Carnegie, Dale

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[[Image:Picturecarnegie.jpg|right|thumb|Dale Carnegie]]
 
[[Image:Picturecarnegie.jpg|right|thumb|Dale Carnegie]]
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'''Dale Breckenridge Carnegie''' (originally Carnegey) ([[November 24]] [[1888]] - [[November 1]] [[1955]]) was an [[United States|American]] writer and the developer of famous courses in self-help/self-improvement, salesmanship, training and development, public speaking and interpersonal skills. Born in poverty on a farm in [[Missouri]], he was the author of ''How to Win Friends and Influence People,'' first published in [[1936]], a massive bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote a biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]], entitled ''Lincoln the Unknown'', as well as several other books.
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'''Dale Breckenridge Carnegie''' (November 24, 1888 - November 1, 1955) was an [[United States|American]] writer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, training and development, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Apart from his career as an author and lecturer, his counsel was frequently sought by prominent leaders. He was also a syndicated newspaper columnist and the host of his own talk radio show.
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{{toc}}
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Born on a farm in [[Missouri]], he attended [[Central Missouri State College]] and worked in sales and acting before developing his concept for a course in public speaking and self-improvement. He was the author of ''How to Win Friends and Influence People,'' first published in 1936, a massive bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote a biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]], entitled ''Lincoln the Unknown,'' as well as several other books. Carnegie's courses were attended by millions of participants, and his work is credited with influencing the early stages of the [[popular psychology]] and [[human potential]] movements.
  
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=== Early life===
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Born in 1888, in [[Harmony Church, Missouri]], Carnegie was a poor farmer's boy, the second son of James William Carnagie and Amanda Elizabeth Harbison.
  
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Dale's father claimed a remote link to [[Andrew Carnegie]], the steel magnate and great philanthropist. Dale himself never claimed, publicly or privately, any such connection, however.
  
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== Biography ==
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In his teens, Dale managed to get an education at [[Central Missouri State College]] in [[Warrensburg, Missouri]], while getting up at 4:00 a.m. every day to feed the pigs and milk his parents' cows. Out of a student population of 800, he was one of only four students so poor that they lived at home and rode to school on horseback. His first job after college (1908) was selling correspondence courses to ranchers. He then moved on to selling [[bacon]], soap, and lard for [[Armour & Company]]. He was successful to the point of making his sales territory—southern Omaha and the badlands of South Dakota—the national leading sales area for the firm. Going against his mother's wishes for him to be a [[missionary]], he headed east to study speech and drama, turning down a promotion offer from Armour & Company.
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Born 1888 in [[Harmony Church, Missouri]], Carnegie was a poor farmer's boy, the second son of James William Carnagey and Amanda Elizabeth Harbison.  
 
  
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Although born Dale Carnagey, Dale's father, [James] William, claimed a remote link to [[Andrew Carnegie]], the steel magnate and great philanthropist. No connection has ever been proven and is therefore, unlikely.  
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=== Life as an actor ===
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Dale himself never claimed, publicly or privately, any such connection.
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Upon deciding to take up studies in New York City, in 1910, Carnegie headed to the [[American Academy of Dramatic Arts]] (AADA) based mostly upon the recommendation of a passenger whom he had met on one of his train rides across the badlands of [[South Dakota]]. The school's statement of principles especially appealed to him: "To create an accent on naturalism accompanied by emotional recall in order to achieve a deeper more essential 'truth' in performance." The hefty admission fee of $400 for the six months' course, however, virtually depleted his savings.
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It has been concluded however, that the change in spelling of his last name from “Carnegey” to Carnegie, was primarily for business purposes.
 
  
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=== From Poverty ===
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Upon graduation, Carnegie played the role of Dr. Hartley in a road show of ''Polly and the Circus''. Rooming with [[Howard Lindsay]], who later rose to fame as the co-writer of such classic hits as ''Arsenic and Old Lace,'' ''The Sound of Music,'' and ''Life With Father,'' he made pocket money selling suitcases and ties.
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In his teens and getting up at 4 a.m. every day to feed the pigs and milk his parents' cows, he somehow managed to get an education at [[Central Missouri State College]] in [[Warrensburg, Missouri]]. For his classes at Central Missouri State (or Warrensburg State Teachers College as it was called then), Carnegie scarcely had clothes that fit to wear. Out of a student population of eight hundred, he was one of four so poor that they lived at home and rode to school on horseback. A first job after college(1908)was selling correspondence courses to ranchers. He then moved on to selling bacon, soap and lard for [[Armour & Company]]. He was successful to the point of making his sales territory, southern Omaha and the badlands of South Dakota, the national leader for the firm.
 
