1995年Toastmasters世界演講冠軍Mark Brown演講視頻

演講題目：A Second Chance

演講稿：

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Mr. Toastmaster and Friends…

That phrase is fairly common. At first look we automatically draw quick conclusions about people for various reasons.

It could be their appearance, other people’s opinions, our own preconceived ideas, or just plain ignorance.

We don’t always give a second chance. Let me explain.

Recently my wife Andrea, our three children and I sat down to watch a very important film, Beauty and the Beast.

Oh, you’ve seen it! Then you know that this is a film you can’t watch just once. Your children won’t let you. I’ve seen it thirteen times, since last Monday.

Don’t get me wrong, movie is great for children. The music, the magic, the mystery, but the message, the message is important for all of us.

Picture this, the villain is the influential Gaston. He’s tall, dark, handsome. I can relate to that.

Gaston is in love with a beautiful Belle, but she spurns him and befriends the beast. In a fit of jealousy Gaston uses his influence and turns the entire village against Belle and the Beast.

Except for seeing his face once in a magic mirror, the villagers know nothing about the beast. But Gaston, aahhh, he fuels their fear of the unknown, and whips them into a frenzy.

This angry mob cuts down trees and they make clubs, they brandish knives, pitchforks, and torches and they march through the forest singing, “We don’t like what we don’t understand in fact it scares us and this monster is mysterious at least. Bring your guns, bring your knives, save your children and your wives, we’ll save our village and our lives. We’ll kill the beast!”

Why?

For years the Beast had...lived in isolation but no one took the time to say wait, “What’s he really like? Who is this beast?”

Oh no, he wasn’t given a second chance, and the irony is, the real beast was in the hearts of the angry mob. He was a victim of the real beast: Intolerance, indifference, and ignorance.

Oh well, it’s a movie, it’s a fantasy, but intolerance, indifference, and ignorance are a reality.

We’ve got to deal with it every single day.

I’ll give you an example. Pat Harper, a beautiful network news anchor reported on the plight of the homeless in New York City a few years ago.

To appreciate their circumstance, she dressed as they dressed, she walked as they walked,

she lived as they lived, for several days.

She carried a concealed microphone and a hidden camera crew followed her every move.

It was Christmas time, a season of love, cheer, and goodwill. But here’s what the cameras saw.

I’ll never forget this.

It was snowing, bitterly cold, and there she sat. Huddled in a doorway shivering, trying to fend off the bone-chilling winds, but hardly anyone noticed her. Those who did hurried by.

Some looked right at her and yet right past her. Others looked right through her as they thought,

“heh, homeless, useless, worthless!” No one took a second look.

To them, this beauty had a beastly appearance. But the real beast was in the hearts of those who treated her with disdain. Oh yes, the beast of intolerance, indifference, and ignorance.

?

The sad truth is it happens all the time. I’m not just pointing fingers here, because, I admit, I’ve done it, too.

But we don’t always think about it until we come face to face with it.

Perhaps you have been a victim of the beast? Think back.

Do you remember the pain you felt when you faced intolerance just because you were different?

Do you remember when you faced in...indifference? Because like Pat Harper and so many others, well, your situation, that’s your problem!

And do you remember when you faced ignorance like that of those villagers? Because someone felt as they did, “ah, we don’t like what we don’t understand. In fact, it scares us.”

Do you remember how deeply it hurt?

Perhaps you have participated in acts of intolerance, indifference, and ignorance. Are you guilty of feeding the beast?

Is there someone out there, someone in your workplace, someone in your neighborhood, someone in your home who has heard your beast roar?

Oh my friends, do they not deserve a second chance?

As the film Beauty and the Beast concludes, the Beast dies. And in his place, because of Belle’s love, a-ha you guessed it, a handsome prince lives. You see Belle gave him a second chance.

Don’t you just love it? My children did. It’s a perfect fairy tale ending.

But, that story is a fantasy. Reality as we know is not so romantic. And the fantasy will never become reality unless we attack the beast, the real beast! Intolerance, Indifference, and Ignorance.

Yes! Let’s kill the beast because everyone deserves a second chance.