Many years ago, a man named Dale Carnegie wrote a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” He also taught a class about the book. My parents both went to this class and liked it very much. Here are a few ideas from the book
Six Ways To Make People Like You
- Become genuinely interested in other people.
- Smile.
- Remember that a person’s name is, to him, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
- Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
- Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.
- Make people feel important, and do it sincerely.
Mr. Carnegie always used stories to help people understand. Here is a story about point 5, “talk in terms of the other person’s interests.”
The next time you want to persuade someone to do something, before you speak, pause and ask, “How can I make him want to do it?” Get the other mans point of view and see things from his angle as well as from his own. A man’s sister was worried about her two boys. They were at University and they were so busy with their studies that they did not write home and ignored their mothers letters. The man bet his sister that he could get the boys to answer his letter. His sister accepted the bet. The man wrote the boys a short letter and ended by saying that he had put a 100 dollar bill in with the letter but he did not put the money in the envelope. Soon the man received a letter from the two boys. The boys letters began, “Dear Uncle, thank you for your letter… Can you guess what the boys said in their letter?
Your Opinion, Please!
Have you used any of these ways to make friends? How? Did it work?
Which of the six points do you think is most important? Why?
Vocabulary List
influence: affect how someone behaves OR A flowing in or upon; influx. [感化 [gan3 hua4] (influence: a malefactor to a better) / 勢力 势力 [shi4 li5] (influence: ability to) / 潛移默化 潜移默化 [qian2 yi2 mo4 hua4] (influence: secretly ) / 影響力 影响力 [ying3 xiang3 li4] (influence)]
sincerely: truly OR In a sincere manner. [谢忱 [xie4 chen2] (sincerely: grateful) / 掬誠 掬诚 [ju1 cheng2] (sincerely)]
Tags: daily life, ESL News, Wisdom