  
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Defying his midwestern roots and his mother's wishes for him to be a missionary, he headed east to study speech and drama, turning down a promotion offer from [[Armour & Company]].
+
Carnegie soon grew weary of touring and was unable to find work as a Broadway actor. Living at the [[YMCA]] on 125th Street, he persuaded the manager there to allow him to instruct a public speaking class in return for 80 percent of the net proceeds. By 1912, the outline of a broader vision and course had begun to form.
  
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=== The Actor's Life ===
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===Other influences===
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Upon deciding on New York City, in 1910, he headed to the [[AADA]] ([[American Academy of Dramatic Arts]]) based mostly upon the recommendation of a Reverend Russell, whom he had met on one of his train rides across the badlands of South Dakota.
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Carnegie was greatly influenced by a 1925 book by Harry Overstreet, a professor at the College of the City of New York. In his, ''Influencing Human Behavior,''  Overstreet espoused a very basic principle in the field of advertising: "First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way."
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The school's statement of principles, especially appealed to him: "To create an accent on naturalism accompanied by emotional recall in order to achieve a deeper more essential 'truth' in performance."
 
  
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In his audition into the AADA as later reported by a journalist, Carnegie was commanded to imitate a chair. He passed and was admitted on the spot. The hefty fee of $400 for the 6 months course virtually depleted his savings. Upon graduation, he played the role of Dr. Hartley in a road show of ''Polly and the Circus''. Although not a starring role, it taught Carnegie more about life on the road. Rooming with [[Howard Lindsay]], who later rose to fame as the co-writer of such classic hits as ''Arsenic and Old Lace'', ''The Sound of Music'', and ''Life With Father'', he would make pocket money selling suitcases and ties.
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As one of the first popular books based on [[applied psychology]], it provided the abiding impetus behind what was to become Carnegie's own magnum opus, ''How to Win Friends and Influence People''. Overstreet saw the advertiser as continually appealing to certain fundamental human wants, declaring him a "pioneer in psychological technique." Carnegie saw the same principle at work in sales, popularizing Overstreet's earlier words as the now famous salesman's maxim: "Arouse in the other person an eager want."
  
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Later, finding no work as a Broadway actor, weary of the touring circuit, and living at the [[YMCA]] on 125th Street, Carnegie persuaded the manager there to allow him to instruct a public speaking class in return for 80% of the net proceeds. By 1912, drawing from all his personal, on the road successes, failures, and challenges, the outline of a broader vision and course had begun to form.
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Other contemporaries who influenced Carnegie included [[Norman Vincent Peale]], [[Orison Marden]], [[Emile Coué]], and psychologist [[Henry Link]]. By the 1930s, Dale Carnegie was recruiting others to teach the principles and methods that he had carefully developed. He called it simply, ''The Dale Carnegie Course''.
  
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===Other Influences===
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==The Dale Carnegie Course==
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In 1925, a book ''Influencing Human Behavior'' by Harry Overstreet, a professor at the College of the City of New York was published. Professor Overstreet espoused a very basic principle: "First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way."
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The [[Dale Carnegie Course]] is a self-improvement program conducted using a standardized curriculum by franchised trainers throughout the world. Several variations on the course exist, including a public speaking course, a sales course, a high impact presentation course, and a management course.
  
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As one of the first popular books based on [[applied psychology]], it formed the basis for at least some of the impetus behind what was to become Carnegie's own magnum opus, ''How to Win Friends and Influence People''.
+
The basic course consists of 12 sessions lasting three and a half hours each. Courses are normally scheduled in the evening, one night per week. Typically there are 20-35 participants in a course. Unpaid assistants, who are graduates of the course, are on hand to assist participants, assist with classroom logistics, and work with small groups. Instructors are college graduates with a variety of professional experience who must attend rigorous training which culminates in certification to teach the course. They must annually attend refresher courses to maintain their certification.
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Professor Overstreet saw the advertiser as continually appealing to certain fundamental human wants, declaring him a "pioneer in psychological technique." Dale Carnegie saw the same principle at work in sales, finally popularizing the professor's words into the now famous salesman's maxim: "Arouse in the other person an eager want."
 
