On Speech Techniques
关于演讲技巧的几点体会
Remarks at an Embassy Workshop
在驻英国使馆座谈会上的讲话
London, 16 June 2009
伦敦，2009年6月16日
Today I would like to share with you some techniques I have found effective when giving speeches. But first, I would like to explain why making a good speech is so important, and then what makes a good speech. Lastly, I will talk about some of the problems we might encounter.
今天跟大家谈谈外交演讲的方法和技巧，分享一些心得，一是为什么讲，二是讲什么，三是怎么讲，最后谈谈演讲中常见的问题。
Why are speeches important?
为什么讲
Good speeches can help to shape a better international image of China. In Britain, listening to speeches is as common as listening to an opera or a concert; it is part of people’s social and cultural life. Almost every association, academy, think-tank and university hosts regular speeches. It is a platform that no one can afford to ignore.
在国外演讲是我们塑造中国形象的重要平台。在英国，听演讲与听歌剧、听音乐会一样，是整个社会文化生活的重要组成部分，几乎所有的行业协会、学术机构、智库和大学都有定期的演讲，是不能忽视的平台。
Of late, a book titled Say It like Obama has become a best-seller. Though coming into office only recently, President Obama has spoken on several important occasions, which has enabled him to achieve one of his big ambitions: “to change the image of America.” Looking back, we see that at key moments and turning points in history, great speeches that altered the course of history and changed people’s hearts and minds are always remembered.
最近国内出版的《跟奥巴马学演讲》一书很火，奥巴马上台时间不长，实现了一个重要目标：改变、重塑美国的形象，而他正是利用几场大型演讲来实现的。在一些重大历史关头或者变革时刻，历史上记录下来的往往是影响了时代方向或者改变了人们看法的著名演讲。
Though not every diplomatic speech has to be historically insightful, they play an important role in sending out China’s messages to the world and changing stereotypes and misconceptions about China, which also calls for a strong sense of mission. So it’s our compelling responsibility to deliver good speeches, get our messages across, and enable new understanding and insights among our foreign audiences.
外交演讲虽然不是每篇都要着眼于历史的大视野，但是在当今形势下，去介绍宣传中国，去设法改变外界对中国的成见和错误看法，同样需要有使命感和责任感。好的演讲应该能够实现这样一个目的，就是让听众得到关于中国的新信息，产生新认识和新看法。
So, what makes a good speech?
讲什么
A good speech should have a specific purpose, like answering some questions the audience may have, or providing information of interest. Whatever the occasion, it is always important to stick to the most popular topics about China backed up with relevant facts and figures and, if possible, quotations.
每场演讲的目的性必须很明确，一般是解答听众心中的某种疑问或者满足大家的一些信息需求。演讲内容最好与当时大家最关心的关于中国的热门话题相关联，演讲中的引经据典亦应围绕这个主题。
There are two equally important components of a speech: one is what we want to say, and the other is what the audience want to hear. If we only focus on what we want to say, it will become a lecture, not a speech. The audience will sit through uninterested, and go home unimpressed. However, if we only focus on the interest of the audience, the speech will miss its purpose. It works best if one can combine the two aspects to make a speech that the audience can relate to. In preparation, we should first learn the educational and professional background of the audience, as well as their age group, and how much they are likely to know about China. Then we can decide what we want to include in the speech and how sophisticated we want the messages to be.
演讲内容的选择有两个基本要素，一是自己想讲什么，二是听众关心什么，这两个要素同等重要。如果只关注自己想讲的内容，就有可能成为宣教，不容易抓住听众的注意力，更难影响他们的看法。如果只想迎合听众，则不一定能达到设定的目标。最好能使自己想讲的与别人想听的内容有机地融合起来，形成共鸣。为此，演讲之前应了解听众的职业背景、知识和年龄结构以及对中国的熟悉程度，据此来确定演讲的内容和繁简、深浅。
Give you an example here. I was invited to make a three-minute speech for Lang Lang’s solo concert in London to a very learned audience. It is hard to write and deliver a great speech of only three minutes, but it was such a valuable opportunity I would hate to miss. So I began my preparations by searching for stories about Lang Lang and his father, where we found the grip of the speech. When the moment came, I started with their story and then moved on to the changes and development of China. I then concluded that it was the opening and reform policies that had provided young talents like Lang Lang the great opportunities for self-fulfilment. Whilst it was a short speech, I am pleased to say it received long applause. We found the right grip of the speech. From this case we can see that we do not necessarily need big stories to present China’s case. We can develop any point, however small, to be convincing enough to get our messages across.
