A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
Dale Carnegie
A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
Unit 12
W arming up
B ackground
T ext Analysis
R einforcement
A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
Unit 12
Questions / Activities
Check-on Preview
Objectives
Warming up
Warming up
Questions / Activities
•Have you ever read a book on self-improvement? If so, do
you find it useful?
•Do you think it necessary for people to have special
training on skills for handling interpersonal relationships?
Why or why not?
•Do you follow certain principles of your own in handling
interpersonal relationships?
•What is the “fundamental technique in handling people”
according to the author? Are you convinced?
Warming up
Check-on Preview
• Match the words with their correct meaning
in the text.
1. blunder
2. impair
3. procrastinate
4. indignation
5. opponent
a. a feeling of anger and surprise caused
by sth. that is unfair or unreasonable
b. to make a stupid or careless mistake
c. a person that you oppose in a game,
contest, argument, etc.
d. to damage sb. or make sth. worse
e. a feeling of hatred for sb. that causes a
desire to harm sb.
f. to delay doing sth. you should do,
usually because you do not want to do it
Warming up
Objectives
Through this lesson, students will
• be able to recap many examples and anecdotes
used by the writer to illustrate what we should and
shouldn’t do in handling people;
• think about the question of criticism and human
relations;
• analyze the organization and the language style of
the text;
• learn the related vocabulary and other useful
words and phrases in the text.
A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
The Author
Background
Genre
Unit 12
Background
The Author
Dale Carnegie's main focus is on dealing
with and motivating people successfully.
His common sense approach is easy to
understand and apply in both personal
and business relationships. He developed
several famous courses in selfimprovement, salesmanship, corporate
training, public speaking and
interpersonal skills. He wrote one of the
most popular books in history, and taught
millions of people how to achieve selfconfidence and interpersonal social skills.
Dale Carnegie became an icon of 20th
century America through his book and his
classes. His simple, yet effective
techniques for winning friends and
influencing people have proven enduring
and become part of the American culture.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
• In How to Win Friends and Influence People,
Carnegie offers practical advice and
techniques, in his exuberant and
conversational style, for how to get out of a
mental rut and make life more rewarding. His
advice has stood the test of time and will
teach you how to: make friends quickly and
easily; increase your popularity; win people to
your way of thinking; enable you to win new
clients and customers; become a better
speaker and a more entertaining
conversationalist; and, arouse enthusiasm
among your colleagues. This book will turn
around your relationships and improve your
dealings with all the people in your life.
Over 15 million copies
printed and sold since 1936
Background
Central Idea
• Dale Carnegie’s central idea is that if we want to learn
how to handle people, we must always remember not to
criticize them, not to speak ill of them, or ridicule them;
not to indulge in fault-finding and gossiping about
others’ mistakes or weaknesses, because if we do, it will
always hurt people’s pride, create bad feelings, make
them defensive, and destroy their confidence.
• Therefore, the best way of handling people is to
withhold our criticisms and show our understanding
and trust. We should all be quick to recognize others’
virtues and be generous with our praise for their
achievements.
Background
Genre
Self-help books are books written with the stated
intention to instruct any readers on a number of
personal problems. They first appeared in the
Victorian age and flourished to become a
postmodern cultural phenomenon in the late
twentieth century—a period marked out by “the
burgeoning literature of self-improvement”.
Background
Writing Style
Dale Carnegie is not a scholar. His reasoning is
neither profound nor particularly strong in logic. But
he expresses his ideas eloquently and uses many
interesting historical anecdotes to illustrate his points,
which makes his book interesting to read.
A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
Unit 12
Theme
Text Analysis
Structure
Detailed
Analysis
Text Analysis
Theme
In handling people, we should be cautious
in offering criticism, but be generous in
showing understanding and giving praise.
Text Analysis
Structure
Part I: Para. 1
• Criticism is usually futile and often
dangerous in handling people
Part II: Para. 2-21
• Let’s learn a few lessons in handling
people.
Part III: Para. 22-23
• Instead of criticizing, condemning and
complaining, let’s try to understand people.
Text Analysis
•
Structure of the Body
The Body: Let’s learn a few lessons in handling
people. (para. 2–21)
–
–
–
–
As a young man, Abraham Lincoln leant to not to ridicule
people the hard way. (para. 2–4)
As president, Lincoln learnt to put himself in the position
of the person he intended to criticize. (para. 5–11)
People should not do to others what they do not want
done to themselves. (para. 12–15)
It takes character and self-control to be understanding
and forgiving. (para. 16–21)
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part I: Main Idea
1. Can you summarize the main idea in one sentence?
2. Animals learn better through encouragement than
through punishment. Humans are the same. Do you
agree? Do you think humans and animals are
comparable in this respect?