  
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Other contemporaries who greatly influenced Carnegie (often mutually) included [[Norman Vincent Peale]], [[Orison Marden]],[[ Emile Coué]], as well as best-selling author, psychologist of the day, [[Henry Link]].
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Much of the content of the course is based on Dale Carnegie's teachings, especially in three books: ''How to Win Friends and Influence People,'' ''How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,'' and ''The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking''. Participants are given reading assignments from these books, as homework, over the 12 weeks.
  
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By the 1930s, Dale Carnegie was recruiting others to teach the principles and methods born of all his years of experience across the United States. He called it simply,'''The Dale Carnegie Course'''.
+
A good deal of the time each evening is spent in short presentations given by each of the participants to the rest of the attendees related to each session's objectives. The experience of speaking to a group serves to improve the participants’ self-confidence and allows them to share their personal insights and experiences in a positive, highly supportive environment. Presentations are based on personal experience rather than a research topic.
  
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=== Family ===
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The remainder of each session is spent in lectures and doing small group exercises.  Lecture topics cover memory techniques, conversational skills, handling disagreements constructively, problem solving, and small group skills.
  
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Dale Carnegie had one sibling, an older brother, Clifton. Often not very close, Dale would remain frustrated by his brother's lack of success and ambition despite several efforts to motivate and support him. In later years when brother Dale was building himself a national reputation and base, Clifton had, in fact, moved back in with his aging parents, unable to make it in the world on his own.
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The course is built around improving the participants' abilities in five areas:
  
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Carnegie's first marriage to Lolita Baucaire ended in divorce in 1931. On November 5, 1944, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he married Dorothy Price Vanderpool, who also had been divorced. Carnegie had two daughters; Rosemary, from his first marriage, and Donna Dale from his second marriage. He was 63 when Donna Dale was born.
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* Self-confidence
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* Communication
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* "People" skills
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* Leadership
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* Controlling stress
  
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[[Dorothy Carnegie]] was installed as vice president of Carnegie & Associates when it was created in 1945 and went on to help launch the Dorothy Carnegie Course in Personal Development for Women in 1948.
+
Participants are asked to focus on themselves in the first few weeks of the course—to look at what has gone well for them as well as the things that have not have gone well, including the lessons learned from both successes and failures. The course uses these two extremes as a model for self-improvement and in coaching for improvement in others.
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After her husband's death, she wrote and edited while carrying on the legacy of her husband's work becoming chairman of the parent company, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., in Garden City, N.Y.
 
  
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=== Death ===
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In applying relationship skills, participants are asked to first focus on existing relationships that are working well, and then on ones that could work better. As the course progresses, participants are asked to work on greater relationship challenges, including those relationships where they need enthusiastic cooperation from others and relationships where they need to change someone’s viewpoint.  
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Asked to give a speech upon receiving an honorary degree from the institution where his education began ([[Central Missouri State College]]), Carnegie, in failing health and despite weeks of preparation, had to read it. "No," he said, "I didn't quite graduate, and I'm glad I've forgotten everything connected with Latin. Learning isn't so important, it's what kind of man you make out of yourself while you're learning that counts."
 
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Three months later Dale Carnegie died.  
 
  
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The diagnosis ran the gamut from uremia, a blood disease, to arteriosclerosis; both often misdiagnosed in those days.
+
The goal of the course is not only for participants to have a successful experience during the time they are in class, but also to improve their lives in between class sessions, and to develop skills they can apply in various life situations after they have completed the course.
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It has lately been rumored, that Carnegie committed suicide. However, the official statement from Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. is that he died of [[Hodgkin's lymphoma]] on November 1, 1955.
 
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He is buried in the Belton, Cass County, Missouri cemetery.  A small marker upon his grave reads: Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955.
 
