????上個(gè)月，美國副總檢察長唐納德?維里利偏偏在重要的一天露了怯。他在美國最高法院（the U.S. Supreme Court）面前爭取維持原有《可支付醫(yī)療法案》（The Affordable Health Care Act）不變時(shí)，講話猶疑不決，結(jié)結(jié)巴巴，不時(shí)發(fā)出清喉嚨的聲音，大口喝冰水，總之當(dāng)天的表現(xiàn)不怎么好。《紐約客》雜志（New Yorker）法律作家杰弗瑞?涂賓在接受美國政治媒體《政治活動家》（Politico）采訪時(shí)的話總結(jié)了眾多觀察家的反應(yīng)，他說：“我驚呆了。”

????維里利講話時(shí)的結(jié)結(jié)巴巴是否會對總統(tǒng)的醫(yī)療方案帶來負(fù)面影響呢？也許不會，但至少是沒幫上什么忙。

????正如緬因州的一句俗語所言，從古至今皆是如此。我們所有人，即使是位高權(quán)重的公眾人物，也會在公開演講的巨大壓力面前感到緊張。本文將為你提供一些避免出現(xiàn)窘?jīng)r的方法。

????我曾經(jīng)有一位客戶，她是一位在K街工作的女強(qiáng)人，然而每次遇到站在公眾面前演講的機(jī)會，她都會顫抖得像一片風(fēng)中的樹葉。要知道，她是一位很出色的高管，掌管著一家規(guī)模很大的行業(yè)協(xié)會，年收入高達(dá)七位數(shù)。她經(jīng)常奔走于美國國會、歐洲、亞洲等地，代表其會員公司四處游說。

????我們的第一次合作是協(xié)助她為某大型會議的重要主旨發(fā)言做準(zhǔn)備。我們按照標(biāo)準(zhǔn)流程，準(zhǔn)備她發(fā)言的內(nèi)容，包括集思廣益尋找原始素材并加以提煉，設(shè)計(jì)視頻效果以便吸引聽眾注意力，并努力讓聽眾記住她的意圖。

????整個(gè)過程進(jìn)行得很順利。接下來就該到我們的工作室進(jìn)行上鏡練習(xí)了。

????她說：“我必須告訴你，每次我不得不在公眾面前演講時(shí)，我都緊張得要命。”

????我告訴她這很正常。緊張說明你是一個(gè)活生生的人。任何人都會遇到這種問題。

????她說：“不是這么回事，我覺得我的問題要嚴(yán)重得多。”

????我告訴她，她在各方面都表現(xiàn)得非常出色。我還問她為何遇到公開演講會這么緊張。

????她說：“很簡單。一切都是因?yàn)槲迥昙壍哪菆鲣撉傺葑鄷！?/p>

????她在10歲時(shí)就要自己上臺演奏鋼琴，她看見母親一臉緊張地坐在臺下第一排。當(dāng)她抬起手準(zhǔn)備開始演奏時(shí)，聽到媽媽輕輕地倒吸了一口氣。直到今天，她也不明白母親為什么會有那種反應(yīng)，可能她媽媽認(rèn)為女兒會演奏錯(cuò)誤的篇章，或者可能是擔(dān)心自己出門忘記關(guān)爐子。但無論是什么原因，這已經(jīng)給她造成了心理陰影。

????因此，在主旨演講的日子臨近時(shí)，我跟她一起乘飛機(jī)出行，一路抵達(dá)新奧爾良會展中心（the New Orleans Convention Center）。我在她上臺之前握著她的手，直到她登上演講臺。此后，我們還一起完成了很多次演講，每一次我都是這么做的。每次演講前她都緊張萬分，但在演講開始兩分鐘后她就能冷靜下來，而且表現(xiàn)自如。

????

????Solicitor General Donald Verrilli picked the wrong day to get the jitters last month. Fighting to keep The Affordable Health Care Act intact in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, he hesitated, he stuttered, he coughed, he gulped ice water – he didn't make a strong impression. The New Yorker's legal writer Jeffrey Toobin summed up the reactions of many observers when he told Politico: "I was just shocked."

????Will Verrilli's stumble mean curtains for the President's health care plan? Perhaps not, but it didn't help.

????It's a story that's older than dirt, as they say up inMaine. Just about all of us -- even high-powered public figures -- get nervous in high-pressure public speaking situations.

????I once had a client -- a bona fide K Street superwoman -- who routinely turned into a quivering tower of Jell-Oevery time she had to stand and speak in front of an audience. We're talking about a brilliant executive who ran a large industry association, made a seven-figure income, and traveled from Capitol Hill to Europe and Asia and back to advocate on behalf of her member companies.

????The first time we worked together to get her ready for a major keynote speech, we went through our typical process of creating the content for her presentation: brainstorming the raw material, distilling it into a narrative, and designing visuals that would seize her audience's attention and help them remember what she wanted from them.

????The process went well. And then it came time for on-camera practice in our studio.

????"I have to tell you something," she said. "I get extremely nervous when I have to speak in public."

????I told her that was normal -- it just means you're a human being with a pulse. It happens to everyone.

????She said "No, I mean it's a lot worse than that."

????I told her how impressive she was in every respect, and asked her how she thought she got this way.

????"That's easy," she said. "Fifth grade. Piano recital."

????When she was 10 years old, she was about to sit her pinafore-clad self down at the keyboard when she saw her mother looking very tense in the first row. And then, as she lifted her hands to begin playing, she heard her mother let out a small gasp. To this day, she's not sure why that happened -- maybe Mom thought her daughter was about to play the wrong piece or maybe she thought she had left the oven on back at the house -- but whatever the reason, it traumatized my client.

????And so when it came time for her to give the keynote we had worked on, I flew with her all the way down to the New Orleans Convention Center -- and quite literally held her hand in the wings until it was time for her to take the stage. I did the same thing for every one of her presentations we worked on together after that. On every occasion, she was petrified beforehand, but calmed down and performed well after about the first two minutes.????