3. Do you agree with the reasons that the author give
for saying “criticism is futile?”
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
put/force somebody on the defensive
• if you put someone on the defensive in an argument, you attack them
so that they are in a weaker position → go on the offensive :
e.g.
– an issue that put the White House on the defensive
– 促使白宫进入防守状态的事件
– Warnings of an enemy attack forced the troops onto the defensive.
– 敌军来袭的警报让部队进入防守状态。
• defensive adj. used or intended to protect sb. or sth. against attack
– 我们使用核武器仅仅是为了防御。
– We use the nuclear weapons only for defensive purpose.
– Do you think he will became a good defensive player?
– 你认为他会成为一个好的防守球员吗？
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part I: Words & Expressions
Words
apply; justify
Phrases
apply to; put someone on the defensive
Words
Phrases
Sentence
Pattern
Grammar
comparison
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 2-4): Main Idea
1. Why does the writer cite the example of Lincoln?
2. In what way is the writer familiar with Lincoln?
3. How do you like the writer’s account of the
incident in Lincoln’s youth? Is it reliable?
4. Do you believe that this incident in Lincoln’s
youth was the real reason for his generosity and
tolerance?
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II(para. 2-4): Sentence paraphrase
•
•
I have made as detailed and exhaustive a study …as it
is possible for any being to make.(para.3)
In this “as …as possible” pattern, if what follows the
first “as” is a noun modified by an adjective, then the
article “a” should be placed before the noun.
C.f.
– We should work hard to achieve as high a growth rate as
possible. 我们应该努力实现尽可能高的增长率。
– Due regard must also be paid to "recruiting the staff on as wide
a geographical basis as possible".
– 征聘人员时还应充分注意“使他们来自尽可能广阔的地
域”。
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II(para. 2-4): Sentence Paraphrase
• He found out who wrote the letter, leaped on his
horse, started after Lincoln and challenged him to
fight a duel.（para.3)
• Note the touch of humor here. The writer used
four very short verb phrases in a row to create a
sense of quickness and eagerness in the man’s
getting into a duel fight, thus implying the
extremeness of Lincoln’s provocation.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
indulge
• 1. [ vi. & vt. ] to let yourself do or have something that you enjoy,
especially something that is considered bad for you (indulge in…;
indulge oneself)
• Most of us were too busy to indulge in heavy lunchtime drinking.
• 2. [ vt. ] to let someone have or do whatever they want, even if
it is bad for them
• His mother spoiled him, indulging his every whim.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Some Indian people indulge in wedding extravaganza.
有些印度人沈迷于婚礼的大肆铺张。
I never indulge children with plenty of pocket money.
我从不放任子女花大量零用钱。
Will you indulge my curiosity and tell me how much it costs?
你能不能满足我的好奇心,告诉我那值多少钱？
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 5-11): Main Idea
1.Can you summarize the example given in this part?
What point does it illustrate?
2.What purpose does para. 7 serve? Is this long story
necessary? How does para. 8 make you feel?
3.How does para. 10 make you feel? If you were told
beforehand that the letter was never mailed, would
you have the same interest in reading it?
4.Why does the author tell us his guess of Lincoln’s
reasoning behind the decision? Is his guess plausible?
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 5-11): Sentence Paraphrase
…but Lincoln, “with malice toward none, with charity
for all,” held his peace.(para. 5)
• The quotation comes from Lincoln’s second inaugural
speech in which he expressed the hope for a peace
without hatred, and called upon his countrymen to
act “with malice toward none, with charity for all… to
bind up the nation’s wounds… to do all which may
achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and
with all nations.”
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 5-11): Sentence Paraphrase
One of his favorite quotations was “Judge not,
that ye be not judged.”(para.5)
• This quotation comes from the Bible-Matthew71, which means: Do not judge others, for if you do,
others will judge you by the same measure you
use.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 5-11): Sentence Paraphrase
I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude
of the misfortune involved in Lee’s
escape.(para.9)
Paraphrasing: I don’t think you fully understand
what a big mistake you made in letting Lee
escape or what serious consequences it will
entail.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 5-11): Sentence Study
If I send this letter, it will only arouse hard
feelings and impair all his further usefulness as a
commander.(para.11)
Paraphrasing: If this letter reaches him, it will only
serve to hurt his confidence and make him feel
inadequate as a commander, which will affect his
performance in the future because he will never
be his best again.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
close upon/ close in (on/upon sb./sth.)
