英语书籍:Present Your Way To The Top节选(完)

英语书籍:Present Your Way To The Top节选(The End) ZT

PRESENT YOUR WAY TO THE TOP by David J. Dempsey, JD
Published by Mc Graw Hill

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'Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your
eyes off your goal.'
--Henry Ford

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer is the author of numerous bestselling books,
including "Excuses Begone!;" "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your
Life;" and "You'll See It When You Believe It." He is also a very
successful speaker, and he often addresses audiences of several
thousand people. His visualization ritual before speaking is precise
and calming:

'I create the speech in my mind before I go on stage. In other
words, I meditate on it. I see the whole thing working. I see every
little detail, from my arriving, to where I go in, what the room
looks like, how the people are going to react to my speech, what I'm
going to say when I walk out there, how I'm going to dress, how the
lights are going to be. I play the whole thing out in my mind in the
meditation, hours before I speak. I get very, very peaceful with
that. It's a very comfortable, joyful, kind of blissful experience.'


'Eight Tips to Boost Your Confidence'

You must aggressively battle the fear of speaking, because it is
wickedly persistent. It will flourish if you give it room. Here are
eight ways to begin developing unshakable confidence when you speak:

1. 'Seize every opportunity to speak.' "I don't think so!" I can
hear you protesting at this utterly preposterous recommendation.
Work with me here, because this is the truth: the more frequently
you speak, the more confident you will become. As with any learned
skill, you improve with practice. At the senior prom, you would not
walk across the room and ask that little freckle-faced cutie-pie to
dance if you had never danced before, would you? Okay, maybe you
would, but for most of us klutzes, that is way too much pressure.

Don't wait until that critical presentation (the one, for instance,
that will determine whether you will spend the balance of your
career in the boardroom or in the mailroom) to develop your speaking
skills. Practice speaking in such nonthreatening venues
as service organizations like Kiwanis or Rotary, or your
child's grade school class. Refine your speaking skills in these
forgiving environments, not when the stakes are colossal. This
practice will produce a rich collection of successful speaking
experiences from which you can draw confidence.

2. 'Prepare early and thoroughly.' Unless you 'know' that you can
devote ample time to preparing your speech, don't agree to speak.
Even if you are asked to "just say a few words," decline if you
cannot prepare. Those "few words" will haunt you if you misspeak,
ramble, or fall to pieces. For many, just saying a few words causes
the same intense anxiety as delivering a prepared presentation.

Does it really matter if you are prepared? Absolutely. Preparation
can reduce your stage fright by as much as 75 percent. That is a
heap of worry and torment that you can avoid by preparing. Simply
put, there is no better way to reduce your anxiety and bolster your
confidence. So pass if you can't find the time to prepare.

3. 'Use positive self-talk.' Psychologists almost universally agree
that positive self-talk enhances your confidence. You must believe
that you will succeed and that the audience is on your side. Talk
yourself into success and disavow the possibility of failure. Tell
yourself, "I am confident, because I know my topic better than
anyone else. I am an expert, and the audience will see me that way."
Just be careful to conduct your pep talk in private, or people may
think you are slightly loony.


'Bless your uneasiness as a sign that there is still life in you.'
--Dag Hammarskjold

4. 'Loosen up.' For many speakers, their physical appearance alone
eliminates any doubt that they are nervous: they have taut, solemn
expressions; their knuckles are white from clutching the lectern;
their arms are tightly crossed; and their movements are robotic.
Their body language sends a glaring nonverbal message that they are
anxious, and everyone immediately senses it. They are downright
scary to watch.

No audience will believe that you are confident as long as rigor
mortis seems imminent. Instead, project a self-assured demeanor.
Walk to the lectern confidently, not tentatively; act as though you
are excited to be speaking, not as though you were marching to the
gallows; pause before you begin; plant your feet firmly and stand
erect; look at your audience; and smile (principle 30). This will
help you appear and feel more confident. The audience wants to see a
relaxed speaker, not a somber, starchy one.

5. 'Remember that very few speakers are flawless.' We often place
unrealistic expectations upon ourselves ("I have to be flawless, or
my career is kaput and my life is ruined!"). We seldom live up to
those intimidating standards, so don't yank your hair out trying.
Professional speakers, who have devoted their lives to perfecting
their craft, will tell you that they are constantly refining and
honing their presentation skills, and that some of their earlier
presentations were putrid.

Recognize that despite your best efforts, you will not excel in
every presentation. Sometimes you will get rattled, sometimes your
audience will not be receptive, and sometimes those blasted planets
are misaligned. It happens. We do not have to be perfect, and we
rarely are. Just remember: there will be another speech, another
day. No speech is fatal (although if you bomb, you may spend a few
years in the mailroom).


'Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral
with rhythm of progress and regression, of evolution and
dissolution.'
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Hardcover: Today's read ends on page 14.