Why does the language have to be concise?

In July 1863, 1, a decisive battle of the American Civil War started in Gettysburg near Washington. After three days of fierce fighting, the northern army won a total victory. After the war, several states, such as Pennsylvania, decided to build a national martyrs cemetery in Gettysburg to bury all the soldiers who died here.

1863165438+1October 19, the cemetery inauguration ceremony, and American President Lincoln was invited to give a speech. This is very difficult for Lincoln, because the spokesman of this ceremony is Everett, and Lincoln was invited to "say something appropriate" after Ai just because of his presidency. Everett was not only a famous policy maker and professor, but also the most eloquent person recognized by the United States at that time, especially at the memorial ceremony. At this ceremony, his two-hour speech was really wonderful.

In this case, how can we establish a good relationship with the audience and finally win the audience? Lincoln decided to win by simplicity. As a result, Lincoln was a great success. Although his speech was only 10, and it took only two minutes from taking the stage to stepping down, the applause lasted 10 minutes. Lincoln's speech not only won a warm welcome from more than 10 thousand listeners present, but also caused a sensation throughout the country. The newspaper at that time commented: "This short and pithy speech is priceless, with deep feelings, concentrated thoughts, concise wording, concise wording and flawless writing, which completely surprised people." Even Everett himself wrote to Lincoln the next day: "It took me two hours to finally get to know the central idea you expounded, and it only took you two minutes to make it clear." Later, Lincoln's excellent speeches were collected in the library and stored in Oxford University as the highest model of English speeches.

Lincoln's speech was very successful, which gave us an inspiration: concise language will add charm to the speech.

In fact, in order to get better results in interpersonal communication, the language must be concise and clear, so that the listener can get more useful information in a short time. On the contrary, empty talk and saying nothing will inevitably delay people's time.

There have been some lengthy speeches in history, which can never be called excellent. For example, 1933, an American senator named Adele talked in the Senate for five days in order to oppose the passage of the bill that "black lynching cases should be tried by federal courts". According to a reporter's statistics, he paced 75 kilometers on the podium, * * * made 1000 gestures, ate 300 pieces of meat bread and drank 40 liters of cold drinks.

1957, Strom Thurmond made a speech to stop the passage of the civil rights bill, which lasted for 24 hours 18 minutes, but failed. 19 12, there was a war between Britain and the United States, and a congressman blocked the resolution to declare war on Britain with a marathon speech. Until the war hit the country, the situation was explosive, but the senator was still chattering. At midnight, there was snoring in the audience. Finally, a member of parliament used his quick wits to throw a spittoon on the speaker's head, so that the debate was terminated and the declaration of war was passed.

"Not many words, but the meaning is spiritual." If you don't mind writing trouble, your writing is meticulous, concise and powerful, which can make people not lose interest; Redundant words and phrases, nagging and irrelevant, will be boring. In the history of China and foreign countries, many great speakers are precious and concise, leaving many precious chapters and becoming a typical example of "those who can talk and talk are silent". For example:

The shortest inaugural address of the President, that is, 1793 President Washington's speech, is world-famous, with only 135 words.

Engels' speech in front of Marx's tomb was only 126 words.

Lenin's speech at the unveiling ceremony of Marx and Engels Monument was only 552 words.

Stalin's important broadcast speech against the German fascist invasion on July 3, 194 1 was only 3,800 words.

Roosevelt's inaugural address was only 985 words.

On July 1984 and 17, laurent fabius, the 37-year-old new French Prime Minister, delivered an unexpected short speech, which contained only two sentences: "The task of the new government is to modernize the country and unite the French people. To this end, everyone is required to remain calm and show determination. Thank you. " Euphemistic wording and incisive content.

The above-mentioned master speakers' mastery of language is extraordinary.

At the same time, it also shows the important role of conciseness in verbal communication.

We believe that concise and clear language can add charm to speeches for the following reasons:

First, conciseness and conciseness of language is a manifestation of superb cognitive ability and thinking ability. The conciseness of discourse often reflects the rapidity and profundity of the speaker's analysis of problems.

Second, concise and concise language is the expression of bold and decisive character. A large number of facts show that. People with strong self-confidence and courage speak simply and decisively, without dragging their feet.

Third, modern society has a fast pace and a strong sense of time, and concise speech will give people a feeling of dynamic modern people. Therefore, brevity is a reflection of the times.

Fourthly, being concise will not only take up too much time of the listener, but also make the listener feel that the speaker respects him very much. Therefore, people who speak concisely are often quite popular.

We all feel that people who are nagging, wordy, slow-witted and vague are annoying. There is a joke that satirizes those long-winded people. This joke is about a letter written by a "wordy gentleman" to his family, which reads:

"... I'll be back next month. If it's not the first day, it's on the second day, it's on the third day, it's on the fourth day, it's on the fifth day, it's on the sixth day, it's on the seventh day, it's on the eighth day, it's on the ninth day ... it's not on the 28th, it's on the 29th. Don't write thirty, because small ... "

The letter "Mr. Long-winded" can be abbreviated as "I will go back to Li next month". It is too long, and anyone who reads it will feel bored and very annoying. Although this is just a joke, it also tells us a profound truth: if you talk for a long time, you will lose your charm.

Many wordy people are often confused by emotions, and their language expressions are inverted and unclear. Therefore, if you want to speak concisely, you must work hard in both thinking and language, practice constantly, master skills and give full play to them.