversation with friends and colleagues.You don't have to pull out the whole thing, just lean over the lunch table and say something like, "Joe, do you know that something extraordinary happened to me one day, and let me tell you!" Joe might Would love to hear your story.Watch his reactions carefully, listen to his echoes, he may have some interesting ideas, and that happens to be quite valuable.He won't know that you are rehearsing. After you have finished "rehearsing", he may say that it was really fun.

The eminent historian Alan Nivens gave similar advice to writers: find a friend who is interested in your subject, and tell him at length what you have learned.In this way, you can find insights you may have missed, unforeseen arguments, and find the most appropriate form to tell the story.