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我们今天有幸地请到了某著名跨国企业亚太合规总监陈立彤律师与Ashima联袂发表有关如何演讲的文章，我们希望您在学校如何演讲的同时，能够学到关于演讲的一些英文表达。如果您对写作与演说或者职场英语有话要说，欢迎投稿。

职场英语：像拳击那样去演讲

Henry & Ashima

演讲如同拳击，这似乎不难理解，比如演讲和拳击一样都必须找到要点（要害）、出拳（出声）有力。再比如，拳击和演讲都必须与对手有沟通，在演讲时我们得观察听众，仔细聆听他们的问题，而在练习拳击比如太极推手时一定要学会听劲，掌握听劲，便能更好地拆解对手的拳脚劲道。正如Lee Iacocca所说的那样："You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't put them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."  同理，"You can have powerful fists, but if you can't put them across, your fists are nothing."

拳击与演讲还有很多我们不大容易注意到的相似之处，而其对于拳击与演讲来说一样的重要。比如，拳击与演讲都要求我们的身体彻底放松。拳击时身体放松了，蹬地、转髋与出拳的力道则得以串联，拳头发出的力道就强劲；演说时身体放松了，声带则不紧张，位于身体各个部位的共鸣腔的打开则充分，声音才能铿锵有力。所以，当你下次演说之前，你可以有意识地检查一下自己是不是足够地放松。检查的方法可能各有不传之秘。我的检查方法是念唐诗，比如念“白日依山尽，黄河入海流；欲穷千里目，更上一层楼”，自己检查一下演讲前声音的力度、节奏、共鸣、音效是否和平常练习时一样，否则进行微调。看到这儿，大家千万不要以为我的声音逼格的不行了，不是的，我还在摸索和努力当中。不过，乐在其中！

再比如，演讲和拳击固然最好都要激情驱动，但激情并不等于情绪失控，情绪一旦失控则会忘记初衷，诚所谓Power is nothing without control。情绪失控的例子，拳击莫过泰森，失控之下把霍利菲尔德的耳朵给咬下一小块，当然他也输掉了哪场著名的拳击世纪大战。

很有意思的是，泰森在入狱、破产之后成为一个演说家。不知道他以前作为拳手的经历是否对他有帮助。

演讲失控的例子也很多，特别是在听众或对手恶意挑衅的情况下。演讲失控的窘态也各不相同，有潸然泪下的，有摩拳擦掌貌似打架的，当然还有口误连连的。说到这里，我想起小布什总统演说时的一个口误。当“911”事件发生之后，小布什演讲谴责恐怖分子，他说我们一定要报仇雪恨，不管恐怖分子躲到哪里，我们一定要把他们给揪出来，如果他们上天，我们就到天上把他们给抓住，“If they go to hell, we go to hell.”我不得不承认，这是我听到的最搞笑的口误之一。

当然，演讲与拳击还有很多不同的地方。那么在演讲时，我们还得注意哪些方面，让我们看看Ashima是怎么说的。

How to Give Impressive PowerPoint Presentations

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't put them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."  -Lee Iacocca。

While giving a presentation one has to work towards a lot of things. Presentations should be well demonstrated and displayed. PowerPoint Presentation, unlike an article should be aimed at keeping the content to a minimum on the slides.

Know the subject well

A good presenter should know the subject well and must use the slides only as flash cards that aid in jogging the presenter's memory. One must ensure not to read everything straight from the slides but instead give the audience the required information without looking at the screen. Maintaining eye contact with the audience shows confidence as well as the efforts of the presenter. Presenter must be well versed with all the contents of the presentation so that he is able to answer all the questions raised by the audience.

Know your audience

Profound knowledge of the subject does not mean having to memorize difficult data. In fact that is where the slides come to rescue. Important facts and figures must essentially be shown on slides for not only the ease of the presenter but also that of the audience. Use relevant pictures and graphs wherever required. If you are addressing an audience of mixed ethnicities then ensure that figures pertaining to money etc., are either shown in popular medium of exchange like US Dollars or preferably converted into the currency of their country of origin.

One impactful presentation would be where one keeps only one-word slides and explains them further in his own words. This helps the audience in retaining the key-words even after the presentation is over.

Speed and Time

Another important aspect is to spend considerable amount of time on each slide. Instead of rushing through several slides, one must keep less number of slides and explain them properly.  If you are doubtful of what content to keep and what to delete, use hyperlinks. It is a good way to keep oneself prepared with additional information when asked to expand on a certain specific point.

Also, stretching the presentation beyond the time allotted must be avoided. One can make a polite note in the beginning of the presentation that the queries, if any, will be addressed after the presentation is over, as some of the queries might get answered by itself moving along the presentation.

Other essentials

Each presentation should have an 'Introduction' of the Presenter as well as a brief about the topic of discussion. The people must know what to be attentive about based on the outline of the presentation given to them.

Similarly, there should be a 'Conclusion' slide to recapitulate the important aspects of the presentation for the audience. There also should be a Thank you slide to mark the end of the presentation.

So, here's wishing you the best for your next presentation. Be dressed according to the occasion, wear a Smile, use bright Themes, legible Font and don't forget to check for the often overlooked spelling errors, alignment of the text on the slides et al.