The article review(文章导读):
Express Yourself Effectively
E Huiyuan: Speech is actually a form of conveying information. Considering that people today have various ways to get necessary information, why is public speaking s
Text(正文):
Express Yourself Effectively
E Huiyuan: Speech is actually a form of conveying information. Considering that people today have various ways to get necessary information, why is public speaking still widely welcomed? In other words, what is the function and charm of public speaking?
Steven Lucas：The world has changed a great deal. Because of the internet and other forms of technological communication, we can contact any body at any part of the world instantaneously1. And sometimes people think that because of this instantaneous global communication, maybe public speaking is not as important as it used to be. But in fact, it is just as important, if not more so, because there is no way to replace the impact of one person talking directly to another person.Text messaging is wonderful, E-mail is wonderful, and I know that many Chinese students can thumb text mess ages, and they may send a short text message to their boyfriend or girlfriend, but there is still no replacement of seeing their boyfriend or girlfriend personally, and talking to them directly. And the same thing is true for public speaking. It is just the size of audience increases. We still wanna see people, we wanna look into their eyes, we wanna watch their facial expressions, we want to gauge2 their sincerity and talk to them face-to-face.
E：The ability to express oneself and to communicate is extremely important for public speakers. It is also important for those who want to establish themselves well in a society that is full of fierce competition. How can we gain such ability, especially for those who are born timid and shy?
Steven Lucas：Well, first of all, your point about the importance of public speaking is absolutely correct. People need to be able to express themselves effectively, whether they are going to be a journalist such as you are, whether they are going to be a businessman or businesswoman, whether they are going in for3 education and to be a teacher. And if people are going to law, they have to communicate effectively all the time, and much of the communication take the form of public speaking. Some take written form, for example, journalism. We have print journalism and broadcast journalism, but the principles of effective communication are substantially the same. Of course, all of those are forms of communication. So if you can develop the skills of an effective public speaker, you can use those skills not just in the public speaking but in other forms of communication. You can use them in writing, you can use them in conversation. I talked a few days ago with a reporter from XinHua News Agency, and he said, “You know, what you are talking about is exactly the same thing that we do in articles or journalism. You have a lead, you get readers’ attention；you have a main point, you develop the main point；you have the second point, you develop the point；You have conclusion that sums everything up.” So the skills of public speaking can be transferred or related to other areas of communication. |
