如何在商务演讲中脱颖而出

　　I have been to quite a few business networking events, and I guarantee that if you go, you will hear the phrase,

　　我去过不少商业社交活动，我保证，如果你去参加，肯定会听到这样的话，

　　“Tell me about yourself.”

　　“介绍一下你自己。”

　　Many people are able to answer this question with no problem, while others seem to struggle. If you find yourself experiencing the latter, one way to combat this issue is by memorizing an elevator speech.

　　很多人都能毫无问题地回答这个问题，而其他人似乎有些困难。如果你发现自己属于后者，有一种应对这个问题的方法就是记住一篇电梯演讲。

　　In case you are not familiar with this term, an elevator speech is a short spiel that enables you to convey to others your occupation and what you represent (i.e. attributes) in the same length of time it takes for you to reach the highest floor in an elevator (approximately 30 to 60 seconds).

　　假使你不熟悉这个术语，在这里我解释一下，电梯演讲其实是一篇很短的演说，在你搭乘电梯到达最高层的这个时间窗口内（大约30-60秒），你需要告知他人关于你的职业以及你代理的产品（例如特点）。

　　Think of it as a way to “break the ice” when you meet someone new. In order to find out if your speech is pushing the right buttons, keep the following in mind:

　　可以把电梯演讲看作一种你认识新朋友时的一种“破冰行动”。为了了解你的演讲是否起到了积极的作用，请记住以下几点：

　　Know before you go

　　了解你的说话对象

　　First impressions are extremely important. People form their judgments about a person within the first thirty seconds of meeting them. Therefore, when someone requests that you tell them about yourself, please do not waste these precious seconds. I am not trying to be funny or mean when I say this, but please figure out what it is that you do and what you represent before you are asked (especially if you are going to a networking event).

　　第一印象是非常重要的。第一次见面的人们往往在30秒内就会对他人作出判断。因此，当有人要求你介绍一下自己，请不要浪费这宝贵的几秒钟。我说这个并非在开玩笑或者在挑剔，在你被提问之前你需要很好的明白自己在做什么以及你代理的产品（特别是如果你要去一个社交活动）。

　　When some people are asked to talk about themselves, they act like it is a trick question and are literally stumped in trying to determine how to craft a response. Remember, only you have the answer. Using “fillers” such as ‘um’ or ‘ah’ will not help in your quest to project that you are a confident individual.

　　当一些人被要求介绍自己，他们的反应就像这是一个有陷阱的问题，并被如何设计一个回答而难住。请记住，只有你自己才有答案。若你力求将自己塑造成一个自信的主体，使用“助词”，如“um”或“ah”对你并无帮助。

　　Would you want to listen to yourself?

　　你愿意听自己的演讲吗？

　　When you are rehearsing your elevator speech, keep in mind how you would feel if you were subjected to listening to your speech. Would you be satisfied or bored? If you are bored and you wrote the speech, imagine how the listener will feel. I realize not everyone has a “cool” job. 个However, this is still no excuse for having a boring elevator speech. How do you expect to impress a recruiter or land a new client without capturing their attention?

　　当你在排练电梯演讲时，请记住这一点，如果是你正在听这篇演讲，你会做何感想？你是觉得满意还是无趣？如果你觉得无趣的话，那么请写下这篇演讲稿，想象一下听众的感觉。我明白不是每个人都有一份很好的工作。然而，这也不能成为一个无趣的电梯演讲的借口。在没有打动他人的情况下，你怎么能指望让招聘人员印象深刻或者赢得一个新客户。

　　The key to getting where you want to be is to demonstrate that, regardless of what your occupation is, you are an awesome person to know, you take ownership of your position, and you have pride in the work you perform. Do yourself a favor and craft an elevator speech worth listening to by incorporating the following:

　　不管你的职业是什么，想要到达你自己的目标就需要向他人证明，你是一个值得让人了解的、出色的个体，你对自己的定位有话语权，你为自己的工作感到自豪。所以帮自己一个忙，好好地设计一个电梯演讲，内容包括以下几个方面：

　　1. Your occupation: Yes, this seems obvious, but it does not hurt to be reminded. In addition, make sure that you add the company name as well. The person listening to you might know one of your colleagues. Therefore, in the event that you are nervous, knowing a common person that the listener knows might make you feel more at ease.

