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  演講會如何幫助，並改善我的外語 - 英文

譯者：康碧紜 Christina, ScienTech

Can You Understand Me?
你知道我說什麼嗎

As a native Spanish speaker living in the United States, I knew it was important for my career to be able to express myself correctly in English. But it was hard to find any help in learning how to do this. Approximately six years ago I worked for Hormel Foods Corporation in Austin, Minnesota, and once during a performance review I asked my boss how I could improve my English skills. She recommended Toast masters. What’s that? And how could they help me speak better English?
我住在美國，但是我的母語是西班牙語。我知道，能夠正確的用英文來表達，在我的職業生涯是很重要的。但是當時很不容易，能夠找到學習的地方。大約六年前，我在明尼蘇達州，奧斯丁的荷美爾食品公司 (Hormel Foods Corporation)工作。有一次，在業務檢核時，我問老闆要如何改善我的英文能力，她推薦我參加「演講會」。我心想，「那是什麼？他們要如何幫助我的英文表達更好？」

I visited our company’s corporate club, Tuesday with Toastmasters. At my first meeting I sat in a chair by the door. I was unsure what to expect. The meeting started and I watched a speaker named Eric Heneke. He was an extraordinary speaker. He showed so much confidence and talent as he presented his speech that, in that moment, I wished to be like him. But how could I do it? My first language was not English and my accent troubled me.
於是我去參加我們公司的分會，名叫星期二演講會。第一次參加例會時，我坐在門旁邊的椅子。當時我不確定要有什麼收穫，例會開始了，我看到一位叫Eric Heneke的人演講。他是一位很優秀的講者，表現的非常自信，以及展現出天分；在他演講的那一刻，我真希望能像他一樣，但是我要怎麼做呢？我的母語並不是英文，而且我還有口音的問題。

The breakthrough moment happened when I gave my first speech, the Ice Breaker. I could not think of a title, so I called it “The Ice Breaker.” I was so nervous my stomach hurt. This nervousness was more of a challenge than my broken English. Ever since I was a little girl, speaking in front of others always made me cry. I told myself, in that moment of delivering the Ice Breaker, that I needed to have fortitude and to just do it. Remembering parts of my life still makes me cry, and the audience saw my pain. But it was good to get through it.
當我做第一次演講時，我有了突破！當時想不出標題，所以我就用「自我介紹」做為標題。我非常緊張，還胃痛，這種緊張要比我英文不好還要有挑戰性。我還是個小女孩時，在大眾面前說話，我會緊張的想哭出來，我告訴自己，在做第一次演講的時候，需要堅定、勇敢的去做，只要我想起過去的經驗，還是很不愉快；但是聽眾知道我的難處，能夠克服它是好的。 

It Worked at Work
在職場上行得通

While working in the Research and Development department at Hormel Foods, I got involved in the company’s Training Committee. To inform the committee of what Research and Development does, I gave a PowerPoint presentation. Afterward, committee members asked me to give the presentation to other company employees. I thought, Me? They are crazy! Then I remembered that Toastmasters would help me give this presentation.
當時我在荷美爾食品公司的研究發展部門工作，並且是公司訓練委員會的委員，為了要讓委員會知道，有關研究發展部門的內容，我做了一份簡報。之後，委員會又要我向別的公司的員工做簡報，我想說「怎麼會是我 太瘋狂了」。然後我想到，演講會可以幫助我這次的簡報！

I read my first Toastmasters manual and organized my presentation following these steps: Define the problem, explain the objectives, give your conclusions and make your recommendations. Then I did it! I gave the speech. I could not believe it – me, a second-language speaker, giving a presentation to the employees, thanks to Toastmasters. During my experience with the Training Committee, I gave a second speech, titled “The Power of Six Sigma,” to the entire Research and Development staff. At the end of the speech something extraordinary happened: Everybody stood up and applauded for me. It sounded like bells to my ears. And you know what? This time I did not cry. Instead, I was happy to be talking in front of all those employees. Toastmasters brought many benefits to my life and my career. After four years of employment, I was promoted to the position of quality control engineer.
我讀了一下手冊，並重新整理我的簡報內容，分為以下的步驟：確認問題、闡述主旨、做結論、並做一些建議。我成功了！我做了這個演講，我在訓練委員會的經驗，對所有研究發展部門的員工做了第二次演講；標題為「6個標準差的力量」。在演講的最後， 奇妙的事發生了，每個人都站起來為我鼓掌，這個鼓勵對我來說，就像鈴聲一樣響亮，而且這一次，我沒有哭，而是很高興能在所有的員工面前談話。演講會對我的生活，及職業生涯幫助很大，在公司任職四年後，我升遷為品管工程師。  

The Next Steps
接下來的步驟

I continued to give many more speeches. Then in 2008, I decided to participate in a speech contest. I was nervous, but I won second place in the International Speech Contest for our division. Last year, I won first place in the division contest.I currently serve as area governor for the Southern Division in District 6. I earned my Advanced Communicator Gold and I am now working toward my DTM. I feel proud of being a Toast master. This organization can change the life of anyone who joins. Everyone has the potential to be successful and to become a great speaker and leader. If I can do it, you can too!
接著我做了更多的演講，在2008年時，我決定參加演講比賽。我當時很緊張，而我贏得了分部比賽的第一名！現在我是第6地區總會，南分部裡的區總監，我獲得金牌高級演講員，並朝向傑出會員邁進。我以身為演講會會員為榮，演講會這個組織，可以改變任何成員的生活，每個人都有成功的潛力，成為一位優秀的演講者及領袖，如果我做得到，你也可以！ 

Elsa Esquivel-Soto, ACG, ALB, is a member of the Southern Minnesota Mentors in Rochester, Minnesota, and Tuesday With Toastmasters in Austin, Minnesota. Reach her at yazimi1@live.com.

作者：Elsa Esquivel-Soto 銅牌高級演講員，銅牌高級領導員，美國明尼蘇達州的羅契斯特市的南明尼蘇達領導會，以及明尼蘇達奧斯丁星期二愛演講演講會會員。聯絡她電子信箱：yazimi1@live.com