Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Speech Manners——Let the excellent eloquence show the youthful demeanor

An important factor in the success of your speech is not only the choice of words and sentences, but also your attitude when you speak. "What you say is definitely not more important than how you say it." An important factor in the success of your speech is not only the choice of words and sentences, but also your attitude when you speak. "What you say is definitely not more important than how you say it." A good speech attitude can make the original simple truth have a longer-term influence.In speech contests at colleges and universities, it is not the person who speaks the best subject that wins, but the person with the best attitude.He made the best use of his subject matter.

The British politician and famous writer Sir Morley once said in a sarcastic tone: "A speech, the most important thing is three things: who is giving the speech, how he conducts the speech, and what he says. In Among these three things, the lower the order, the lower the importance." Is it too exaggerated?Yes.But just wipe a little scratch off the surface, and you'll find truth shining through. The speeches of the British politician Edmund Burke are the best works no matter in terms of logic, reasoning or article structure. Until now, more than half of the colleges and universities in the world still regard his speeches as speeches. The classic model to be studied.But Burke himself was incorrigible in every respect of speech, and he had neither the ability to present his outstanding work nor to make his speech attractive and powerful.He is known as the "dinner bell" of the British House of Commons. As soon as he stands up to speak, other MPs will cough and shuffle their cards, or they will sleep or walk out of the meeting room in groups.

If you throw an iron-cased bullet at someone as hard as you can, it won't leave a trace on that person's clothing.But if you put gunpowder behind a candle and shoot it out, it will go through a pine board.I will therefore say this: A speech like a candle, propelled by gunpowder, makes a more impressive impression than a bullet without power. So, pay close attention to your presentation attitude. When a store delivers something to you, what do they do?Did that delivery driver drop the delivery in your backyard and walk away?The effect of throwing something out of your hand is different from sending something to the opponent's hand.The person who sent the telegram must personally deliver the telegram to the designated recipient, but not all speakers can convey their meaning to the audience?

I have an example of the general manner of conversation.I stayed in a hotel run by a London company during a stopover in the summer resort of Mürren in the Swiss Alps.As usual, the hotel invites two speakers from England to give a speech every week. One of them is a famous British novelist. The topic she talks about is "The Future of the Novel".The topic of the speech was assigned, and what was worse, she had nothing to say about it. She didn't really care about the topic, so she didn't care whether it was good or not.The novelist hastily prepared summaries and stood before her audience, ignoring them or looking at them—sometimes she looked up ahead, sometimes down at her notes, sometimes at the floor.She read the notes one by one in vain, her eyes were foggy and confused, her voice was erratic, words and sentences drifted into the endless void.

What kind of speech is this?It's a "monologue"—it doesn't communicate with the audience at all.The first condition of a good speaker is the need to communicate.Make sure the audience feels that there is a flow of information from the speaker's head and heart directly to theirs.The novelist's speech may be more suitable to be held in the desolate Gobi desert.In fact the speech sounded more like a speech to the desert than to people. The problems of giving a speech are both simple and complex, and can be easily misunderstood and misused. Much has been written about the art of public speaking.There are many absurd and poor comments in it, which make it shrouded in various rules, rituals and artificial mysteries.The old "oratory" has always been hated by people, and it often makes speeches extremely absurd.When some businessmen who want to learn oratory skills go to libraries or bookstores to find information, they often find some "great works" called "oratory", but they have no practical value at all.Some students are forced to practice and recite the "oratory" of Webster and Ingersoll despite their great progress-how outdated!Those rules are as contrary to the spirit of our time as Mrs. Ingersoll and Mrs. Webster's hats are blatantly worn on girls today.

Since the end of the Civil War, a new theory of speech has emerged.In keeping with the spirit of the times, the new style of speech had become as straightforward as the telegraph.The flamboyant style that was once popular is no longer accepted by modern audiences. Now whether it is a business gathering of a dozen people or a gathering of thousands of people, the audience expects the speaker to state the main point as directly as he would in a private chat, and his attitude should be as cordial as a private conversation with someone in the audience . The attitude can be the same, but the power cannot be the same, or the majority of the audience will not hear your voice.It takes more effort to speak to 40 people than to one, just as a statue on the wall of a building must be so large that it appears life-sized when viewed from the ground.

Once, Mark Twain gave a speech at a mine in Nevada.After the speech, an old prospector came up and asked, "Is this your usual tone of voice?" That's exactly what the audience was hoping for, a slight step up from "your usual tone of voice." The only way to learn this natural skill is to practice.During the practice, if you find yourself speaking unnaturally, stop and ask yourself, "Hey! What's wrong? Wake up! Be human, be natural." It's okay to say it even a little bit harshly.Imagine the listener finds someone—maybe the one sitting at the back, maybe the one who is least paying attention—and gossips with him. Imagine he asks you a question, and you are answering it, and the only one who can answer it is you .If he stands up and you respond to him, this process will immediately make your speech more natural, direct, and more like a normal conversation.

Maybe you go so well that you also end up actually asking the question and answering it to the audience.For example, during a conversation, you say: "Do you guys have any doubts: Is there any evidence for what you say? Of course, I have sufficient evidence, and I will explain it as follows..." Then, you will answer your questions next. posed this imaginary question.This will appear natural and can break the monotonous situation of singing a one-man show alone. Your speech will appear direct and pleasant, more like gossiping with friends. Talking to a community board should be as natural as talking to an old friend John Henry Smith.What kind of gathering is a community board?Isn't that just a bunch of John Henry Smiths getting together?Is it any different to talk to one of them than to talk to them all?Earlier we spoke of a novelist's way of speaking.After her, also in that great ballroom, we had the privilege of hearing Sir Oliver Rocky speak.He used the results of half a century of thinking, research, experimentation and exploration as his title - "Atoms and the World".These have basically become a part of his heart, mind and life. There are some things that he feels must be said. He doesn't worry about anything at all, and he has long forgotten that he is giving a speech.Sir Oliver Rocky wanted nothing more than to tell his audience about the atom, and with such enthusiasm that we should understand what he saw and felt, his speech was clear, fluent, and full of emotion.

In the end, he delivered an otherworldly speech, so charismatic that the audience was captivated and impressed.He really spoke with all his heart, however, I don't believe he thought of it that way himself, nor did anyone who heard him speak think of him as a "public speaker." If after you give a public speech, the audience thinks that you are trained in public speaking, it is not trying to save face on your teacher, especially not on the teacher in my training class.We ask you to speak in such a natural, relaxed manner that your audience would never dream that you have "formal" training.A good window does not attract attention by itself, it only lets in light silently.This is what a good speaker is like. He expresses naturally and without concealment. The audience does not pay attention to his demeanor, but only perceives the subject matter he discusses.