How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The only way I can get you to do anything is by giving you what you want. Well, as Dale revealed back in 1936: get their emotions going.ģ. In the social media space, everybody is looking for the one secret that's going to push their videos to the top and make them go 'viral'. Babies trigger us emotionally with their purity and laughter leads to a mental 'release'.

Laughing babies videos on YouTube average between half a million to over 50 million views for each video. The sneezing panda video that captured over 138 million views on YouTube psychologically takes the viewers through the emotions of surprise, release (post sneezing sensation) and then laughter. When you look at the most viral videos online you will find a common theme: an emotional or psychological factor. We are dealing with creatures of emotion.' 'When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic.

Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment'.Ģ. People are there to be motivated, inspired and emotionally triggered - make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel, but don't make them upset.ġ.5 'Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Nobody likes to hear you moan and complain. Ironic to say, but negativity is a hated trait. The number one rule in social communities - offline or online - is to behave while in the beehive and don't aggravate, criticize, judge, or be grumpy. So appropriate for the social community world which I often refer to as a 'Beehive'. 'If You Want to Gather Honey, Don't Kick Over the Beehive' If we could only travel back in time to those store front conversations, maybe our rules of engagement online would be more impactful, authentic and real? For now, we can go back to Dale's book and apply some of his lessons to today's social media landscape:ġ. Today it can be done online, in the digital space.

In the past, we used to gather around local stores in our community (physical one, not virtual), and talk to our neighbors about our likes and preferences. The tools and techniques have changed, but the need to connect and create conversations and a sense of community was always there. It's the basics of human psychology that we all want to be 'liked.'

Many books and reports have been written since, and all reinforce that we love to connect, engage, belong to a community and follow what everybody else is doing. In 1936 Dale Carnegie wrote the book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People,' analyzing and giving advice about how to manage human communications in an effective, impactful way.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie