Book Club – How to Win Friends and Influence People

In our line of business, people skills are essential. It’s a cruel fact that sometimes, you may have the best product or service for the customer, but if they don’t like you, it’s a hard road to travel to get them to let you help them.

So this week’s book club post is focused on the first ever bestselling self-help book in history. How to Win Friends and Influence People was published in 1936, it has sold 15 million copies. It just shows that people skills never go out of date.

The original version was updated in 1981 but the core sections still stayed in the book. For example here are two of them:

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Six Ways to Make People Like You

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.
6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

If you haven’t read this book, then pick up a copy – it may help you just a little IRL.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegiePublication Date: 1936 Republication Date: 1981 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439167346