2016年是美国总统竞选之年,经过各种宣讲拉票厮杀之后,段子手唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和前第一夫人希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)分别成为了共和党与民主党的总统候选人。美国当地时间9月26日,两位总统候选人将进行2016年总统大选的第一场电视辩论。这场对决的精彩程度可想而知,小伙伴们有木有想围观的冲动呢?在这之前让我们先做好准备功课,来回顾下希拉里的演讲方式。
从一名律师,到第一夫人,到参议员,到国务卿,再到现在的总统候选人,希拉里从来就不是一个消极的旁观者,而是积极的行动派,总是踊跃参与到国际事务当中。她是一个为政治而生的女人,无论在婚姻家庭、政治生涯、还是个人理想上,她都是自我命运的主宰。在当地时间7月28日民主党全国代表大会(Democratic National Convention)上,希拉里曾发表了长达近一小时的演讲并正式宣布接受民主党的总统候选人提名,最终将为期四天的大会推向了高潮。在这次演讲中,希拉里运用多种演讲技巧,成功地宣传了自己的政治理想。下面将跟大家一同分享我从中学到的相关技巧,希望你也能将这些技巧运用到自己的演讲之中。
1重复使用
在希拉里的演讲中,我们不难发现她大量运用重复(repetition)这种方法。重复是英语演讲中最常见的、富于表现力的修辞手法。用于叙事,可使语义畅达,层次清晰;用于抒情,可使感情浓烈,旋律优美;用于议论,可使阐述透辟,语势峭拔。例如,希拉里在呼吁选民加入她的阵营时,是这样讲的:
(34:27) If you believe that companies should share profits with their workers, not pad executive bonuses, join us.
If you believe the minimum wage should be a living wage… and no one working full time should have to raise their children in poverty…join us.
If you believe that every man, woman, and child in America has the right to affordable health care…join us.
…
And yes, if you believe that your working mother, wife, sister, or daughter deserves equal pay… join us…
通过不断的重复,即便是第一次听到希拉里演讲的人也能迅速get the main idea。马丁·路德·金(Martin Luther King)于1963年8月28日在华盛顿林肯纪念堂发表的著名演讲《我有一个梦想》(I have a dream)中,重复了这个著名的短语“I have a dream”多达九次,即便在今天,这个短语听来依然振聋发聩。
然而,需要提醒大家的是,运用重复时,必须考虑主题和内容的实际需要,不能为了追求形式而随意堆砌辞藻,即“为了重复而重复”。
2运用对比,配合幽默
一个好的演讲是不会充斥太多细节的,因为这样听众会很难记得你到底在讲什么。希拉里深谙此点,并运用了很讨巧的技巧——对比,去让听众记住她的观点。在此次演讲中,希拉里多次开黑特朗普,将自己的观点与他的相比较,烘托自己决策的正确性,从而吸引更多的选民:
(12:46)And most of all, don't believe anyone who says "I alone can fix it."
Yes, those were actually Donald Trump's words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm bells for all of us. Really? I alone can fix it? Isn't he forgetting troops on the front lines? Police officers and firefighters who run toward danger? Doctors and nurses who care for us? Teachers who change lives? Entrepreneurs who see possibilities in every problem? Mothers who lost children to violence and are building a movement to keep other kids safe? (请注意这段同时运用了排比)
He's forgetting every last one of us. Americans don't say "I alone can fix it." We say "We'll fix it together."
解读:希拉里的竞选口号是“Stronger Together”,这是实打实的一种遵循普世规则的体现。事实上,中国人历来推崇的团结精神与“Stronger Together”倡导同样的价值观这一点,就足以证明Stronger Together能够被不同文化背景、不同地域、不同时代的人们普遍接受。她在演讲中反复强调这一主题,贯穿了整个演讲(这也是技巧之一,请见后文)。在此处,希拉里引出特朗普“我一个人就能解决”这一言论,与自己团结协作共同解决问题这一精神进行了鲜明的对比。
优秀的演讲者都懂得如何借助幽默的方式来紧紧抓住听众的注意力,让听众在笑声中可以和他/她产生共鸣,从而将自己的观点更好地传递给对方。希拉里在运用对比的同时使用了幽默这一技能,场面效果简直加倍:
(36:17) Now, you didn't hear any of this from Donald Trump at his convention. He spoke for 70-odd minutes—and I do mean odd.
