Everyone wants to feel important. And Dale Carnegie knew that the surest way to making someone feel important—as well as winning the person to your way of thinking—is to talk in terms of his or her interest.

This principle is as relevant today as it was when Carnegie revealed it over 75 years ago.

For those of you with a longing for nostalgia, here’s a lighthearted clip of this important Dale Carnegie Training principle in action:

For more information on talking in terms of another person’s interest join us in Birmingham on April 5 for a Dale Carnegie Course on “Effective Communications & Human Relations/Skills for Success.”

This post brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Alabama.  We would love to connect with you on Facebook!

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Social Media is exploding across the sales world. Salespeople and customer alike carry the same information tools. Devices like an iPad, Kindle Fire, BlackBerry, and iPhone are everywhere. All of us carry at least one device. Customers know everything about what they might want to buy. And their education level on a particular product is very high. They are the new experts because of these devices. Unfortunately, salespeople are still catching up with the technology. Here in Alabama, everyone is on a learning curve to stay up with the consumers and their wants and needs.  It keeps getting tougher.

No matter the high speed world and the Web 2.0 environment we live and sell in, there still is room for the classic salesperson in the Dale Carnegie mold. Credibility, rapport, and solid, honest communication skills create relationships of great personal and professional value. In fact, at the heart of Carnegie Training is purpose and process. It is always a win-win for the customer and the salesperson.

The following five elements have to be in every successful salesperson who works the floor.

• Excellence:  No one is asking every single one of us to be great in sales, but Carnegie Training and reinforcement can get salespeople with potential to be very good. Unfortunately, not everyone is a salesperson. We survive or go away.
• Love Thy Customer:  Everyone who sells must have only the interests of the customer in mind.
• Assertive Listening: Listening, not hearing, is the most important skill in sales. It has to improve every day. It is never easy to listen, but it is a “must do” in sales.
• Positive Energy: Being positive is everything! Attitude is everything. Being upbeat, friendly and personable are critical and essential elements for sales success.
• Professionalism: Because the customer knows more about the products than the salesperson does, salespeople have to be experts in both the product and the unexpected. When a customer is with you and engages in the process, it is what you do that continues to the close.

When salespeople are trained to do well, they often will do well. Training and understanding are critical to making it in the tough world of sales. The elements to success are both identifiable and common sense. Being the best, just like in NASCAR, takes time, talent and luck!  Take a Carnegie class soon!

Sign up for How to Sell Like a Pro scheduled for Birmingham on Friday March 9^th.

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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For many, the path to leadership seems like a complicated path of personal and professional decisions that no one could possibly anticipate. Even the unlikeliest of leaders has often walked through some tough things, bringing along a series of life lessons that eventually led to a degree of success. But, when it comes to the perception of success as a whole, most people tend to think of a life less encumbered by the worries of daily life – money, stress, and responsibilities.

Basically, when asked to picture success, most adults would like to experience a return to simplicity. While being a leader is never really easy, and the path to success can be a difficult one, the strategy for finding personal success should be a lot easier than most think.

The following 3 steps can help you take a more simplified approach to your own personal success strategy.

Step 1 – Positivity. The well-known “Law of Attraction” is a basic principle that even Dale Carnegie’s teachings would agree with, on some levels. By being positive, it is possible to attract positive things into one’s life. That can be anything from relationships to big money deals. While it’s true that being positive goes way farther then being a negative person, a positive attitude is the primary foundation of true leadership.  Having a positive, can-do attitude about life and work in general, puts you in the right frame of mind to find success sooner.

Step 2 – Communicate. The hallmark of all successful people is that they have fine-tuned the art of communication from an early age. The sooner you learn how to communicate well with others, the better off you shall be as a leader in your own field of interest. Obviously, being able to speak with clarity and tact is absolutely vital to this communication, but it is just as important to listen well. By hearing what others have to say, one can be more open to the innovation and creativity all around you. This can be the source of new ideas and changes that can propel you into a higher level of success.

Step 3 – Challenged. Not only do leaders do the impossible, they expect a lot out of others around them. This is due to a large drive to be challenged in all that they do. When leaders do what they do, then others start to challenge themselves too. To be a leader means to continually challenge yourself and expect the best in all areas of your life. From personal health and lifestyle to corporate responsibility and ethics, leaders overcome challenges every step of the way.

Want to become a leader in your field or learn to lead others? Learn what it takes to be a leader in a Dale Carnegie training course this year.

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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All too often, people get stuck because they feel they do not know how to ask for help. Fortunately, it’s easy to ask for help. Here are 3 simple tips from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training Alabama that you can use today to enlist the help of others:

The first thing you need to do is ASK for help. Most people are more than willing to help you, but you must ASK for it. If you’re not willing to ask, you’ll never get past your problem. Just swallow your pride and ask for the help—you’ll be surprised at what happens.

The next thing is, you must be willing to ACCEPT the help of others. After you accept help, don’t worry about paying the helpful gesture back to that particular person. Simply pay it forward and work to help someone else who needs it, maybe at a later date. Helpful people love to help others. Allow them the opportunity to dig deep and genuinely help you.

