How to Win Friends and Influence People

I recently finished listening to this audiobook of this classic by Dale Carnegie. Great stuff. Some of the advice is so simple, and yet so effective. The following points caught my ear:

Remembering Names: the ability to remember a person’s name is a great skill to have. I have wanted to work on this for some time because I have often found myself introduced to someone and not remembering their name 30 seconds later. Since I began listening to this audiobook I have already seen impressive results. When I am now meet someone new I am alert waiting to hear their name and then I will repeat it to myself a number of times and try to associate it with them in some way, eg a particular feature of theirs.

Taking a genuine interest in people: this means taking the time to find out about people, eg their likes and dislikes, their partners and/ or kids names, etc and remembering this. For example, the other day I remembered a work colleague had moved house on the weekend, so I made a point of going over to her and asking how it went.

Talk in terms of the other persons interests: people love to talk about something they are knowledgeable about. This is a great idea and involves doing some basic research into what other people enjoy and being prepared to listen attentively and talk about such interests.