Carnegie Language Breakthroughs and the Art of Communication

Chapter 26 The Art of Effective Communication (5)
My father would never allow anyone in the family to use incorrect words.Any child who slipped the tongue must be corrected immediately: any new word should be explained immediately;

A. One new word a day

There is an orator in New York who has always been highly regarded for his well-structured sentences and the beauty of his diction.In a recent conversation, he revealed his secret to choosing correct and powerful words, that is, whenever he found an unfamiliar word in a conversation or reading, he immediately copied it on the memo.Then, before going to bed at night, he would look in the dictionary to find out the meaning of the new word thoroughly.If he finds no new words during the day, he reads a page or two of "Synonyms, Antonyms and Prepositions" by Fernard instead in the evening, taking care to study the correct meaning of each word, so that he can later use it as the best synonym use.

This is his motto.This also means that in one year, he can obtain at least 1 additional expression tools.He jotted down all these new words in a small notebook, and slipped out at any spare moment during the day to review their meanings.He has discovered that after a new word has been used only three times it becomes a permanent part of his vocabulary.

Use a dictionary not just to know the correct meaning of a word, but also to find out where it came from.In English dictionaries, the history of each word, and its origin, is usually listed in parentheses following its definition.Don't think that the words you say every day are just dull, indifferent voices.In fact, they are full of color and have a romantic life.For example, you say, "Call the grocery store and ask them to bring you some candy," and even in such a plain two-sentence we still use a lot of words borrowed from different scripts and civilizations. The word "telephone" (telephone) is composed of two Greek words, the word "tele" means "distant", and "phone" means "voice". Grocer (grocer) is borrowed from an ancient French word grossier, which in turn evolved from the Latin grossarius.It means retail and wholesale merchants. The word sugar (sugar) comes from French; French is from Spanish, Spanish is borrowed from Arabic, Arabic is born out of Persian; and the word shaker in Persian is evolved from the word carkara in Sanskrit Come, meaning "candy".

You may work for a company or start your own business. The word "company" is derived from an ancient French word, meaning partner companion.And the word companion is composed of the words com (and) and panis (bread), so your partner companion is to share bread with you. A company company is actually formed by a group of people who want to earn bread together. consist of.Your salary is the money you use to buy salt.Soldiers in ancient Rome received some stipends for buying salt.Then one day some soldier dubbed his entire income salarium (to buy salt money), and it became a widespread slang word, but eventually even a very respectable English word.You are holding a book book in your hand now, the word really means a kind of tree beech (beech).Because a long time ago, the Anglo-Saxons carved their characters on beech tree trunks, or on tabletops made of beech wood.The dollar in your pocket actually means valley, as the earliest coins were minted in the valley of Shri Djoazim in the 16th century.

The words Janitor (janitor) and January (January) are both borrowed from the surname of a blacksmith in the ancient country of Etruria in western Italy.This blacksmith lived in Rome and specialized in making a special kind of lock and bolt for doors.After his death, he was worshiped as a pagan god, and was shaped as a god with two faces who could see in two directions at the same time, representing the opening and closing of doors.Therefore, the month between the end of one year and the beginning of another is called January, or Janus (the blacksmith's surname).So when we speak of January, or a janitor, we are remembering a blacksmith who was born 1 years before Jesus and married a man named Jane. wife.

The seventh month of the year, July (July), is named after the ancient Roman Julius Caesar.In order not to let Caesar be beautiful alone, Emperor Augustus also named the next month August (August).However, at that time, there were only 30 days in August, and Augustus was not reconciled that the month named after him was one day less than the month named after Caesar, so he took a day from February and put it Join in August.The ego-stealing vestiges are evident on the calendar you're hanging now.Really, you will find that every word has a fascinating history.

Try to find the source of these words from a large dictionary: atlas (atlas), boycott (resistance), cereal (cereal food), colossal (huge), concord (harmony), curfew (curfew), education (education), Finance (finance), lunatic (madman), panic (panic), palace (palace), pecuniary (money), sandwich (sandwich), tantalize (temptation).Finding out the stories behind them will make the meaning of these words more colorful and interesting, and you will have more enjoyment and enjoyment in using them.