• to move nearer to sb./sth., especially in order to
attack them:
e.g.
–
–
–
–
The lions closed in on their prey.
狮子包围了它们的猎物
看到一群暴徒包围了受害者，真令人毛骨悚然。
It was horrible to see the mob close in upon their victim.
• close: to make the distance or difference between
two things smaller
– The other car was closing on us fast.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 12-15): Main Idea
1. What was Mark Twain’s reaction towards criticism in para.
12? Is it appropriate? What does the writer want to
illustrate by this example?
2. Is the author correct in saying the quotation in para.14 is
from Confucius? Another saying, which is really by
Confucius, would be more suitable here. What is it?
3. Do you agree with the author when he says humans are
“creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices,
and motivated by pride and vanity?”
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II(para. 12-15): Sentence Paraphrase
He ordered: “Set the matter according to my copy hereafter
and see that the proofreader retains his suggestions in the
mush of his decayed brain.”
Paraphrasing: From now on my articles should be printed
without being proofread, I don’t need any advice from the
proofreader who is too dim-witted to come up with any
valuable idea.
•“set” here means “arrange the letters in type for printing”. 排字
•Pay attention to the tone of the original sentence. Mark Twain
is very angry and he deliberately uses formal language to
ridicule and intimidate the proofreader.
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
bristle [ vi. ]
• 1. if an animal’s hair bristles, it stands up stiffly because
the animal is afraid or angry
• 2. to suddenly become very annoyed or offended at what
sb. says or does:
• bristle (with sth.) (at sth.)
– John pushed back his chair, bristling with indignation.
– His lies made her bristle with rage.
– He bristled at her rudeness.
• bristle with sth. phrasal verb
• to have a lot of sth., or be full of sth. :
– a battleship bristling with guns
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II (para. 16-21): Main Idea
1. What connotations do these following words
have: “diplomatic”, “adroit at handling people”?
Do you think the writer has made good choices
of words in the Benjamin Franklin example?
2. “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—
and most fools do.” What is the writer doing
here?
3. If you were Hoover, would you have done the
same in that situation?
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II(para. 16-21): Sentence Paraphrase
•
•
•
But it takes character and self-control to be
understanding and forgiving.(para.18)
Paraphrasing: But it requires our good moral
qualities and the ability to control ourselves to be
understanding and forgiving to others.
character: a combination of qualities such as
courage, loyalty, and honesty that are admired and
regarded as valuable
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
think/speak ill of sb.
(formal) to think or say unpleasant things about someone
• She really believes you should never speak ill of the dead.
• 她着实认为你从不应该说死人的坏话。
• 我们不应该在背后说别人的坏话。
• We should not speak ill of others behind their backs.
• 我还从来没有听过Paul说人家坏话。
• I’ve never heard Paul speak ill of a human being in my life.
• ill (adverb) : (especially in compounds) badly or in an unpleasant way;
(formal) not in an acceptable way
– The animals had been grossly ill-treated.
– They live in an area ill served by public transport.
– ill-tempered, ill-informed, ill-mannered, ill-equipped, ill-prepared
Text Analysis
Detailed Analysis
Part II: Words & Expressions
Words
indulge; ridicule; point-blank; impair
Phrases
boil with indignation; once too often; close
upon; from a certain; standpoint; bristle with;
adroit at; speak ill of
Sentence
Pattern
I have made as … a study as it is …; What do
you suppose Meade did…?; When dealing with
people,…; … was made American Ambassador
to France
Grammar
comparison; adverbs of frequency: never, ever
Words
Phrases
A Fundamental Technique in Handling People
Unit 12
Discussion
Reinforcement
Retelling
Reinforcement
Discussion
Work in groups of four answer the following questions:
•
•
•
•
In what sense is the writer using the word “criticism”?
Is there any difference between “to criticize” and “to
ridicule”?
Is there any difference between “to praise” and “to
flatter”?
Can we do away with criticism altogether? If not, how
can we best do with criticism?
What are the best ways of motivating people from a
psychological point of view?
Reinforcement
Discussion
Carnegie’s book received vehement criticisms
from high-minded scholars but won acclaims
from the general public? Why is that?