演讲文本

So I had seen Barbara Walters on the Today Show that morning so I answered "I would like to be a journalist. I would like to tell other people's stories in a way that makes a difference in their lives and the world."

因为那天早上我正好在“今日秀”中看到了芭芭拉·怀特女士，所以我说：“我想成为一名新闻工作者，我想为人民带来一些在某种程度上能改变他们生活和世界的故事。”

And as those words were coming out of my mouth I went whoa! This is pretty good!

当我说出这些话时，我觉得：“哇！还挺不错的！”

I would like to be a journalist. I want to make a difference.

我想做个记者，我要做出一番事业。

Well I was on television by the time I was 19 years old.

后来，19岁时我上了电视。

And in 1986 I launched my own television show with a relentless determination to succeed at first.

在1986年，我推出了我自己的电视节目，并一开始就下定决心要成功。

I was nervous about the competition and then I became my own competition raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing, pushing myself as hard as I knew. Sound familiar to anybody here?

以前我面对竞争很紧张，后来我和自己竞争，每年设立一个更高的目标，一步一步地推到极限。这对在座的谁来说听着挺耳熟吗？

Eventually we did make it to the top and we stayed there for 25 years.

最终，我们成功达到巅峰，并在那里待了25年。

The Oprah Winfrey Show was number one in our time slot for 21 years and I have to tell you I became pretty comfortable with that level of success.

“奥普拉秀”在同一时间段的电视节目中连续21年排名第一，我必须说我对于这个成功非常的满足。

But a few years ago I decided as you will at some point, that it was time to recalculate, find new territory, break new ground.

但是几年前，我觉得，在人生的某一时刻，你必须重新来过，找到新的领域，实现新的突破。

So I ended the show and launched OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. The initials just worked out for me.

所以我离开了“奥普拉秀”，以我的名字命名推出了我自己的电视网络“奥普拉·温福瑞电视网”，缩写正好是“OWN（自己的）”。我就是这样擅长运用缩写。

So one year later after launching OWN nearly every media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop. Not just a flop but a big bold flop they call it.

在奥普拉·温福瑞电视网推出一年后，几乎所有的媒体都认为我的新项目是失败的。不仅仅是失败，他们称之为一个大写的失败。

I can still remember the day I opened up USA Today and read the headline "Oprah, not quite standing on her OWN." I mean really, USA Today? Now that's the nice newspaper!

我还记得有一天我打开《今日美国报》时看到头条新闻说“ 奥普拉搞不定自己的电视网”。不是吧，今日美国报啊？真是份好报纸！

It really was this time last year the worst period in my professional life.

这正是去年我职业生涯最低谷的时刻。

I was stressed and I was frustrated and quite frankly I was actually I was embarrassed.

我压力超大，近乎崩溃，老实说，我感到羞愧。

It was right around that time that President Faust called and asked me to speak here and I thought you want me to speak to Harvard graduates?

就在那个时候，Faust校长打电话邀请我到哈佛做毕业演讲。我心想：“你让我给哈佛的毕业生演讲？

What could I possibly say to Harvard graduates, some of the most successful graduates in the world in the very moment when I had stopped succeeding?

当我已经不再成功的时候，我能跟这些世界上最成功的毕业生说什么？”

So I got off the phone with President Faust and I went to the shower. It was either that or a bag of Oreos.

我挂了Faust校长的电话后去洗了个澡。要么去吃奥利奥要么去洗澡。

So I chose the shower. And I was in the shower a long time and as I was in the shower the words of an old hymn came to me.

我选择了洗澡。那个澡我洗了很长时间，在洗澡的时候我突然想到某首古老赞美诗中的一句话。

You may not know it. It's "By and by, when the morning comes."

你可能没听过，“终于，清晨来临了。”

And I started thinking about when the morning might come because at the time I thought I was stuck in a hole.

之后我就想，我的黎明也许要来了。因为那时我觉得我被困在一个洞里了。

And the words came to me "Trouble don't last always" from that hymn, "this too shall pass."

我又想到那首古老赞美诗中的一句话：“困难只是暂时的，都会过去。”

And I thought as I got out of the shower I am going to turn this thing around and I will be better for it.

当我走出浴室时，我想：我遇到的麻烦同样会有结束的一天，我会将这一页翻过去，我会好起来的。

And when I do, I'm going to go to Harvard and I'm going to speak the truth of it!

等我做到了，我就去哈佛，把这个真实的故事告诉大家！

So I'm here today to tell you I have turned that network around!

今天我来了并且想告诉你们，我已经把“奥普拉·温福瑞电视网”带上正轨了。

人物简介

奥普拉·温弗瑞(Oprah Winfrey)，1954年1月29日出生于密西西比州科修斯科，美国演员，制片，主持人。是当今世界上最具影响力的妇女之一，她的成就是多方面的：通过控股哈普娱乐集团的股份，掌握了超过10亿美元的个人财富；主持的电视谈话节目“奥普拉脱口秀”，平均每周吸引3300万名观众，并连续16年排在同类节目的首位；2009年11月20日，据国外媒体报道，在播出了23年之后，脱口秀女王奥普拉·温弗瑞的节目《奥普拉脱口秀》于2011年9月9日结束。

重点讲解

1.turn around 好转

例句：The economy turned around three months after the crisis.

在发生危机的三个月后经济开始好转了。

2.by and by 不久以后

例句：This world is training workers, that there may be no shirkers in the continuous by and by.

这个世界正在训练工人，不久以后，也许不会有持续开小差的人。

3.make a difference 有影响

例句：Whatever you can do can make a difference.

无论你能做什么，都会带来不同。

4.work out 解决

例句：Work out what you need to do first, and go for it,today.

首先确定你需要做什么，然后就行动,从今天开始。