Chapter 2 Good eloquence is the capital of a person's life

On the road of life struggle, speaking will appear all the time and everywhere, and if you make good use of it, you can get ahead and have both sides. If the level of speaking is high, many benefits will come immediately; if the level of speaking is low, many benefits will go away. It can be seen that the effect of good eloquence on the realization of personal value and success in life is invaluable. Mayakovsky once said: "Language is the commander of human power." It means that the exquisite art of oral expression has inestimable charm and power in social life and interpersonal communication.

In the 14th century BC, Pan Geng, the Ming emperor of the Shang Dynasty, persuaded the people who were unable to leave their homeland with vivid, simple and eloquent words, and realized the idea of ​​moving the capital; Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi were good at rhetoric and eloquence in the ever-changing international political life, Greatly improved the international status and prestige of New China, and increased the aspirations of the Chinese people; international financier Sachs persuaded US President Roosevelt to develop and produce atomic bombs as soon as possible, thus laying an important foundation for ending World War II as soon as possible; in today's economic construction In the process of business negotiations, pertinent and powerful words during business negotiations will force the other party to make concessions or reach a consensus in order to facilitate an agreement; generous speeches that promote external and internal connections will revitalize one party's economy.

All of these show that by giving full play to the art of eloquence of oral expression skills, huge spiritual wealth and material wealth can be created. In social life and interpersonal communication, not paying attention to or not understanding the rules of oral expression will always bring about mild or severe adverse effects or even cause failure. Khrushchev once gave a speech full of emotion and rich content at the United Nations General Assembly, but because he was so excited at the end of the speech that he almost carried himself away, he used a leather shoe he took off instead of his palm to slap hard on the podium, which made the whole speech a failure. ——The rude and disrespectful body language caused an uproar in the audience, not only did not achieve the expected effect, but left a laughingstock.

There is a passage in Franklin's autobiography: "When I restrained myself, I used to have a checklist of virtues. At first, there were only 12 virtues listed on the list. Later, a friend told me that I was arrogant when I spoke. , which makes people feel arrogant. So I immediately paid attention to the advice this friend gave me, and I felt that it could affect my future. Then I specifically listed humility on the list. I decided to try my best not to say anything that directly offended others. In terms of feelings, I even forbid myself to use all definite words and phrases, such as 'of course', 'definitely', 'needless to say'...and use 'maybe', 'I think', 'I think', 'that's it', 'probably', 'perhaps'... Instead." Franklin said again, "Speaking has a lot to do with the progress of your career, and it is the main manifestation of a person's strength. If you speak carelessly and argue with others, then you will not be able to get others' sympathy, others cooperation and the help of others.”

If a person wants to be successful, he must have the eloquence to deal with everything.Thomas, an American researcher of human behavior science, pointed out: "The ability to speak is a shortcut to fame. It can make people prominent and stand out from the crowd. People who can speak eloquently often make people respect, be loved and supported by others. It makes a person People's talents and learning are fully developed, shining brightly, getting twice the result with half the effort, and achieving outstanding performance." He even asserted: "Half of the miracles that happen to successful people are created by eloquence."

The facts of countless successful people also prove that being good at speaking is the catalyst for a successful career. On New Year's Day 1983, the Queen of England conferred a knighthood on Gordon Reese, who had served as an adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for many years.Its main achievements are: effectively improving Mrs. Thatcher's speech ability and ability to answer reporters' questions; writing a popular speech for Mrs. Thatcher...in a word, creating a brand-new "grace" for Britain. The image of a female prime minister who is graceful, graceful but not overly luxurious, elegant in conversation, and friendly and natural to others."This shows how much the British royal family and political circles attach importance to politicians.In Western capitalist developed countries, good eloquence is now regarded as an important criterion for measuring outstanding talents. Every company and enterprise recruits various talents and must conduct oral tests.In Japan, when some large companies recruit talents for interviews, they specifically stipulate a number of non-hiring clauses on speaking ability.Including:

These regulations of large Japanese companies reflect the fact that speaking is closely related to career, and it is one of the most important conditions for being qualified for one's job.Knowledge is wealth, eloquence is capital.Only by being able to speak well can we correctly understand the intention of the superior and express it properly. A submissive and incoherent person will definitely not be competent for his job.Let the leaders, colleagues, and the masses understand you at a deeper level through speeches, so that everyone can trust you, have the opportunity to be promoted to higher positions, be competent for more important tasks, and have the opportunity to display your talents and succeed in your career.Make good use of this catalyst, and career success is just around the corner.

Language is produced with the emergence of human beings to meet the needs of expression and communication. It is social, instrumental and symbolic, and its initial formation is speaking. For speaking, farsighted people from all over the world have always attached great importance to it. "One word can make a country prosperous, one word can ruin a country", "A single word of debate is more important than nine tripod treasures", "A three-inch tongue is better than a million teachers" and other ancient sayings, the rise and fall of a country are closely related to the power of tongue debate. Linked together, the power of speech is fully revealed by using the "treasure of nine tripods" and "teacher of a million" to fully reveal the huge social role of speech.

