記我的第一次講演

Speech is fleeting, what's written remains

言語稍縱即逝，文字卻可長存。

It's said you almost always know when it's your first time doing something, but almost never know when it's your last.

你總會(huì)記得第一次做某件事的時(shí)間，但幾乎不會(huì)知道何時(shí)會(huì)是最后一次。

That's true whichever stage of life you currently find yourself at, be it bubbling up near the beginning or creaking along toward the inevitable end.

無論你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己現(xiàn)在身處何種生活階段，無論是剛開始或是在必然歸宿中踽踽獨(dú)行，都是如此。

But the older you do get, the less likely you are to have any real notable "firsts" anymore. Or at least, those that you do experience become a whole lot less pleasurable. Gone are the days of first kisses and first dates, for instance, to be replaced by the first time you catch yourself groaning audibly while attempting to extricate yourself from a chair.

但是年齡越大，你就越不可能有任何顯著的“第一”。也許，那些你經(jīng)歷過的事情會(huì)變得沒那么令人愉快。例如，第一次親吻和第一次約會(huì)的日子一去不復(fù)返，取而代之的是你第一次試圖從椅子上解脫出來時(shí)聽到的呻吟聲。

So it was with no small amount of trepidation that I took to the stage in Hangzhou last month for China Daily's second Vision China event, which marked my first-ever foray into public speaking.

上個(gè)月我在杭州參加了《中國日?qǐng)?bào)》舉辦的第二期《新時(shí)代大講堂》活動(dòng)。這是我第一次嘗試公開演講，我感到惶恐不安。

From the start, it was a somewhat surreal experience. The venue was simply enormous, with a stage-spanning screen and huge speaker stacks that made it look more like the setting for a rock concert.

一開始，我感覺這次經(jīng)歷有點(diǎn)不真實(shí)。場地很大，橫跨整個(gè)舞臺(tái)的屏幕和巨大揚(yáng)聲器使它看起來更像搖滾音樂會(huì)的場景。

A few hours before I was due to go on, I had the chance to rehearse my presentation. But hearing my voice reverberate around the cavernous hall did little to allay my fears. In fact, instead of bolstering my confidence, it only served to set my nerves further on edge.

在我準(zhǔn)備演講前的幾個(gè)小時(shí)，我有機(jī)會(huì)在臺(tái)上試講。但聽到我的聲音回蕩在寬敞的大廳里，我內(nèi)心的恐懼幾乎沒有減輕。事實(shí)上，這非但沒有增強(qiáng)我的信心，反而讓我更加緊張。

"This is hopeless," I thought to myself.

我心想：“這是毫無希望的?！?/p>

"If I can't give a talk to an almost-empty room, what hope do I have once the audience arrives?"

“如果我不能在一個(gè)空無一人的房間里講話，那么一旦觀眾到了，我還有什么希望能夠在他們面前講話呢？”

And arrive they did. Almost 1,000 of them. Filling out the venue from the front to the very back.

隨后到了將近1000位觀眾，從前到后，坐滿整個(gè)會(huì)場。

I watched from the sidelines, telling myself I needn't worry and that everything was going to be A-OK.

我在一旁看著，告訴自己不要擔(dān)心，一切都會(huì)好起來。

But the truth is I was a bag of nerves, right up to and including the point that I was called on stage.

但事實(shí)是，我一直緊張不安，包括我被叫上舞臺(tái)那個(gè)時(shí)候。

Being the last speaker no doubt worked to my advantage. It gave me time to collect my thoughts and watch how the others fared.

毫無疑問，作為最后一位演講者是我的優(yōu)勢。這給了我時(shí)間去梳理思緒，觀察其他人的表現(xiàn)。

Yet still, when my time came, I froze up almost completely. Mere seconds into my talk, I was at a total loss for words.

然而，輪到我演講時(shí)，我?guī)缀跬耆┳×?。僅僅幾秒鐘，我就愣得完全說不出話來。

My mind went blank and for one brief, panicked moment, I thought I'd forgotten everything. So I just stood there, for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for the cogs to start whirring again.

我的大腦一片空白，有那么一瞬間的驚慌，我想我已經(jīng)忘了一切。于是我就站在那里，似乎動(dòng)也不動(dòng)，等待著時(shí)間之輪再次轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)。

Luckily, it wasn't actually that long before my mind rebooted. After a second or two, I'd rediscovered my rhythm and was forging along, full steam ahead.

幸運(yùn)的是，在我回神之前，其實(shí)沒過多久。一兩秒鐘后，我找回了節(jié)奏，加速前進(jìn)，全力以赴。

There were a couple more stumbles, though nothing too serious, and I even managed to end on something of a high note.

雖然整個(gè)演講還有幾處失誤，但卻不太嚴(yán)重。我甚至幾近完美地結(jié)束了演講。

So I'll chalk this one up as a victory, especially if it turns out to be my sole attempt.

如果這是我唯一的嘗試，我會(huì)把它當(dāng)作一次成功。

Because you never know when it might be your last time doing something. And though I'm certainly not the world's greatest orator, at least I'll never have to go through all that for the first time again.

因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不知道什么時(shí)候可能是你最后一次做某件事。盡管我不是世界上最偉大的演說家，但至少我再也不用第一次經(jīng)歷這一切了。