  
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==The Dale Carnegie Course==
+
Accountability is one the chief course elements that helps participants achieve success. By developing a vision for improvement, a plan to achieve that vision and sharing that plan with others, they have established their goals, a path for getting to their goals, and accountability for carrying out their plan.
  
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=== The Basics ===
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In addition to working on improved relationships, the course also works on improving enthusiasm for things one does not consider particularly exciting. It asks participants to focus specifically on areas of their lives where they need to deal with stress and encourages them to set goals, develop plans, and make commitments for using the course ideas to improve these areas.
−
The Dale Carnegie Course is a self-improvement program conducted using a standardized curriculum by franchised trainers throughout the world. Several variations on the course exist, including a public speaking course, a sales course, a high impact presentation course and a course intended for people who manage others.
 
  
−
The basic course consists of twelve evening sessions lasting three and a half hours each.  Courses are scheduled in the evening, one night per week.  Typically there are 20-35 participants in a course. Unpaid assistants, who are "graduates" of the course (and who are often seeking to meet the experience requirements for becoming instructors), are on hand to assist participants between classes to prepare for the next class, assist with classroom logistics and work with small groups.
+
The course has thousands of enrollees and instructors, as well as millions of graduates, worldwide.
  
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Instructors are college graduates with a variety of professional experience who must attend rigorous training which culminates in certification to teach the course. They must annually attend refresher courses to maintain their certification.
+
==Personal life ==
 +
Carnegie's first marriage to Lolita Baucaire ended in divorce in 1931. In 1944, he married Dorothy Price Vanderpool, who also had been divorced. Carnegie had two daughters: Rosemary, from his first marriage, and Donna Dale from his second marriage. He was 63 when Donna Dale was born.
  
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Much of the content of the course is based on Dale Carnegie's teachings over the years which started in 1912 as a public speaking course and then grew into controlling worry & stress.  He compiled his thoughts in three books which form the basis for much of the program. They are: ''How to Win Friends and Influence People'', ''How to Stop Worrying and Start Living'', and ''The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking''. Participants are given reading assignments from these books, as homework, over the twelve weeks.
+
[[Dorothy Carnegie]], his second wife, was installed as vice-president of [[Carnegie & Associates]] when it was created in 1945, and went on to help launch the [[Dorothy Carnegie Course]] in Personal Development for Women in 1948. After her husband's death, she wrote and edited while carrying on the legacy of her husband's work by becoming the chairman of the parent company, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., in Garden City, New York.
  
−
A good deal of the time each evening is spent in short presentations given by each of the participants to the rest of the attendees. Though the format varies from week to week, usually about 2/3 of the available time is spent listening to short talks by participants related to each session's objectives. The experience of speaking to a group serves to improve the participants’ self-confidence, and it allows them to share their personal insights and experiences in a positive, highly supportive environment. Presentations are always based on personal experience rather than a topic that has been researched.
+
=== Death ===
 +
In 1955, Carnegie was asked to give a speech upon receiving an honorary degree from the institution where his education began, [[Central Missouri State College]]. In failing health, and despite weeks of preparation, the highly skilled public speaker had to read from his prepared text. "No," he said, "I didn't quite graduate, and I'm glad I've forgotten everything connected with Latin. Learning isn't so important, it's what kind of man you make out of yourself while you're learning that counts." Three months later, Dale Carnegie died.  
  
−
The remainder of each session is spent in lecture and small group exercises. Lecture topics cover memory techniques and techniques for remembering names, conversational techniques, handling disagreements in a positive way, problem resolution and small group skills.
+
The diagnosis ran the gamut from [[uremia]], a blood disease, to [[arteriosclerosis]]; both often misdiagnosed in those days. An official statement from Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. stated that he died of [[Hodgkin's lymphoma]] on November 1, 1955. He is buried in the Belton cemetery in Cass County, Missouri.  A small marker on his grave reads simply: Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955.
  