举个选择演讲内容的例子：伦敦交响乐团邀请我为郎朗的独奏音乐会做三分钟致辞。听众是来听音乐会的文化界人士，三分钟讲出点名堂不大容易，但这又是非常宝贵的机会。我反复推敲切入点，在网上查到郎朗和他父亲的故事，决定从这里讲起，引出中国的发展变化，结论是中国改革开放给郎朗提供了成才的社会土壤。虽然这个致辞很短，但鼓掌时间非常长，说明这个切入点是成功的。所以宣传介绍中国不见得一定要讲大道理，从任何一个小的点都可以引申扩大，实现传播信息的目的。
As to the techniques of speech, brevity is its soul. We first have to decide on a consistent position we want to pass on to the audience, then try to answer or reason it out, step by step until finally coming to a conclusion that strengthens our stance or our call for action.
怎么讲
演讲的布局一般要简洁，有一个贯穿始终的思路或者观点，先提出问题，然后一层层作说明，自然地引出结论措施。
The British make very simple and clear speeches, without forking out too much. Soon after I was assigned to work in London, I was invited to speak at the Royal Society of Arts about China’s development. I prepared a plentiful amount of materials and a slide show and the audience seemed to be interested. However when it was over, a friend came to tell me that he had found it hard to follow me or to remember what has been said.
英国人演讲线条都很直接和清晰，不大会在一场演讲中谈许多不同的问题或者太多的观点。我初来伦敦时在英国皇家艺术学会作关于中国发展变化的演讲，用的材料很翔实，PPT演示内容丰富，讲的时候似乎也抓住了听众的注意力。但下来有朋友评论说，这个演讲让人听得很累，记不住内容。
People go to listen to a speech because on one hand they want to learn new knowledge and information, and on the other, they hope to enjoy the process just as they enjoy a concert. So instead of including a laundry list of topics, it is better having a main point, which is to be repeatedly explained and reinforced. In Britain, the routine time for a speech is between 20 and 25 minutes, so forking out too much means that you are unlikely to serve any of them well.
人们来听演讲，一方面是学习、吸取新知识和信息，另一方面跟去听音乐会一样，希望享受一个愉快的过程，灌输很多东西效果反而不好。最好只有一个鲜明的贯穿始终的观点，不断加以说明和强化。在英国演讲的例行时间是20—25分钟，内容太多了难以有充分的时间一一展开。
A good beginning means your work is half done. A number of sentences into your speech, whether or not you have engaged your audience is a foregone conclusion. I have used both good and bad opening remarks. Once I was invited by the Political Society of Eton College to speak to students aged 17 or 18. I struggled to decide on what to begin with. So, my opening eventually started like this: “Before coming here, I searched ‘Eton’ on the Chinese search engine ‘Baidu’ and it produced 68,000 search results.” The atmosphere was immediately warmed up, as the young students were so curious to know how Eton was described by the Chinese on the Internet. I believe this is a successful opening that engages the audience well.
从讲的方法上看：第一，要有一个好的开场白，开篇的几句话能否与听众形成沟通很重要。我有过很不成功的开场白，也有效果比较好的。例如，去英国伊顿公学政治学会演讲时，听众多是十七八岁的年轻人，如何一开始就和他们建立起沟通呢？我说，“来这里之前，我在中文搜索引擎‘百度’上搜索关于‘伊顿’的信息，得到6.8万条结果”，气氛一下子就活跃起来了。对孩子们来说，在中国的网络上如何描绘伊顿是个引人入胜的话题，这个开场白的设计很成功。
The earlier you get to your point, the better. One should know better than to stray too far away from the core message. By raising a question first, even a controversial one, you can arouse the interest and curiosity of the audience. You can ask, for example, “Is China a power?” or “Is China’s economic growth sustainable?” A rhetorical question can also get the job done.
