《演讲与口才》撷取了名闻世界的“沟通与人际关系”课程年来的经验，围绕卡耐基所提出的三大基本原则：清楚知道自己要说什么；充满感情地说出来；生动清楚地表达，来教读者如何借演讲来影响他人，如何借团体沟通来做领导人，如何推销你的产品、你的想法，进而让别人更了解你。

由卡耐基开创并倡导的个人成功学，已经成为这个时代有志青年迈向成功的阶梯，通过他的传播和教导，无数人明白了积极生活的意义，并由此改变了他们的命运。卡耐基留给我们的不仅仅是几本书和一所学校，其真正价值是他把个人成功的技巧传授给了每一个向往成功的年轻人。
　　约翰·肯尼迪
　　戴尔·卡耐基的这些原则如魔术般令人震惊，他改变了3亿人的生活。
　　 基思·鲁珀特·默多克（美国传媒大王）
　　在出版史上，没有任何一本书能像卡耐基的著作那样持久地深入人心；也唯有卡耐基的书，在他辞世半世纪后，仍能占据我们的排行榜。
　　《纽约时报》
　　除了自由女神，卡耐基精神就是美国的象征。
　　《纽约时报》

　PART ONE
　　FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE SPEAKING
　　In every art there are few principles and many techniques.
　　In the chapters that make up the first part of this book, we discuss the basic principles of effective speaking and the attitudes to make these principles come alive.
　　As adults, we are interested in a quick and easy way to speak effectively. The only way we can achieve results quickly is to have the right attitude about achieving our goal and a firm foundation of principles to build upon.
　　Chapter 1
　　Acquiring the Basic Skills
　　I STARTED TEACHING classes in public speaking in 1912, the year the Titanic went down in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Since then, more than seven hundred and fifty thousand people have been graduated from these classes.
　　In the demonstration meetings preceding the first session of the Dale Carnegie Course, people are given the opportunity of telling why they intend to enroll and what they hope to gain from this training. Naturally, the phraseology varies; but the central desire, the basic want in the vast majority of cases, remains surprisingly the same: “When I am called upon to stand up and speak, I become so self-conscious, so frightened, that I can’t think clearly, can’t concentrate, can’t remember what I intended to say. I want to gain self-confidence, poise, and the ability to think on my feet. I want to get my thoughts together in logical order, and I want to be able to talk clearly and convincingly before a business or social group.”
　　Doesn’t this sound familiar? Haven’t you experienced these same feelings of inadequacy? Wouldn’t you give a small fortune to have the
　　ability to speak convincingly and persuasively in public? I am sure you would. The very fact that you have begun reading the pages of this book is proof of your interest in acquiring the ability to speak effectively.
　　I know what you are going to say, what you would say if you could talk to me: “But Mr. Carnegie, do you really think I could develop the confidence to get up and face a group of people and address them in a coherent, fluent manner?”
　　I have spent nearly all my life helping people get rid of their fears and develop courage and confidence. I could fill many books with the stories of the miracles that have taken place in my classes. It is not, therefore, a question of my thinking. I know you can, if you practice the directions and suggestions that you will find in this book.
　　……