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=== Course Success and Objectives ===
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==Legacy==
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The Dale Carnegie Course has achieved a high rate of success for a number of reasons. One reason is that the course is self-customizing, in that participants are asked to evaluate their own personal and professional opportunities for improvement, to write a vision statement of what their lives will look like when those improvements are made and to make a commitment to work towards making their vision statement a reality. Each session of the course includes steps towards achieving that vision.
+
The most obvious and lasting legacy of Dale Carnegie is '''The Dale Carnegie Course,''' a distillation of his varied experiences with public speaking, marketing, method acting, and personal salesmanship. However, beyond that are the everyday readers of his books, particularly, ''How to Win Friends and Influence People,'' which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
−
 
 
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The course is built around five objectives (course drivers), these are: developing improved (1) self-confidence, (2) communication skills, (3) people skills, (4) leadership skills, and (5) skills for controlling stress. Each session of the course addresses improvement in each of these five areas.
 
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During the first few weeks of the twelve week course, participants are asked to focus on themselves, to look at the things they’ve done that have gone well (their achievements) and the things they’ve done that haven’t gone well (their lessons learned). Much of the course is built around these two life extremes. When we do something that goes as planned, we learn what works and the related behaviors we want to repeat and improve upon. When we try something, and we don’t succeed, we learn what doesn’t work and where we need to do things differently. The course uses these two extremes as a model for self-improvement and in coaching for improvement in others.  
 
  
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=== Application of Skills ===
+
Today, Carnegie's books and courses continue to influence the much larger movement within the fields of self-help, popular psychology, effectiveness training, and human potential.
−
In applying relationship skills, participants are asked to first focus on existing relationships that are working well, that could work better. Participants identify a relationship they’d like to improve, the benefits to them and to the other person in the relationship of making the improvement, steps they will take to make that happen and obstacles they expect in carrying out their plan. In a later session, participants are asked to share the goals they set for improving this relationship, how successful they were in achieving their goals, what they learned and what advice they have for others, based on their experience. Wrapping that all together helps people work on all five of the course drivers. Participants develop self-confidence from setting a goal and achieving progress towards it, communication skills in sharing their experience with the class, people skills in setting a goal to improve a relationship and making progress towards that, leadership skills in taking charge of their lives, and reducing stress by improving areas of a relationship that were probably causing stress.
 
−
 
 
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As the course progresses, participants are asked to work on greater relationship challenges, including those relationships where they need enthusiastic cooperation from others and the relationships where they need to change someone’s viewpoint. The same format is followed of identifying a goal, developing a plan, making a commitment and sharing the results.
 
−
 
 
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This approach for identifying and solving issues is a lesson in how to deal with life. The goal of the course is not only for participants to have a successful experience during the time they’re in class, it’s to improve the life that they lead in between class sessions and after they have completed the course.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Accountability ===
 
−
Accountability is one the chief course elements that helps participants achieve success. By developing a vision for improvement, a plan to achieve that vision and sharing that plan with others, they have established their goals, a path for getting to their goals and accountability for carrying out their plan.
 
−
 
 
−
In addition to working on improved relationships, the course also works on improving enthusiasm for those things we don’t have a natural enthusiasm for, and it asks participants to focus specifically on areas of their lives where they need to deal with stress and encourages them to set goals, develop plans and make commitments for using the course ideas to improve these areas.
 
−
 
 
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With thousands of enrollees and instructors as well as millions of graduates worldwide, The Dale Carnegie Course continues challenging and enriching the lives of people from all walks of life to this day.
 
  
 
== Quotes ==
 
== Quotes ==
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*"Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic!"
 
*"Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic!"
  
Line 96: Line 80:
 
*"Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours."
 
*"Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours."
  
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*"Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear."
+
*"Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear."
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*"If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."
 
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*"If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic!"
 
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*"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
 
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*"Keep on raging - to stop the aging."
 
  
 
*"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."
 
*"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."
  
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==Legacy==
+
*"If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."
−
 
 
−
The most obvious and lasting legacy of Dale Carnegie is '''The Dale Carnegie Course''', a distillation of his varied experiences with public speaking, marketing, method acting, and personal salesmanship.  
 