　　1.你的职业 这似乎是显而易见的，但它值得反复强调。此外，请确保你也加上了公司的名称。听众可能认识你的同事，因此，万一你觉得紧张，有一个共同认识的人会让你觉得轻松不少。

　　2. Why are you unique? For example, instead of simply saying, “I am a Marketing Consultant,” and bringing the conversation to a screeching halt, why not say this exceptionally-crafted answer instead: “I am a Marketing Consultant that loves a challenge and truly enjoys assisting my clients.”

　　2.你为什么与众不同？举个例子，不要只是简单地说，“我是一个营销顾问”，这会让对话孑然而止，为什么不说一个精心设计的答案来替代呢，“我是一个营销顾问，喜欢挑战，乐于帮助我的客户“。

　　3. Examples, please. The degree to how well you craft your answer to the above question, “Why you are unique?” will determine how interested people will be in learning more about you. You will know you accomplished this feat when, after you give this response, the next question you are asked is,

　　3.请举实例。上一问题“为什么你与众不同”的答案的精彩程度将会决定听众是否有兴趣接着来了解你。在你得到回应后，你会知道自己是否获得成功，接下来提问的一个问题是，

　　“How do you ...[insert your exceptionally-crafted answer—i.e. assist your clients]?”

　　“你如何......[植入你精心准备的答案，例如：帮助你的客户]？“

　　This question will enable you to share your skills and talents without being viewed as pushy. Make the most of your time in the spotlight by giving 3 quick examples to support why you are [insert your exceptionally-crafted answer].

　　这个问题将帮助你向他人分享你的技巧和天赋，而不被看作是爱出风头。充分利用你是焦点的这个时间，举3个简单的例子来证明自己[插入你精心设计的答案].

　　4. Facial expressions speak just as loud as words: When you are speaking, make sure you are paying attention to how others are reacting to your speech. If you see that someone is confused, immediately stop and ask them if they need clarification. Oftentimes, if people are confused, they will let you keep talking because they are afraid that they will come across as ignorant (even though this could not be further from the truth).

　　4.面部表情与言辞表达同样重要。当你说话时，请注意关注其他人对你的发言有何反应。如果你看到有人面露迷惑，应立即停下来并询问他们是否需要解释。通常情况下，人们就算有疑问也不会让你停止，因为他们害怕自己会被他人看作是无知的（尽管这可能离事实不远）。

　　It is your responsibility to put their mind at ease by being direct and asking them if they need clarification. I often receive puzzled looks when I mention that I am a Marketing Research Manager and I also offer virtual assistant services. When I receive these confused looks, the next words out of my mouth are,

　　直接询问听众是否需要解释，让他们保持在一个轻松的状态，这是你的责任。当我说自己是一个市场研究经理但同时也提供虚拟助理服务时，常常会收到疑问的目光。每当我看到这种疑惑的表情时，我就会问：

　　“Are you familiar with the concept of virtual assistance?”

　　“你们熟悉虚拟助理这个概念吗？”

　　When I offer to clarify a term or phrase that is unfamiliar to the other person, I can see a sigh of relief on their face, and then am told,

　　当我提出要阐明一个他们不熟悉的名词或词组时，我可以看出他们都松了口气，然后对我说，

　　“No, if you do not mind, can you explain it to me?”

　　“ 不熟悉，如果你不介意的话，能向我解释一下吗？”

　　It does neither person any good to allow you to continue talking when you are not on the same page. The other person will undoubtedly harbor unnecessary feelings of insecurity because they did not understand you. When you fail to pick up on nonverbal cues when your listener is confused, your listener will assume that you are “smarter” than they are, and you will miss out on the chance to connect.

　　当你和听众没有达成共识，继续谈下去对你们双方都没有好处，因为对你不理解，其他人无疑会怀有不安全感，当你的听众觉得困惑，你又没有及时传达非语言线索时，你的听众会认定你比他们更加聪明，那么你将会错失余他们联络的机会。

　　Remember, the whole purpose of an elevator speech is to satisfy your listener’s curiosity regarding why you are a phenomenal person that they should become better acquainted with so they can add you to their network.

　　请记住，电梯演讲的整个目的是为了满足听众对你的好奇心，为什么你是一个出色的人，他们应该去结识以便增加他们的人脉圈。

　　In order to make this happen, you have to make sure that your speech is pushing the right buttons, so you can get off on the same floor together.

　　为了做到这一点，你必须确保你的演讲起了正面作用，这样你们就可以在同一层楼层出电梯了。