演讲高手谈演讲

    客座撰稿人：Mary Civiello 

    大学毕业典礼演讲季或许是学习如何提高沟通效果的最佳时机。今年的毕业典礼演讲季已经拉开帷幕，奥巴马总统在莫尔豪斯学院（Morehouse College）、阿瑞安娜•赫芬顿（《赫芬顿邮报》掌门人——译注）在史密斯学院（Smith）、史蒂芬•科尔波特（脱口秀节目主持人——译注）在弗吉尼亚大学（University of Virginia）和Twitter 公司CEO迪克•科斯特洛在密歇根大学（University of Michigan）的演讲都非常精彩。从他们的演讲中，我们可以学到下面几点：

没有借口，必须提前了解听众。

    阿瑞安娜•赫芬顿和史蒂芬•科尔波特的演讲表明，如果你稍微做些功课去了解一下观众，就可以更有效地贴近听众。阿瑞安娜告诉史密斯学院的毕业生们，她在网络上了解过他们的想法、现在在做些什么以及博客在讨论什么。她选的几则趣闻让现场笑声阵阵，她称赞学生们取得的成就，并鼓励他们追求更高的目标。

    在弗吉尼亚大学毕业生的阵阵笑声后，科尔波特则表现出了严肃的一面来激励他们。

人们不在乎你懂多少，除非他们知道你有多在乎。

    奥巴马由于出席活动时流露出疲态和缺乏热情而受到指责。应接不暇的商界高管也有同样的诟病。我的建议：要人性化。在莫尔豪斯学院的演讲中，奥巴马谈到，他曾经多么希望童年时代有父亲相伴，而这一点又如何推动他去做一个好父亲、好丈夫…以及一个好人。要勇敢地表现出来你有多在乎。

承认弱点能给别人带来力量。

    高度的成功人士往往难以承认缺点。Twitter 公司CEO迪克•科斯特洛在密歇根大学高调谈到了自己的弱点与不足：不是非得成为世界上最有活力的人，才能经营世界上最具活力的一家企业。这一点或许可以去Twitter上聊聊。

不要忘了简单明了。

    任何毕业典礼演讲佳作集都不能少了2005年史蒂芬•乔布斯在斯坦福大学（Stanford）做的那场演讲。这位已故的苹果公司（Apple）创始人分享了“自己人生中的3个故事”，如果您还没有在YouTube上看过这段点击量达1,700万的视频，或许在下一次演讲前可以看一看。（财富中文网）

    玛丽•西维罗是一位高管沟通教练。她服务的客户包括公司和非营利组织的领导者，如摩根士丹利、默克、美国运通、美国国际集团、大都会等。

    Guest Post by Mary Civiello

    College commencement speech season may be the best time to learn how to communicate powerfully. This season is off to a good start with President Obama at Morehouse College, Arianna Huffington at Smith, Steven Colbert at the University of Virginia and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at the University of Michigan. From their talks, we can derive a few takeaways:

There's no excuse for not knowing your audience.

    Arianna Huffington and Steven Colbert show that if you do a little to understand your audience, you can connect with them much more effectively. Arianna told Smith grads that she had stalked them online to learn what they were thinking, doing and blogging about. She picked up a few tidbits to make the students laugh, to praise their achievements and to inspire them to higher callings.

    And after making the UVa grads laugh, Colbert showed his serious side to inspire them.

People don't care how much you know unless they know how much you care.

    President Obama has been criticized for coming across tired and unenthusiastic. Business execs with too much on their plates take the same rap. My advice: Get personal. At Morehouse, Obama talked about wishing that his father had been present in his childhood and how he feel motivated to be a better father and husband…and a better man. Be brave enough to let your caring show.

Acknowledge your weakness. It makes others stronger.

    Highly successful people often have trouble acknowledging shortcomings. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo played up his vulnerabilities and limitations to show the students at the University of Michigan that you don't have to be the most dynamic guy to run one of the most dynamic businesses in the world. That's something to Tweet about.

And let's not forget: Keep it simple.

    No compilation of commencement greats would be complete without referencing Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford in 2005. The late Apple (AAPL) founder shared three "stories from my life"—and if you're not one of the 17 million people who have watched the speech on YouTube, you might want to do so before you try your next inspiring talk.

    Mary Civiello is an executive communications coach. She works with leaders at companies and not-for-profit organizations including Morgan Stanley (MS), Merck (MRK), American Express (AXP), AIG (AIG) and MetLife (MET).