−
However, beyond that are the everyday readers of his books, particularly, ''How to Win Friends and Influence People'' which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
 
−
 
 
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A 2005 update by daughter Donna Dale Carnegie entitled, ''How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teen Girls'' has not found the same reception or enthusiasm.
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 +
* Carnegie, Dale. ''How To Win Friends And Influence People.'' Vermilion, 2007. ISBN 978-0091906818
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* —. ''How to Develop Self-Confidence And Influence People By Public Speaking''. Pocket, 1991. ISBN 978-0671746070
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* —. ''How to Stop Worrying and Start Living''. Vermillion, 2007. ISBN 978-0749307233
 +
* —. ''How To Enjoy Your Life And Your Job''. Pocket, 1990. ISBN 978-0671708269
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* —. ''Lincoln the Unknown: A Biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]]''. Dale Carnegie and Associates, 1975.
 +
* Kemp, Giles and Edward Claflin. ''Dale Carnegie, The Man Who Influenced Millions''. St. Martins Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0312028961
 +
* Overstreet, Harry. ''Influencing Human Behavior''. W.W. Norton, 1975.
  
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* Carnegie, Dale. ''How To Win Friends And Influence People'' [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=9780091906818 ISBN-13:978-0091906818]
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== External links ==
 +
All links retrieved January 24, 2024.
  
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* Carnegie, Dale. ''How to Stop Worrying and Start Living'' A self-help book about stress management. Simon & Schuster.[http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0671733354 ISBN-10:0671733354]
+
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Carnegie&GRid=174&  Dale Carnegie on findagrave.com]. ''www.findagrave.com''.
 +
* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1124.html New York Times Obituary, November 2, 1955]. ''www.nytimes.com''.
 +
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138646/bio Biography of Dale Carnegie at imdb.com]. ''www.imdb.com''.  
 +
* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dale_carnegie.html Dale Carnegie Quotes]. ''www.brainyquote.com''.
  
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* Carnegie, Dale. ''How To Develop Self-Confidence and Influence Others Through Public Speaking'' [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0749305797 ISBN-10:0749305797]
 
−
 
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* Carnegie, Dale. ''Lincoln the Unknown, ''A biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]], Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0899683207 ISBN-13:0899683207]
 
−
 
−
* Carnegie, Dale.  ''The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking,'' Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0671724002 ISBN-10: 0671724002]
 
−
 
−
* Kemp, Giles and Claflin, Edward.  ''Dale Carnegie, The Man Who Influenced Millions'' [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0312028962 ISBN-10: 0312028962]
 
−
 
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* Overstreet, Harry. ''Influencing Human Behavior'' (First edition 1925) Kessinger Publishing (June 2003)[http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0766161358 ISBN-10: 0766161358]
 
−
 
−
* Sant, Tom. ''The Giants of Sales: What Dale Carnegie, John Patterson, Elmer Wheeler, And Joe Girard Can Teach You About Real Sales Success'' [http://www.encyclopediaproject.net/d/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0814472915 ISBN-10: 0814472915]
 
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== External links ==
 
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* [http://www.dalecarnegie.com/ Dale Carnegie Training]
 
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* [http://www.aetv.com/class/admin/study_guide/archives/aetv_guide.0035.html A&E ''Biography'' classroom study guide for "Dale Carnegie: Man of Influence" ]
 
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* [http://www.wargs.com/other/carnegie.html The Ancestry of Dale Carnegie]
 
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* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Carnegie&GRid=174&  Dale Carnegie on findagrave.com]
 
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* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1124.html New York Times Obituary, November 2, 1955]
 
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* [http://kingsley2.com/archives/2003/11/25/did-dale-carnegie-commit-suicide#comment-8960 Kingsley 2.0 (A Blog) Did Dale Carnegie commit suicide?]
 
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* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138646/bio Shelokhonov, Steve. Biography for Dale Carnegie at imdb.com]
 
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* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dale_carnegie.html Dale Carnegie Quotes]
 
  
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[[Category:History and Biography]]
 
 
[[Category:Biography]]
 
[[Category:Biography]]
  
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{{credits|105746564}}

Latest revision as of 18:06, 24 January 2024

Dale Carnegie

Dale Breckenridge Carnegie (November 24, 1888 - November 1, 1955) was an American writer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, training and development, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Apart from his career as an author and lecturer, his counsel was frequently sought by prominent leaders. He was also a syndicated newspaper columnist and the host of his own talk radio show.