第二，要尽早切入正题，最好不要上下五千年地讲与主题没有直接关联的话。可以采用提出问题的方式切入，可以带点争议性，调动听众的兴趣和兴奋点，例如：中国是强国吗？中国的经济发展能持续吗？正面的问题也可以反过来问。
Facts speak louder than a thousand words and personal experience and examples are far more convincing than abstract concepts. Yiwu is one of my favourite examples, with which I would explain why the massive Chinese manufacturing sector is only producing thin profits and therefore drastic appreciation of the RMB is out of the question and emission cuts have to be phased in gradually for it to be economically viable at all. The more solid the case, the more convincing it will turn out to be.
第三，用事实和例子回答提出来的问题，最好由浅入深，少讲道理和概念，多用实例去强化自己的观点，能够结合个人的经历会更好。我经常用自己参观义乌小商品生产的观感为例子，从中国产业的薄利讲到为什么人民币不能大幅升值、为什么在节能减排上要循序渐进等。用实实在在的例子说服力比较强。
The conclusion is crucial to the whole speech. The best way to build to the conclusion is to let the audience realise it for themselves with sound reasoning and logic.
演讲的结论是通篇的关键，最好通过推论把听众引向结论的方向，让人自然而然地得出这个结论。
In 2009 at a commemoration for Shakespeare held at his former residence, I was invited as a representative of all the guests to make a five-minute acknowledgement speech. The guests included fans of this great playwright from across Britain. My key point was that the British did not know China anywhere near as well as the Chinese knew Britain. I told them that on a rainy day in Beijing, to shelter myself from the rain, I went into a bookshop and found shelf after shelf of original versions of English books, whereas in the stores of Britain, I had seldom found books about modern China, let alone any original Chinese books.
莎士比亚故居2009年纪念会邀请我作为来宾代表讲五分钟的答谢词，在场的有来自英国各地的莎翁迷，我想讲的核心思想是，英国人对中国的了解不如中国人对英国的了解深。我从在北京避雨的一个经历讲起，进到一个书店，看到一排排书架上摆满了原版的英文书。我说，在英国进过很多书店，很少看到关于现代中国的书，更不要说原版中文书了。
Then I talked about the familiarity of the Chinese with Shakespeare. I told them in diplomatic negotiations I usually quoted “To be, or not to be” and it was really a helpful phrase. My audience were obviously amused. But then I said, I wonder how many in this country have heard of the Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu, who actually passed away in the same year with Shakespeare, or of Tang’s work The Peony Pavilion. The audience were silent. I said that now it was time for the West to learn more about China. It was a pointed remark, in fact critical, but when I paused, I heard loud and long applause from the audience.
然后我讲到中国人对莎翁和他的戏剧的了解，举例说，在外交谈判中，我经常借用哈姆雷特的名言“是生存还是毁灭”，这是一个非常好使的谈判语言，大家都乐了，但是我话锋一转，问：英国有多少人听说过中国的大戏剧家汤显祖或他的作品《牡丹亭》？你们是否知道汤显祖和莎翁是同一年逝世的？现场特别安静。我接着说，现在应该是西方作出努力来了解中国的时候了。这话比较尖锐，实际上是批评性的，我顿了一下，竟然满场长时间鼓掌。
在彼处(大使演讲录)——不在彼处(大使演讲录)》收选傅莹任中国驻澳大利亚和英国大使期间的英文演讲20篇、在英国主流媒体发表的文章5篇和访谈实录3篇，并附有傅莹大使关于演讲技巧体会的文章。带你领略中国女外交官的人格魅力、说话演讲的艺术和为人处世的智慧。
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