如何准备英语演讲稿
演讲的总体措词是严肃一些还是活泼一些,是有较明显的说教口气还是用平等的口吻,等等,都要根据听众对象而定。如果场下听众是同龄的学生,那么演讲的内容只要风趣一些往往就能引起共鸣。但另一方面,如果听众大多是上了年纪的教师,太多的笑料反而会被认为“不严肃”,“不尊重”,而引起反感。
用英语演讲,不要用太多 I feel, I think,老是用I,显得十分主观,狭隘。如果通篇全是 I feel, I
think 的内容,会给人觉得缺乏说服力。另外,perhaps, maybe
这样的词语,虽然有“客气,谦虚”的成分,但太多会让人觉得你演讲的内容有不可靠之处。
还有,在演讲中,要少用you,多用we。用you等于把自己与听众对立起来,而用we则拉近了与听众的距离。比如:You
should not smoke.听上去像教训人,而 Let's not smoke听起来是一个不错的建议。
2.演讲要越短越好
英语演讲应该简洁扼要,直截了当。除非特别需要,一般不要采用中文中的那种迂回曲折的表达形式。据有关专家统计,一般人的注意力一次只能集中约13分钟。所以,演讲长度以10~15分钟为宜。下面是美国总统林肯所作的著名的盖茨堡演说,虽然全文只有短短200多个词,却带有振奋人心、扭转乾坤般的力量。其中
of the people, by the people, for the
people(民有,民治,民享)已成为不朽佳句。对于中学生来说,这篇演讲现在读起来一定会觉得很难,但要写好英语演讲,这确实是值得认真研读的经典之作。
Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on
this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure.
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to
dedicate a portion of the field as a final resting-place for
those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. It
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But
in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we
cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so
nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to
the great task remaining before us, ----that from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure of devotion, ----that we
here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain, ----that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth
of freedom, ----and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
其实,我们中学生练习写演讲稿,可以短些,从4~5分钟,500~600个词,围绕一个主题开始练习。
3.英语演讲稿的基本组成部分
从大的方面看,英语演讲词实际上是属于一种特殊的说明文或议论文,其基本组成部分是:
1)开始时对听众的称呼语
最常用的是 Ladies and gentlemen,也可根据不同情况,选用 Fellow students,
Distinguished guests, Mr Chairman, Honorable Judges(评委)等等。
2)提出论题
由于演讲的时间限制,必须开门见山,提出论题。提出论题的方法有各种各样,但最生动,最能引起注意的是用举例法。比如:你要呼吁大家关心贫穷地区的孩子,你可以用亲眼看到的或者收集到的那些贫穷孩子多么需要帮助的实例开始。另外,用具体的统计数据也是一个有效的引出论题的方法,比如:你要谈遵守交通规则的话题,你可以从举一系列有关车辆、车祸等的数据开始。
3)论证
对提出的论题,不可主观地妄下结论,而要进行客观的论证。这是演讲中最需要下功夫的部分。关键是要把道理讲清楚。常见的论证方法有举例法、因果法、对比法等等,可参见英语议论文的有关章节。
4)结论
结论要简明扼要,以给听众留下深刻印象。
5)结尾
结尾要简洁,不要拉拉扯扯,说个没完。特别是不要受汉语影响,说些类似“准备不足,请谅解”,“请批评指正”这样的废话。最普通的结尾就是:Thank
you very much for your attention。
4.英语演讲稿的语言特征
1)多用实词,多用短句,少用结构复杂的长句
在英语演讲中,and, but, so, then 等虚词要尽量少用,that, which
等词引导的定语从句也只会使句子结构变得复杂,而使听众难以跟上演讲者的思路,从而影响演讲的效果。相反,多使用实词,短句,可使得演讲内容更清晰,气势更磅礴。
2)演讲要注意使用各种修辞手法,增加演讲的感染力和气势。英语演讲中常用的修辞手法有:渐进(climax)、对照(antithesis)、排比(parallelism)、警句(epigram)等等,例如:
That government of the people, by the people, for the people
shall not perish from the earth.(排比)
这个民有、民治、民享的国家将不会从地球上消失。
United, there is little we can not do; divided, there is
little we can do.(对照)
团结,我们便将无所不能;分裂,我们则会一事无成。
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that
we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and
the success of liberty. (对照和渐进)
让世界各国都知道,无论对我们怀有好感与敌意,我们将付出任何代价,肩负任何重任,面对任何艰辛,支持任何朋友,反对任何敌人,以确保自由的生存与成功。
What we should fear most is the fear itself.(警句)
我们最应恐惧的是恐惧本身。
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do
for your country.(对照)
不要问你们的国家能为你们做些什么,而要问你们能为你们的国家做些什么。
设想一下,假如在我们的演讲中能融入上述这样运用得当的修辞手段,那我们的演讲将会变得多么有力与动人