From: marke@ultra.com (Marke Clinger)
Subject: Re: Info on Dale Carnegie
Reply-To: marke@ultra.com (Marke Clinger)
Organization: Ultra Network Technologies
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 06:26:22 GMT

In article <83@cnmhnet.UUCP> keithg@cnmhnet.UUCP (keith garrard) writes:
>In article <1992Sep03.191124.28733@evolving.com> judy@evolving.com (Judy Bettinger) writes:
>>Has anyone ever taken any of the Dale Carnegie courses?  Did
>>you find them worthwhile?
>Hello Judy!
>	While I have not taken any of the Dale Carnegie Courses
>per se, I have talked with people who have.  They all say that 

I have taken one of the courses and my comments will be based on 
my experience. I took the generic one...what ever it is called...
it has been a long time, but I remember the experience well. Very Well!
I won a scholarship to the course so don't know about the costs etc.

In short it was a very positive influence in my life, I made some great
life long friends, I learned to speak in public, and had a great time.
Most of all I learned how to be genuinely interested in other
people...the most important lesson of all.

Although the four books used in the course can be purchased at any good
book store (as was pointed out) they definately are not a substitute
for the course. Not by any means! Not even close. The readings augment
the course, but are certainly not the course. If you have a cynical
attitude while taking the course (which many people due since some
people who come out of Dale C. Bowl you over with their new found
attitude which turns many people off to the course) then read the
books. The attitude eventually mellows out.

I would recommend it for anyone. It gives you a chance to reflect on
things and reaffirm (assuming you have learned them somewhere along the
line) other things. Out of all of the human relations types courses I
have taken (5 tto 7 in total) this was definately the best.  I met one
guy who had started several businesses and was taking the course before
he started his next.  He had been millionaire for some time.

Stop now if you don't want all the details...

-------

The basic format of the course is for 14 or so weeks (it has been a
while since I took it) you go once a week to a 2 hour meeting. The 
meeting is focused around one or two speeches from each of the course
members. The basis of the speeches are something that you are an 
expert on....what else? Yourself. So, twice a week for fourteen weeks
you spend 3 to 5 minutes talking about some aspect of your life that 
fits in with the theme for that speech. Each week a best speaker is 
chosen and positive reenforcement by the entire class is given to all
speakers (this is where the feel good part comes into play). There are
also lessons each week, but I remember the speaches the most. One session
was particularly moving was the week we all talked about a deep personal
event in our lives. It was like one of those comedy tear jerk movies.
One person would get up to tell a tragedy and how they handled it, the
next the funniest thing you ever heard that happened to someone.

So you get to know the people in the course real well and surprisingly
enough you get to know yourself much better. I know it can sound a bit
like a love fest or whatever, but if you really want to grow personally
and learn to talk in front of people (1, 2 or many) it is a good 
course.

>also state that the course basically consisted of reading Dale
>Carnegie's book "How to win Friends and Influence People".  So I

That are four books that are read 

	1) How to win Friends and Influence People
	2) How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence people by
	   Public Speaking
	3) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
	4) Effective Speaking

The books are good to read if you take the course or not. But the whole
course is not about how to "win friends and influence people." Much of
it is on building your self esteem, speaking in public, and how to become
interested in other people.  You would think that talking about yourself 
for 14 weeks would make you self centered, it might, but listening to 30 
other people talk about themselves might make you interested in other people.

>would suggest that you buy that book, which is available in almost
>any bookstore in paperback.  If you read that book, you will get 
>everything out of it that you would get out of attending a Dale

Yes and No. Sure, everyone buy the books and read them. They are fun to
read and you probably can learn something from them which you can apply
to your every day life. No reading them is not a substitute for taking
the course.  Not by a long shot. That would be like saying "instead of
taking the interpersonal relations course, just read the book."

An example of how it can change a persons life....This is a real
extreme case...most of the people in the course I took where so darn
out-going at the begining of the course that they were really knocking
you over by the end.

We were all there because we had won scholarships to go. One guy was
the so shy that the first day when he had to introduce someone else (we
all did of course) in the course he stood up said two words then froze.
He stopped talking his chin was on his chest his hands writhing, his
body was squirming.  Every now and then a grunt would come out of his
mouth. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life as watching this
guy. Then a soft reassuring voice from the back of the room got him to
look up and then led him through the introduction. Each week he got
better and more comfortable in front of the crowd. By the end of the
week he was as vivacious in the front of the room as the next person.
Years later I saw him and it was obvious that the effect of the course
has stayed with him.

Marke

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__________________________________________________________________________
Marke Clinger					Ultra Network Technologies
Western Region Systems Engineer			1942 Broadway Suite 213
marke@ultra.com					Boulder, CO 80302