職場雙語:論說話的藝術(2)

Dear Annie: I work on a team with a bright, talented young woman who has a lot of potential. The problem is that our director and other colleagues are frustrated with her communication style, which is what you might call "Valley Girl." We really want her to do well and get ahead, and we believe the way she speaks is holding her back. Can you offer any tips on how to overcome this? She is generally open to constructive suggestions and I think she would follow your advice. — Trying to Help

親愛的安妮：在我工作的團隊，有一個聰明伶俐且充滿才氣的年輕女孩，她很有發展潛力。但問題是，我們主管和其他同事對她的講話方式很有意見。她講話的方式可以用“山谷女郎”來形容。我們真的希望她取得出色的業績，更進一步。但是很顯然，她的說話方式正在阻礙她的職業發展。您能提供一些技巧，來幫助她克服這個毛病嗎？她願意接受任何建設性的建議。我認爲她會聽從您的建議的。——TH

Dear TH: "'Valleyspeak' is the verbal equivalent of coming to work looking like you just rolled out of bed," says executive speech coach Christine K. Jahnke. "It's sloppy and, worse, it distracts people's attention from your ideas and your performance. It can also wreck your chances of ever being selected for a job where you would be 'out front' dealing with clients."

親愛的TH：高管演講教練克里斯汀•楊克曾說過：“‘山谷語’腔調給人的感覺，就像一個人剛從牀上爬起來，緊接着就開始工作了。”她還說，“這種腔調聽上去很不正式，而且更糟糕的是，它會分散別人的注意力，從而無法關注你的創意和表現。同時，這樣的說話方式也決定了你註定跟直接與客戶打交道的工作崗位無緣。”

Jahnke is president of Washington, D.C.-based coaching firm Positive Communications and has advised Michelle Obama and six state governors as well as executives at companies as diverse as the National Geographic Channel and NASCAR. She also wrote a new book, The Well-Spoken Woman: Your Guide to Looking and Sounding Your Best.

楊克現任華盛頓特區積極溝通培訓公司（Positive Communications）總裁。第一夫人米歇爾•奧巴馬曾接受過她的建議。美國總共六位州長都曾是她的客戶。此外，她的客戶還包括不同類型公司的高管，從國家地理頻道（National Geographic Channel）到全國運動汽車競賽協會（National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing）等等。最近，她還出了本新書——《職場指南：如何展現最美的形象和聲音》（Your Guide to Looking and Sounding Your Best）。

One drawback to talking like a Valley Girl is that it often entails ending sentences with an upward inflection, as if they were questions, which "sounds as if you're seeking approval rather than making a statement," Jahnke says. "It makes you seem to lack confidence in what you're saying."

“山谷女郎”式的說話方式還有一個缺點，那就是每句話的結尾通常用上揚的語調，就像在提問題。“聽起來就像在尋求別人的認同，而不是在陳述一件事情。這會使人顯得對自己的話缺乏自信，”楊克說。

Another unfortunate verbal habit: Peppering one's speech with "like" and "you know." Jahnke believes that Carolyn Kennedy's 2008 Senate bid failed in part because of public appearances -- including a New York Times interview that quickly went viral -- where, Jahnke recalls, Kennedy "seemed unable to articulate a complete thought without saying 'you know.'" Pundits also picked on Kennedy's "baby doll voice" and "tendency to ramble," Jahnke says.

另一種不好的說話習慣是在談話中中摻雜過多的口頭禪，比如“就像”、“你知道”等等。楊克認爲，卡洛琳•肯尼迪在2008年的參議員競選中失利，部分原因就在於她在公開場合的表現，其中就包括《紐約時報》（New York Times）對她的一次專訪。談到那次專訪，楊克回憶說：“如果不說‘你知道’，她好像就無法清楚完整的表達自己的觀點。”另外，權威評論者還對肯尼迪的“娃娃音”和“散漫的個性傾向”提出了批評。

Of course, Most of us (luckily) never have to stand in the intense public spotlight that candidates for public office face, but a less-than-polished speaking style can wreck anyone's career prospects, says Jahnke, and it becomes more of a sticking point the higher you go: "As you rise up the ladder, expect that every aspect of your speaking persona will face more intense scrutiny." Gulp.

幸運的是，我們中的大部分人當然無需像公職候選人那樣，必須面對大衆的高度關注。然而，不加修飾脫殼而出的說話方式卻可以毀掉任何一個人的職業前程。而且職位越高，這一點也會變得愈發重要，楊克說，“隨着職位升高，我們的一言一行都會受到外界更加密切的關注。”

So what can your colleague -- or anyone else -- do to change speech patterns that may have become ingrained over many years? "Most people really don't need a total overhaul," Jahnke says. "They just need to correct one or two things."

那麼，你的同事，或者其他有類似問題的人，到底應該怎樣改變他們的講話方式呢？要知道，這些不好的習慣對她們來說已是多年的頑疾。楊克稱：“大部分人都沒必要對說話方式全面大修，只需要改正一到兩處就可以了。”

She suggests the following four steps toward a more professional speaking style:

她提出了下面四條建議，幫助人們培養更符合職業規範的說話方式。

3. Study the speaking styles of successful people. "Women have so many more role models now than ever before, so it's easy to find executives whose speaking styles have helped to get them where they are today," notes Jahnke. She recommends checking out , which offers thousands of 20-minute talks by interesting people.

3. 研習成功人士的講話風格。“現在的女性成功人士比以往任何時候都要多，所以，很容易就可以找到這樣的榜樣——她們依靠自己不凡的講話風格贏得了如今的地位，”楊克解釋道。她向衆人推薦網站，裏面的演講數以千計，時長都在20分鐘左右，而且演講人都非常風趣。

"Look up Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook, or Melinda Gates," Jahnke suggests. "Or find YouTube videos of [Pepsico CEO] Indra Nooyi. Notice how they pace their speech, and how they use pauses. With some effort and practice, these are things anyone can learn."

楊克還建議說：“可以去關注一下Facebook的CEO雪莉•桑德伯格，或是梅琳達•蓋茨，或百事可樂公司（Pepsico）CEO盧英德。注意一下她們講話的語速，使用停頓的技巧。只要勤加練習，這些東西是每個人都可以學會的。”

4. Take note of how higher-ups at your company express their ideas. Naturally, communication styles vary somewhat from one corporate culture to another, so it makes sense to pay attention to how people above you talk. "If there is someone who is particularly effective at getting his or her ideas across, you might emulate the way they do it," says Jahnke.

4.注意上司是如何表達觀點的。不同的企業文化，自然會有不同的溝通方式，所以有必要關注上司的講話方式。“如果你的上司中，有人能夠非常有效地傳達他的想法，那就注意他是怎樣做到的，然後進行模仿。”

"The idea is not to parrot someone else's speech patterns, but to adopt the elements of their style that you can comfortably learn to use," she adds. "In the end, it's still about expressing yourself and your unique ideas -- but your best self, presented in a way that will make others listen."

“不是讓你去鸚鵡學舌般的生搬硬套，而是借鑑其中可以輕鬆掌握的元素。歸根到底，講話最重要的是自我表達，是傳遞自己的獨到觀點時，但是要注意，我們需要展現的是自己最好的一面，而且展示的方式要能抓住聽者的注意力。”

Talkback: Do you agree that the way someone speaks can make or break a career? What habits of speech do you find distracting or unprofessional? Leave a comment below.

反饋：講話方式會成就一個人，也會毀掉一個人，你同意這樣的觀點嗎？哪些講話習慣會分散別人的注意力，或顯得很不專業？請留言發表您的觀點。