Born on a farm in Missouri, he attended Central Missouri State College and worked in sales and acting before developing his concept for a course in public speaking and self-improvement. He was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published in 1936, a massive bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote a biography of Abraham Lincoln, entitled Lincoln the Unknown, as well as several other books. Carnegie's courses were attended by millions of participants, and his work is credited with influencing the early stages of the popular psychology and human potential movements.

Early life

Born in 1888, in Harmony Church, Missouri, Carnegie was a poor farmer's boy, the second son of James William Carnagie and Amanda Elizabeth Harbison.

Dale's father claimed a remote link to Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate and great philanthropist. Dale himself never claimed, publicly or privately, any such connection, however.

In his teens, Dale managed to get an education at Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg, Missouri, while getting up at 4:00 a.m. every day to feed the pigs and milk his parents' cows. Out of a student population of 800, he was one of only four students so poor that they lived at home and rode to school on horseback. His first job after college (1908) was selling correspondence courses to ranchers. He then moved on to selling bacon, soap, and lard for Armour & Company. He was successful to the point of making his sales territory—southern Omaha and the badlands of South Dakota—the national leading sales area for the firm. Going against his mother's wishes for him to be a missionary, he headed east to study speech and drama, turning down a promotion offer from Armour & Company.

Life as an actor

Upon deciding to take up studies in New York City, in 1910, Carnegie headed to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) based mostly upon the recommendation of a passenger whom he had met on one of his train rides across the badlands of South Dakota. The school's statement of principles especially appealed to him: "To create an accent on naturalism accompanied by emotional recall in order to achieve a deeper more essential 'truth' in performance." The hefty admission fee of $400 for the six months' course, however, virtually depleted his savings.

Upon graduation, Carnegie played the role of Dr. Hartley in a road show of Polly and the Circus. Rooming with Howard Lindsay, who later rose to fame as the co-writer of such classic hits as Arsenic and Old Lace, The Sound of Music, and Life With Father, he made pocket money selling suitcases and ties.

Carnegie soon grew weary of touring and was unable to find work as a Broadway actor. Living at the YMCA on 125th Street, he persuaded the manager there to allow him to instruct a public speaking class in return for 80 percent of the net proceeds. By 1912, the outline of a broader vision and course had begun to form.

Other influences

Carnegie was greatly influenced by a 1925 book by Harry Overstreet, a professor at the College of the City of New York. In his, Influencing Human Behavior, Overstreet espoused a very basic principle in the field of advertising: "First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way."

As one of the first popular books based on applied psychology, it provided the abiding impetus behind what was to become Carnegie's own magnum opus, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Overstreet saw the advertiser as continually appealing to certain fundamental human wants, declaring him a "pioneer in psychological technique." Carnegie saw the same principle at work in sales, popularizing Overstreet's earlier words as the now famous salesman's maxim: "Arouse in the other person an eager want."

Other contemporaries who influenced Carnegie included Norman Vincent Peale, Orison Marden, Emile Coué, and psychologist Henry Link. By the 1930s, Dale Carnegie was recruiting others to teach the principles and methods that he had carefully developed. He called it simply, The Dale Carnegie Course.

The Dale Carnegie Course

The Dale Carnegie Course is a self-improvement program conducted using a standardized curriculum by franchised trainers throughout the world. Several variations on the course exist, including a public speaking course, a sales course, a high impact presentation course, and a management course.

The basic course consists of 12 sessions lasting three and a half hours each. Courses are normally scheduled in the evening, one night per week. Typically there are 20-35 participants in a course. Unpaid assistants, who are graduates of the course, are on hand to assist participants, assist with classroom logistics, and work with small groups. Instructors are college graduates with a variety of professional experience who must attend rigorous training which culminates in certification to teach the course. They must annually attend refresher courses to maintain their certification.

Much of the content of the course is based on Dale Carnegie's teachings, especially in three books: How to Win Friends and Influence People, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, and The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking. Participants are given reading assignments from these books, as homework, over the 12 weeks.

A good deal of the time each evening is spent in short presentations given by each of the participants to the rest of the attendees related to each session's objectives. The experience of speaking to a group serves to improve the participants’ self-confidence and allows them to share their personal insights and experiences in a positive, highly supportive environment. Presentations are based on personal experience rather than a research topic.