B. A sentence was rewritten 104 times

Trying to say exactly what you mean, to express the subtlest parts of your thoughts, is not necessarily easy—not even for experienced writers.Fanny Hurst, a famous American female writer, once told me that she sometimes revised the written sentences again and again, usually 50 to 100 times.She said that once she made a special calculation and found that a sentence had been rewritten by her as many as 104 times.Another prominent female writer, Warren, told me candidly that sometimes it took a whole afternoon to strike out a sentence or two from a short story that was about to be syndicated in the newspapers.

The American politician Morris once recounted how the famous American writer Davis worked hard to find the most suitable words:
Every word in the novels he wrote was carefully selected from the countless words he could think of.The words he chooses are all based on his scrupulous judgment, and they must be the words that can stand the test most.Every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every page, even the entire novel, is written over and over again.He uses a "elimination" principle.If he wished to describe a car turning into a certain courtyard gate, he would first give a long and detailed account, omitting every detail.Then, he began to delete these details that he had painstakingly thought out one by one.Every time he makes a deletion, he asks himself: "Does the situation I'm describing still exist?" If the answer is no, he puts the detail back in place, and then tries to delete the other details. The details are deleted one by one.After such painstaking efforts, what are finally presented to readers are those concise and clear fragments.It is with this process as a foreshadowing that his novels and love stories will always be loved by readers.

Most of us don't spend so much time or work so hard to find those agreeable words.The reason we have included these examples here is to show you that successful writers place a high value on using the right language to express their thinking.We also hope that doing so will encourage a greater interest in the use of language and words in speech learners.Of course, a speaker should not pause in the middle of his speech, faltering, trying to find the right language for the meaning he desires to express.He should, however, practice daily in expressing himself most correctly, until the words flow from his head naturally and smoothly.This is what you should do to be a successful speaker, but are you doing it?No.

The great writer Milton used a total of 8 words in his works, and Shakespeare's works used 000 words.A standard dictionary has 15 words.But according to the most common estimates, the average person only needs to know 000 words to be able to use them freely in speech.The average person usually knows only a few verbs, and a few conjunctions that connect them, plus a few nouns, and a few adjectives that have been overused.Ordinary people are also quite lazy in spirit, or are too focused on their careers, so they have no time to learn how to express their ideas in the most correct way.What was the result?Let me give you an example.I once spent a few days of my life at the edge of the Grand Canyon in Colorado.One afternoon I overheard a woman describe a dog, an orchestra, and a man's temper, and the Grand Canyon itself, with the same adjective, namely, that they were all "beautiful."

So, which adjective did she use?Because the British linguist Roger listed many synonyms under "beautiful".Can you guess which one of them she should be using?

C. Avoid using corny expressions
You should not only try to express correctly, but also try to make your expression fresh and creative.Have the courage to speak your mind about a matter because "the matter itself is God".For example, this metaphor was first used by some of the most creative minds shortly after the biblical account of Noah’s flood: “Cold as a courgette.” It’s a wonderful metaphor because it’s so fresh.Even at the later Belchaga's famous feast, the metaphor retains its original freshness and is worthy of use in an after-dinner speech.But today, those of us who pride ourselves on being creative, wouldn’t you be ashamed to repeat that metaphor?

Here are 12 metaphors used to express coldness.Wouldn't they have the same effect as the well-worn "cucurbit" metaphor, not just fresher, but more acceptable?
Cold as a frog.

As cold as a hot water bottle in the morning.

Cold as a rifle blow.

Cold as the grave.

As cold as an iceberg in Greenland.

Cold as dirt.

Cold as a turtle.

It was as cold as snow.

Cold as salt.

Cold as an earthworm.

Cold as dawn.

It was as cold as autumn rain.

While you're still in the mood, think of your own metaphors for feeling cold.Have the courage to be different and write them down below.

I once asked the female writer Catherine Knowles how to develop her own unique style.She replied: "Read classical prose and poetry, and sternly delete meaningless phrases and trite metaphors from your work."

A magazine editor once told me that whenever he found two or three trite tropes in a submitted manuscript, he immediately returned the manuscript to the author so as not to waste time looking at it!In his mind, a writer who has not expressed his creativity will not be able to express any creative thoughts.

