几年前，一位显赫的政府官员在纽约扶轮社午餐会上做主讲人，我们等着他开始讲演，想听一听他部里的作业情形。The principal speaker at a New York Rotary Club luncheon several years ago was a prominent government official. We were looking forward to hearing him describe the activities of his department.
我们发现他事前没有准备。他开始想随意即兴讲讲，结果找不到什么说的。于是，他从口袋里掏出一叠笔记来。然而笔记杂乱无章，像一货车的碎铁片。他手忙脚乱地在这些东西里翻来翻去，找不到有用的东西，说起话来便越发显得尴尬而笨拙。随着时间一分一秒地过去，他感到越来越窘迫，也越来越不知道讲点什么。他不停地道歉，挣扎着还想从笔记里理出一点头绪来，他用颤抖的手端起一杯水，凑到焦干的唇边。这情景真是惨不忍睹，他完全被恐惧击倒了，就只因为几乎没有为讲演作一丁点儿的准备。最后，他坐了下来，我见到一个最丢脸的演讲者的形象。他演讲的方式正像卢梭所说的情书的书写方式一样：始于不知何所云，止于不知己所云。It was obvious almost at once that he had not planned his speech. At first he tried to talk impromptu. Failing in that attempt, he pulled out of his pocket a sheaf of notes which evidently had no more order than a flatcar full of scrap iron. He fumbled awhile with these, all the time becoming more embarrassed and inept in his delivery. Minute by minute he became more helpless, more bewildered. But he kept on floundering, apologizing, trying to make some semblance of sense out of his notes and raising a glass of water with a trembling hand to his parched lips. He was a sad picture of a man completely overcome by fright, due to almost total lack of preparation. He finally sat down, one of the most humiliated speakers I have ever seen. He made his talk as Rousseau says a love letter should be written: he began without knowing what he was going to say, and finished without knowing what he had said.
1912年以来，因为职业上的原因，我每年都要对五千多次演讲进行评析。这给我上了最重要的一课，它像圣母峰一样高高耸立于群山之上：只有准备充分的演讲者才能有完全的自信。就像上战场携着不能用的武器，不带半点儿弹药，还怎么谈得上去攻克恐惧的堡垒呢？林肯说：“我若是无话可说时，就算年纪一大把经验一大堆，也免不了要为此难为情的。”假如你想培养自信，为什么不去做好那些在你演讲时能给你安全感的事？使徒约翰说：“完全的爱，会置恐惧于度外。”完全的准备也可以做到这样。丹尼尔·韦伯斯特曾说，他如果没有准备就出现在听众面前，跟没有穿衣服是一样的。Since 1912, it has been my professional duty to evaluate over five thousand talks a year. From that experience, one great lesson stands out like Mt. Everest, towering above all the others: only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident. How can anyone ever hope to storm the fortress of fear if he goes into battle with defective weapons, or with no ammunition at all? "I believe," said Lincoln, "that I shall never be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to say." If you want to develop confidence, why not do the one thing that will give you security as a speaker? "Perfect love," wrote the Apostle John, "casteth out fear." So does perfect preparation. Daniel Webster said he would as soon think of appearing before an audience half-clothed as half-prepared.