The remainder of each session is spent in lectures and doing small group exercises. Lecture topics cover memory techniques, conversational skills, handling disagreements constructively, problem solving, and small group skills.

The course is built around improving the participants' abilities in five areas:

  • Self-confidence
  • Communication
  • "People" skills
  • Leadership
  • Controlling stress

Participants are asked to focus on themselves in the first few weeks of the course—to look at what has gone well for them as well as the things that have not have gone well, including the lessons learned from both successes and failures. The course uses these two extremes as a model for self-improvement and in coaching for improvement in others.

In applying relationship skills, participants are asked to first focus on existing relationships that are working well, and then on ones that could work better. As the course progresses, participants are asked to work on greater relationship challenges, including those relationships where they need enthusiastic cooperation from others and relationships where they need to change someone’s viewpoint.

The goal of the course is not only for participants to have a successful experience during the time they are in class, but also to improve their lives in between class sessions, and to develop skills they can apply in various life situations after they have completed the course.

Accountability is one the chief course elements that helps participants achieve success. By developing a vision for improvement, a plan to achieve that vision and sharing that plan with others, they have established their goals, a path for getting to their goals, and accountability for carrying out their plan.

In addition to working on improved relationships, the course also works on improving enthusiasm for things one does not consider particularly exciting. It asks participants to focus specifically on areas of their lives where they need to deal with stress and encourages them to set goals, develop plans, and make commitments for using the course ideas to improve these areas.

The course has thousands of enrollees and instructors, as well as millions of graduates, worldwide.

Personal life

Carnegie's first marriage to Lolita Baucaire ended in divorce in 1931. In 1944, he married Dorothy Price Vanderpool, who also had been divorced. Carnegie had two daughters: Rosemary, from his first marriage, and Donna Dale from his second marriage. He was 63 when Donna Dale was born.

Dorothy Carnegie, his second wife, was installed as vice-president of Carnegie & Associates when it was created in 1945, and went on to help launch the Dorothy Carnegie Course in Personal Development for Women in 1948. After her husband's death, she wrote and edited while carrying on the legacy of her husband's work by becoming the chairman of the parent company, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., in Garden City, New York.

Death

In 1955, Carnegie was asked to give a speech upon receiving an honorary degree from the institution where his education began, Central Missouri State College. In failing health, and despite weeks of preparation, the highly skilled public speaker had to read from his prepared text. "No," he said, "I didn't quite graduate, and I'm glad I've forgotten everything connected with Latin. Learning isn't so important, it's what kind of man you make out of yourself while you're learning that counts." Three months later, Dale Carnegie died.

The diagnosis ran the gamut from uremia, a blood disease, to arteriosclerosis; both often misdiagnosed in those days. An official statement from Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. stated that he died of Hodgkin's lymphoma on November 1, 1955. He is buried in the Belton cemetery in Cass County, Missouri. A small marker on his grave reads simply: Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955.

Legacy

The most obvious and lasting legacy of Dale Carnegie is The Dale Carnegie Course, a distillation of his varied experiences with public speaking, marketing, method acting, and personal salesmanship. However, beyond that are the everyday readers of his books, particularly, How to Win Friends and Influence People, which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

Today, Carnegie's books and courses continue to influence the much larger movement within the fields of self-help, popular psychology, effectiveness training, and human potential.

Quotes

  • "Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic!"
  • "Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."
  • "Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours."
  • "Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear."
  • "You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."
  • "If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Carnegie, Dale. How To Win Friends And Influence People. Vermilion, 2007. ISBN 978-0091906818
  • —. How to Develop Self-Confidence And Influence People By Public Speaking. Pocket, 1991. ISBN 978-0671746070
  • —. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Vermillion, 2007. ISBN 978-0749307233
  • —. How To Enjoy Your Life And Your Job. Pocket, 1990. ISBN 978-0671708269
  • —. Lincoln the Unknown: A Biography of Abraham Lincoln. Dale Carnegie and Associates, 1975.
  • Kemp, Giles and Edward Claflin. Dale Carnegie, The Man Who Influenced Millions. St. Martins Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0312028961
  • Overstreet, Harry. Influencing Human Behavior. W.W. Norton, 1975.

External links

All links retrieved January 24, 2024.

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