During the Second World War, Americans regarded the "tongue", atomic bomb and money as the three strategic weapons for victory. In the 21st century, Americans regarded the "tongue", money and computers as the three strategic weapons for economic development and social progress.Although this metaphor seems far-fetched, it is not unreasonable. At least it represents the main characteristics of the two eras. In these two metaphors, the "tongue" can be the first among the three strategic weapons, which shows the value of eloquence. No small matter.Therefore, each of us modern people should clearly realize the importance of eloquence, and then better grasp eloquence, a magical weapon that is portable, effective, invincible and invincible.

Eloquence, in short, is the ability to speak, it is a comprehensive and comprehensive reflection of a person's quality, ability and wisdom, and the reason why a person is called the spirit of all things is because there is one most special and obvious difference between a person and other animals, That is, people can speak and use language symbols as a tool to communicate thoughts and feelings.In the prose "Man", Gorky praised man as the spirit of all things, "the eyes shine with the brilliance of dauntless thought, the brilliance of majestic power, which can create gods when people are tired and decadent, and can be invigorated when people are uplifted." Time to overthrow the gods."Man "creates science based on his own experience, decorates his life more beautifully every step he takes, just like the sun generously uses its light to illuminate the earth - keep moving, keep going up, and step forward".The "person" praised here has a shocking personality power, is an abstract thoughtful and creative person, and is the embodiment of human intelligence and courage.And one of the factors that makes it incarnate and form real power is language.

