I read How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie a while ago. It was a very good read in practical habits a person can get into in order to better communicate with others. I highly recommend reading this book too. Following are some of the tips from the books:
Principal 1: Don’t condemn, criticize, or complain
Principle 2: Honest and Sincere Appreciation
Principle 3: Arouse in the other person an eager want
How to make people like you?
- Become genuinely interested in other people
- Smile
- Remember Names
- Be a good listener
- Talk in terms of other person’s interest
- Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely
How To Influence People:
- Never say “you are wrong”.
- Admit your are wrong
January 11th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Dale Carnegie’s book is a genuine classic, even if the language and tone seem a little dated now. You get this feeling that Carnegie is a true gentleman and, from what I remember, he urges the reader to be utterly humble & sincere too.
What makes me smile is that I’ve seen so many salesmen use the book without being honest in their thoughts, speech & actions, you can usually spot them a mile off. It’s all about *being* good and not just *acting* good.
Your synopsis really does sum up the core points of this great old book and it certainly deserves to be on the bookshelf of every budding entrepreneur. Mixing the sincerity and humility of good old-fashioned friendliness with modern day neuro-linguistic programming is a force to be reckoned with, I believe.
January 12th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Paul, I completely agree with you. I have also seen salesmen that try to follow the book’s advices without being honest in their actions. But I strongly believe that sincerity is not something you can fake and can be easily spotted in people.
I think the book was great and most likely will read it again soon.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:12 am
yeah pretty much honesty is the best policy