How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: The leading guide to better communication

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Despite first being published over 75 years ago, the advice offered in How to Win Friends and Influence People remains startlingly relevant. From enabling you to make friends quickly to becoming a better salesperson and handling tricky complaints, Carnegie provides helpful suggestions and explanations on how to deal with any situation and improve your communication with others. The book has sold over 30 million copies world-wide and was named the 19th most influential book by Time magazine. Carnegie was born into poverty and made his fortune through his public-speaking course, Dale Carnegie Training, a program which helps individuals overcome their fear of public speaking. To this date, over 8 million people have completed the course across more than 90 countries. 

This book review and analysis is perfect for: 
•Anyone who wants to master the art of winning friends
•Anyone needing to learn how to influence others
•Anyone interested in reading one of the bestselling self-help books of all time

About 50MINUTES.COM | BOOK REVIEW
The Book Review series from the 50Minutes collection is aimed at anyone who is looking to learn from experts in their field without spending hours reading endless pages of information. Our reviews present a concise summary of the main points of each book, as well as providing context, different perspectives and concrete examples to illustrate the key concepts. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: 50Minutes.com
• Release date: Mar 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9782806281203

Book preview

A model of ideal behaviour to influence those around you

Dale Carnegie is one of the key authors in the self-help sector. His bestseller How to Win Friends and Influence People, which was first published in 1936, is one of the bibles of this new human science of which many Americans consider Carnegie to be the founder.

The author, who was born in Missouri in 1888 and died in New York in 1955, created his work based on his own experience as well as intense reading and anecdotes that he picked up during his training seminars on public speaking. He first implemented his self-help method at the YMCA in New York, then at his own school, The Dale Carnegie Institute.

The training that he provided primarily addressed businessmen and salespeople. Their testimonies were used extensively in the writing of How to Win Friends and Influence People, as they demonstrate the effectiveness of the relational techniques developed by Dale Carnegie.

But the work speaks to a much larger audience than just salespeople and entrepreneurs. It offers everybody a social behaviour model that aims not only to form friendly relationships, but also to make these relationships productive in terms of common and joint interest.

Key facts

Reference edition: Carnegie, D. (2005) How to Win Friends and Influence People. London: Cornerstone Publishing.

First edition: 1936

Authors:

Dale Carnegie (founder of the Dale Carnegie Institute, born in Maryville, Missouri in 1888; died in New York in 1955);

Dorothy Carnegie (his second wife, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1913; died in New York in 1998). She is