The Fundamentals of Public Speaking

What is the most terrifying experience for most people? Is it drowning? Is it falling from a high place to their death? Is it being attacked by wild dogs? Though these experiences would certainly frighten most people, according to a recent poll, most people fear standing on a stage in front of a group of people to deliver a speech more than anything else, including the above life-threatening scenarios! What is going on here? Why is public speaking so menacing to most people?
　　Coaches of public speaking are fond of noting that public speaking "is an unnatural act." This is a tongue-in-cheek definition. Though people usually think of kinky sex as an "unnatural act," public speaking is in one important way unnatural. Human communication is inseparable from the human condition; that is, we actually spend more time in communicating with others (including listening to prerecorded spoken information) than we do anything else except breathing. There is, in other words, nothing unnatural in communicating. Standing on a stage in front of a group of people to deliver a speech, however, is certainly unnatural. In no other situation do so many humans have to keep quiet, watch the speaker attentively, and keep their minds on the message without an opportunity to respond. In no other situation can one speaker command the silence of an entire group of people. The responsibility on both sides is taxing; hence, the very act of speaking in public breaks the natural rules of human discourse and is thus unnatural.
　　The result of this unnatural act is to make both the speaker and the audience somewhat nervous in their new roles as dominant speaker and submissive audience. Most people do not understand the mechanics of crowd control or public speaking and are terrified by even the notion of appearing alone in front of what many perceive as a hostile group of people. Actually, the audience should be pitied, not the speaker. Who wants to sit through a long, boring speech? Who wants to sit and have to listen, without the chance to respond to the speaker? Accomplished public speakers learn to accept the tension between the audience and the stage and work with it. These savvy speakers have some tips for novice speakers.
　　An obvious suggestion is to be well prepared. Though it is not a good idea to write out a speech and memorize it (this is a recitation, not a speech), preparing an outline of the main ideas of the topic in logical order is. Further, practicing the speech out loud will help the speaker identify the strong and weak parts of the speech.
　　Another good idea is to face the audience. The audience, after all, is the object of the endeavor. By noting their expressions, a speaker can often monitor whether he is speaking loudly enough, too quickly or slowly, at too difficult a level, etc. "Sweeping" the audience with one's attention —— looking at all sections of the audience at one time or another and regularly —— helps the audience keep its attention focused on the speaker.
　　The most important of these suggestions, however, is simply to be sincere. The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time. You can fool all of the people some of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time." These profound words are applicable to speakers in public. Since the audience is observing and listening to the speaker closely, it is virtually impossible for a speaker to fake sounding confident if he is not, nor is it possible for the speaker to convince an audience of his conviction if he himself is not convinced.
　　Following the simple tips listed above will improve a speaker's performance in public. Like any other skill or art, the more one practices, the better he is likely to become. Public speaking is not only for speech contests; all professionals must present themselves in public sooner or later. Rather than shirking the opportunity to speak, seize it and make the most of it the next time fortune knocks.

　　对大多数人来说，什么是最可怕的经验呢？是溺水吗？还是从高处掉下来摔死呢？或者是被野狗攻击呢？虽然这些经验的确会吓着很多人，然而，根据最近的一项调查指出，大多数人最害怕的一件事莫过于站在台上面对大众发表演说，害怕的程度甚至比上述要人命的情节还要高。到底是怎么一回事呢？为什么演讲会这么的令人害怕呢？
　　教授演讲术的人喜欢把演讲说成“是一种不自然的行为”。这种定义有嘲讽的意味。虽然大家通常会把怪异的性行为才当作是“不自然的行为”，但严格地来说，演讲也是不自然的。人际沟通与人类的生活情况是密不可分的；也就是说，除了呼吸之外，我们花在与他人沟通的时间（包括收听事先录好的讯息）实际上比花在任何事情上的时间都还多。换言之，沟通根本就是一件很自然的事。不过，站在台上面对一群人作演讲确实是一件很不自然的事。只有在演讲的场合，才有那么多人得静下来全神贯注地看着演讲人，专心聆听演讲内容，而且还没有机会发问。也只有在这样的场合，演讲人才能掌控整个听众的肃静气氛。演讲人与听众双方的责任蛮艰巨的。因此，在公众前演讲这个行为已经违反了人际交谈的自然法则，因而不是自然的行为。
　　这种不自然的行为结果使得演讲者和听众皆对于他们的新角色——即演讲人很强势,而听众则很顺从——变得有些紧张起来。大部份的人都不懂得如何掌握群众和演说的技巧，因此一想到要单独站在这群他们认为具有敌意的群众面前，便感到害怕。事实上，该受到同情的是观众而不是演讲人。谁愿意从头到尾坐着听冗长又无聊的演讲呢？谁又愿意必须坐着听讲却没有机会向演讲人发问呢？经验老道的演讲人就会学习去接受他与听众之间的紧张关系，进而寻求因应之道。这些演讲老手有一些秘诀可供新手参考。
　　众人皆知的一个建议就是准备要充分。虽然把全部的演讲内容写下来并背下来不是一个好方法（这是背书，而非演讲），但是按逻辑顺序写下演讲大纲却不失为一个好点子。再者，大声演练讲稿也可以帮助演讲人知道演讲内容的强弱之处。
　　另一个好主意就是要面对听众。毕竟，听众是你得努力面对的对象。即由观察听众的表情，演讲人就可以知道他的音量是否够大，说得太快还是太慢，程度是否过难等等。用心扫瞄听众——不时并经常看着各角落的听众——可以帮助听众把注意力集中在演讲人身上。
　　不过最重要的建议就是要诚恳。美国第十六任总统林肯曾说：“你可以永远欺骗某些人，你也可以欺骗所有人于一时，但是你却无法永远欺骗所有人。”这些意义深奥的话也适用于在公众面前演讲的人。由于听众会仔细观察演讲人并聆听他的演讲，所以如果演讲人若不够自信，要装成有自信的样子几乎是不可能的。同样地，如果演说者对自己的论点都无法信服，也就不可能让听众信服了。
　　遵守上述简单的建议将可以改善演讲者在大众面前的表现。就像学习其它的技术和艺术一样，一个人越勤练就越棒。演讲不光是为了演讲比赛而已，各行各业的人迟早都得面对大众。与其逃避演讲的机会，倒不如在下次幸运之神降临身上时，抓住机会好好发挥一下吧。