"The Analects of Confucius Liren" says: A gentleman is "slow in speech but sensitive in action".Today, this old code of ethics cannot but be questioned and re-examined. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being "sensible in action", as long as this kind of action is beneficial to the country and the public, as well as to the progress of others and oneself, but "slow in speech" is obviously not suitable for the needs of interpersonal communication in modern society.Good eloquence is not only a need for propaganda and agitation, but also a need for imparting knowledge and enhancing interpersonal relationships.What's wrong with being able to speak well and let the world have more laughter and praise brought by excellent eloquence and witty words?Zheng Yefu, a famous sociologist who participated in the creation of CCTV's "Tell the Truth" program, said that it is really not easy to find a suitable "Kan Ye" for "Tell the Truth".Most people's speech is rigid, dry, stereotyped, lengthy, and uninteresting, and this phenomenon is even more prominent among highly educated people. "I can almost conclude that the lack of oral expression ability is a universal social problem. Our primary and secondary education focuses on the cultivation of written expression ability, and generally underestimates the exercise of oral expression ability. In real life, job hunting, cooperation, discussion , asking for instructions and reports, giving lectures, negotiating, arguing, quarreling, and even going to court, all rely on oral expression without exception.” Carnegie, a well-known American education expert, emphasized the importance of eloquence. He said: "If your eloquence is good...you can make people like you, make good friends, open up your future and achieve satisfactory results. For example, if you are a Lawyer, your eloquence attracts all litigants; you are a shopkeeper, your eloquence helps you attract customers." "There are many people who have been promoted because of their eloquence . . . You have gained a lot of honor. Don’t think that this is a small thing. More than half of your life’s influence is due to the art of speaking.” Therefore, people should not just be satisfied with speaking with their mouths, but should be good at speaking. If they are really good at speaking, life will become more colorful. It is not easy to speak well, but in life, we often see some people are very eloquent. In fact, good eloquence is not a natural talent, it is acquired through hard training. Those who are more famous tend to be more able to speak than ordinary people. In order to improve his speaking ability, the former president of the United States, Lincoln, walked 30 miles to a court to listen to the defense words of lawyers, to see how they argued and how they made gestures. He imitated while listening.He heard those wandering evangelists waving their arms and preaching so loudly in the sky, and he also imitated them when they came back.He practiced speaking against walls, tree stumps, rows of corn. Kakuei Tanaka, the former Prime Minister of Japan, suffered from a stuttering disease when he was young, but he was never intimidated by difficulties.In order to overcome his stuttering and practice the ability to speak, he often recites and reads the text slowly. In order to be able to pronounce accurately, he corrects the position of his mouth and the root of his tongue in front of the mirror, and is very strict and meticulous with himself. . When Qianlong proclaimed himself emperor, Ji Xiaolan, a well-known talent throughout the country, was deeply appreciated by the emperor. One day, Qianlong hosted a banquet for his ministers.The ministers ate very happily and drank very happily.At this time, the pedantic Qianlong became more poetic again, and he published the first couplet: "The Jade Emperor marched, and the wind, knives, rain, arrows, clouds, flags, thunder and drums formed the formation." Emperor Qianlong asked all officials to match the second couplet, but they couldn't match up.Emperor Qianlong became more interested now, and no one could match him.He wanted to show off his talent, so he called on Ji Xiaolan to answer correctly, in order to make this talented man make a fool of himself in front of many ministers. However, what surprised Emperor Qianlong was that Ji Xiaolan matched the second couplet: "The Dragon King hosts a banquet, and the sun lights, moon candles, mountains, delicacies, sea wine, and land serve as the plate." Before the words were finished, all the ministers had already expressed their admiration one after another, as if Ji Xiaolan had relieved them and vented their anger. After hearing this, Emperor Qianlong was not very happy.There was anger on his face, and he was silent for a long time, everyone was quite puzzled. In view of this, Ji Xiaolan knew that she had offended the emperor, so she immediately said: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, so the wind, rain, clouds, and thunder are all at your disposal, and your power shakes the world. The moon, the mountains, and the sea can all be in the banquet. It can be seen that the Holy Majesty is a great god, while the little minister is just a big belly." When Qianlong heard this, he immediately showed a smiling face, praised Ji Xiaolan quickly, and said: "Although the appetite is very good, if you don't have thousands of volumes of books in your chest, how can you have such a big belly?" Because the couplets are quite good.Qianlong's Shanglian showed the heroic spirit of a generation of emperors. Unexpectedly, when Ji Xiaolan published the second couplet, it was very neat and did not show the talent of Qianlong's Shanglian.When Qianlong heard this, he naturally felt a little unhappy.Fortunately, Ji Xiaolan was able to find out in time and justify herself in time, consciously elevating Qianlong and belittling herself.Naturally, the monarch and his ministers sang together, and everyone was happy.It is good for a person to have good eloquence, but the words must be right and the key points, just like Ji Xiaolan, when Qianlong was upset, he said another word to solve the embarrassment, this can show whether a person is truly can speak. One day, Emperor Qianlong said to Liu Luoguo: "If you can guess what I am thinking, I will reward you with a jade bottle." Although Prime Minister Liu didn't care about this priceless "jade bottle", in order to tease After a moment, the emperor replied casually: "The emperor does not want to award the jade bottle to my minister." After hearing this sentence, Emperor Qianlong had to award the "jade bottle" to Prime Minister Liu. In the history of our country, there were indeed many eloquent and eloquent people who were active on the political stage at that time with a sword tongue. Some of them dissuaded war and turned it into friendship; Some cleverly set up metaphors to win over allies with softness;Zhuge Liang's "Talk against the Confucians" and "Zhou Yu's Wisdom" are well-known stories.It also describes the story of Zhuge Liang's "Soldiers and horses came out of the Western Qin Dynasty, a man of great talent against ten thousand people, softly drumming his three-inch tongue, and 'cursing' the old treacherous officials to death".When the two armies of Shu and Wei fought against each other, Wei Chen Wang Lang came to the battle to persuade him to surrender. That is, Zhuge Liang, who was talking about Confucianism, said that Wang Lang was worthless.Kong Ming's "a three-inch tongue really resisted thousands of enemy troops!" This story has also become a good story through the ages. Demosthenes in ancient Greece was an outstanding democratic politician and patriot. He fully and effectively used his speech in fierce political struggles, thus playing a huge social role.In the middle of the 4th century BC, Philip II of Macedonia invaded and expanded outwards, and made generous speeches, publishing eight famous "Speech against Philip".These speeches can be said to be sharply worded and revealing profoundly, which greatly inspired people's patriotic passion to resist aggression and defend their homeland.These eight speeches of his, collectively known as "Lipic", were later extended to a common term, specifically referring to those speeches that lashed out at political opponents with passion and indignation. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, the leader of the American black civil rights movement, led a rally and demonstration of 250,000 people, calling for the opposition to racial discrimination and demanding ethnic equality.When the parade arrived in front of the Lincoln Memorial, he delivered his famous "Speech at the Lincoln Memorial".In this speech, he first enthusiastically praised the "Emancipation Proclamation" signed by Lincoln more than 100 years ago.Then, he changed the topic and pointed out that today, more than 100 years later, the blacks are still in dire straits, calling on the blacks to fight, and in a sincere and passionate tone, he described the ideals of equality and freedom that the blacks dream of: "Black children will be able to compete with whites. Children join hands like brothers and sisters", "God's spiritual light shines brightly, and all living beings see the brilliance together!" This speech can be said to be rich in content, passionate in emotion, majestic in momentum, and has a strong appeal.This fight against racial discrimination and fighting for national equality has greatly promoted the progress of the American black civil rights movement. It is precisely because speeches are so closely related to political activities that they have a great role in organizing, agitating, motivating, criticizing and promoting. Therefore, people not only use speeches to serve specific politics, but also widely care about the political, military and political circles of various countries. From the speeches of famous people, understand and study the information revealed in their speeches, predict the future development trend, and formulate corresponding countermeasures. These celebrities set glorious examples of how we can train our ability to speak.