Typhoon and Personality

Typhoon and personality are important factors that determine the success or failure of a speech.Only by being natural and sincere can we win the trust of the audience.On one occasion, the Carnegie Institute of Technology conducted an intelligence test on 100 famous business people.The content of the test was similar to that given to the Army during the war.The institute finally announced the results of the test solemnly: Among the various factors for a person's career success, the importance of personality is far more important than his intelligence.

This is a conclusion of great significance: for businessmen, very important; for education, very important; for professionals, very important; and for speakers, very important.

Personality is probably the most important factor in a successful speech, aside from preparation.The famous speaker Albert Hubbard once said, "In a speech, it is the attitude of the speech, not the words of the script, that wins the trust of the audience." I would like to paraphrase his statement slightly, It should be an attitude plus a concept.But individuality is a vague and elusive thing, like the scent of violets, beyond the grasp of even the ablest analyst.Personality is the totality of a person: physical, mental, and psychological, as well as heredity, preferences, tendencies, temperaments, thoughts, energy, experience, training, and all life circumstances.It's as complicated as Einstein's theory of relativity, and likewise only a handful of people understand it.

Personality is determined by heredity and environment and is extremely difficult to change or improve, but we can enhance it to a degree that makes it more powerful and attractive.In any case, we can all try to make the best use of this marvel that nature has given us.This goal is of considerable importance to each of us.The possibility of improvement is minimal, but we can still discuss and analyze it.

1. Take adequate rest before speaking

If you want to maximize your own characteristics, you must first get enough rest.A tired speaker is unattractive on stage.Don't fall into the most common old habit of putting off your preparations and planning until the last minute, then rushing through them in an attempt to make up for lost time.Doing so wreaks havoc on your body and causes mental fatigue.It is a dreadfully destructive force which will drag you down, weaken your vitality, and weaken your mind as well as your nerves.

If you have to give an important speech to a committee at four o'clock, you should eat a light lunch and, if possible, take a nap to refresh yourself.Rest is exactly what you need, whether mentally, physically, or neurologically.

Farah's behavior often surprised her new friends because she would often say goodnight to them early and then go to bed, leaving them to continue their conversation with her husband.She knows that the art she does requires getting enough sleep.

After she became the first diva of the opera, Mrs. Nautica said that she had to give up everything she loved: social life, friends, and tempting food.

When you are about to give an important speech, be careful not to overeat.Eat as little as a saint for the first meal of your speech.At 5pm on a Sunday afternoon, Henry Beecher would often just eat some biscuits and drink some milk, but would not eat anything else.

Mrs Mobile said: "If I'm going to sing in the evening, I don't eat lunch and just have a small meal at 5pm, which consists of a piece of chicken or fish, or sweet bread, an apple and a glass of water. Every time I come home from the opera or a concert, I always find myself starving!"

What Mrs. Mobile and Beecher did was very wise.I didn't understand the significance of doing this at first, and later, when I became a professional speaker, whenever I had to give a speech for two hours after eating a big meal, I understood the meaning of it. reason.Experience tells me that after drinking aperitifs and soup, followed by steak, French chips, salads, vegetables and desserts, with such a sense of weight to stand on stage for an hour, then not only will I not be able to Getting the best out of my body and not being able to get the best out of my speech.All the blood that should be flowing in my brain is now pumped to my stomach to fight the steak and chips.The famous musician Paderewski was right!He said that if he ate as much as he wanted before a recital, the bestiality in him would prevail and seep even into his fingertips, spoiling and dulling his playing.

2. Don’t neglect clothing and attitude
In one instance, a psychologist who was the president of a university sent questionnaires to a large group of people, asking them how their clothes affected them.As a result, almost unanimously, those questioned said that when they were fully dressed and spotless, they could clearly know that they were well dressed, and they could feel it, indicating that the clothes had some kind of influence on them.This effect, though difficult to explain, is clear and real.Appropriate clothing will increase their confidence, boost their self-confidence and boost their self-esteem.They found that when they appeared confident, their thoughts flowed more easily and their expressions were more likely to be successful.This is the effect that clothing has on the wearer himself.

(End of this chapter)