观众听到这里哈哈一笑,使用这样一个小幽默,希拉里既活跃了现场气氛,也保证了 everyone is on the same page。
(41:20) Well, let's take a closer look, shall we? In Atlantic City, 60 miles from here, you will find contractors and small businesses who lost everything because Donald Trump refused to pay his bills. Now remember what the President said last night—don't boo, vote.
3讲述亲身经历,使用恰当主语
在演讲的开始,希拉里讲述了自己的家族背景。在媒体舆论中,对于希拉里和她丈夫比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)的评价总是一个穷小子走运娶到了白富美:比尔·克林顿来自普通的工人阶层,成长于单亲家庭,成绩优秀的他靠着奖学金才最终走进了大学校园,而且第一次向希拉里表白还被拒绝了,求婚三次才获得成功(在此心疼比尔三分钟)。而在演讲中,希拉里是这样讲述自己的家庭背景的:
(19:32)The family I'm from, well, no one had their name on big buildings. My family were builders of a different kind. Builders in the way most American families are. …My grandfather worked in the same Scranton lace mill for 50 years. …My dad, Hugh, made it to college. … When the war was over he started his own small business printing fabric for draperies. I remember watching him stand for hours over silk screens. …My mother, Dorothy, was abandoned by her parents as a young girl. She ended up on her own at 14, working as a house maid. She was saved by the kindness of others…
她讲述了她的祖父在纺纱坊工作了五十年,也正因为如此她父亲才有了进入大学念书的机会,才得以在二战结束后经营起了自己的生意。而她母亲则在小时候被抛弃,不得已小小年纪便以做女佣谋生。这分明就是凄惨故事会啊有木有!正是这些故事,使希拉里拆解了自己被塑造多年的高高在上的律师、第一夫人、纽约州参议员、国务卿的这些形象,试图告诉她的支持者她也和大家一样,来自一个普通家庭,也正因此她才深知“没人能独自度过一生”,并以此博得选民的好感。
除此之外,希拉里在演讲中大量运用We,Let's这种主语,让听众感到:
“她和我一样!没什么区别!都是普通人嘛!”“嗨!她是的的确确想和我一起解决这些问题!丝毫没有架子!”“我感到了她解决这些问题的决心!”
在希拉里的这篇演讲里,每种人称的使用都恰到好处。第一人称单数I、me或my主要用来讲述自己的主观态度,展示个人魅力。而第一人称复数we和us表现了相同的命运、处境,配合简单生动的主动语态,就好像是演讲者直接和观众对话,拉近了演讲者和听众的距离。此外,在演讲中,还交替使用了第二人称和第三人称,给人以一种对话的感觉,使得整个现场活跃起来。
(19:00) But my job titles only tell you what I've done. They don't tell you why…. I get it that some people just don't know what to make of me. So let me tell you.
(23:54) Because it's not just a detail if it's your kid, if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president, too.
(56:49) Let's look to the future with courage and confidence. Let's build a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country. And when we do, America will be greater than ever.
不过,在此想提醒大家,这一技巧希拉里或者其他政治候选人用起来效果相当不错,能够引起选民的共鸣,营造气氛。但在演讲大赛中,选手们需慎重使用这一技巧,尤其是第二人称you和第一人称we,稍有不慎可能会引起听众的质疑与反感哦。
4反复重复主题,紧扣中心
如果要为这篇演讲选择一个关键词,那就是“Stronger Together”。
希拉里在描述个人家庭经历之后得出了一个结论,那便是——没有人可以只靠自己成功(“No one gets through life alone. We have to look out for each other and lift each other up.”),她在演讲中阐述的问题与普通群众息息相关,是当下真实的美国正面临的无数亟待解决的问题,是每个选民都在关注的自己的切身利益。希拉里的演讲恰恰描述了她将如何从好的方面影响到每个人的生活,解决这些问题,“Stronger”和“Together”这两个关键词贯穿了全篇演讲:
(16:02) "Stronger Together" is …a guiding principle for the country we've always been, and the future we're going to build.
(26:39) For all those who vote for me and for those who don't. For all Americans together!
(54:20) Every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer, and stronger. None of us ever have or can do it alone.
没有人能够随随便便“讲得好”,撰稿的玄机可不少,很多演讲在结束之前就被人们抛之脑后,但是,希拉里的这篇演讲无疑将被人们铭记。演讲中没有华丽的词汇,却将她的雄心壮志展现得淋漓尽致。她以自己的方式,用这场终身难遇的演讲把整个大会的人们都团结到了自己的身旁。