The last thing to remember is to always say THANK YOU after you get help, so people will want to help you the next time you need it. In fact if you want to provide a really great thank you, send a personal note of thanks, and follow that up with a personal phone call or email at an unexpected time.

Remember: If you don’t swallow your pride and you try to “gut it out” in an area where you lack the necessary skills, knowledge or experiences, you increase the chances that you will fail and perhaps fail miserably. Nobody likes to fail, especially if with just a little bit of help, they could have succeeded. Ask and you shall receive the help you need to make it great!

This post brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Alabama.  We would love to connect with you on Facebook!

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Every leader and manager in Alabama faces similar challenges. This is the time of year that sets the tone for the rest of 2012.  Four ingredients of focus and commitment will help create the success that the organization must have to grow.

• Results: While many in leadership make accurate decisions and solve problems, it is always a good thing when they are blended with results. These results have to be planned in advance and are part of the process. Knowing where the organization is headed at all times and addressing possible obstacles in advance make the direction very clear.
• Enthusiasm:  The best leaders are truly positive and excited for the future. This combination of opportunity and commitment is very powerful.  Enthusiasm is contagious and this passion recognizes talent and the potential to grow.
• Truth: The most important consistency in both leaders and managers is the ability to always tell the truth no matter the situation. Honesty helps people improve and the feedback creates mutual respect; at the same time it gives individuals direction and a new opportunity.
• Integrity: There is nothing more important than who and what you are as a leader. Dale Carnegie once said, “If you believe in what you are doing, than let nothing hold you up in your work.” Leadership is personal and is an array of beliefs that hold together even in the most challenging of times. Every day begins and ends with integrity.

Leaders who support these processes will always be in line for success. As the Dale Carnegie Training here in Alabama has always suggested; balancing leadership with people and process are the essentials of every endeavor.

Your influence helps people with choices and with goals. Take Leadership Training for Managers on Monday February 28 in Birmingham and help them even more!

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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When Dale Carnegie asked the famous radio news analyst, H. V. Kaltenborn, if he had any advice to give to the young men of America who are eager to succeed, he said, “Yes, go to bat with yourself every morning. We talk a lot about the importance of physical exercise to wake us up out of the half-sleep in which so many of us walk around. But we need, even more, some spiritual and mental exercises every morning to stir us into action. Give yourself a pep talk every day.”

Is giving yourself a pep talk every day silly, superficial, childish? No, on the contrary, it is the very essence of sound psychology.

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

These words are just as true today—through books and movies like “The Secret”—as they were eighteen centuries ago when Marcus Aurelius first wrote them in his book Meditations: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

By talking to yourself every hour of the day, you can direct yourself to think thoughts of courage and happiness, thoughts of power and peace. By talking to yourself about the things you have to be grateful for, you can fill your mind with thoughts that soar and sing.

By thinking the right thoughts, you can make any job less distasteful. Your boss wants you to be interested in your job so that he or she will make more money. But let’s forget about what the boss wants. Think only of what getting interested in your job will do for you. Remind yourself that it may double the amount of happiness you get out of life, for you spend about one half of your waking hours at your work, and if you don’t find happiness in your work, you may never find it anywhere. Keep reminding yourself that getting interested in your job will take your mind off your worries, and, in the long run, will probably bring promotion and increased pay. And even if it doesn’t do that, it will reduce fatigue to a minimum and help you enjoy your hours of leisure.

This post brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Alabama.  We would love to connect with you on Facebook!

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Some leaders are just better than others. And the organizations they represent reflect the quality of leadership in every aspect. When we look at competencies, those attributes and skills that make leaders rise above others, we can look at Dale Carnegie himself and how he approached his career from a work perspective.

Through the years, Mr. Carnegie’s continual focus on people and the communities in Alabama and across America has always led to increased leadership and mission for those managers and leaders taking the classes and workshops. His building blocks for leadership have always simple and straight-forward. Here are five critical building blocks for today’s leadership

• Honesty and Ethics: There is good reason why the Carnegie Training and its processes have survived decades. It tells the truth and it is bound by sincerity and responsibility.
• Vision Setting: The consistency of the leader’s message is bound by a commitment to excellence and opportunity;
• Support of Teams: If the leader has the backing of the teams, it allows the team spirit to increase and gives the chance for risk to take place and improve products and service.
• Thoughts, Ideas, Ambitions: An open office and open door policy allows the growth of everyone regardless of position, and the sharing of goals and objectives makes the organization.
• Smooth and Pleasant Relationships: Regardless of the problems or the temperaments, everyone is treated with respect and understanding.

With appreciation and little attention, leaders improve what they do and the organizations they serve.

You can get excellent leadership development training with Leadership Training for Managers scheduled for February 27, 2012 in Birmingham. Click on the class title for further information.

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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Giving a presentation is not always about what you say; it’s how you don’t say it that makes the most impact. Body language is the physical expression of how humans communicate, and it has a significant bearing on presentations. A Harvard University article on a study of human body language says. “being able to read “nonverbal communication”—body language—is essential in business dealings.” A basic concept from Dale Carnegie says that. “Voice inflection, facial expressions, and body language can make up over 90% of your message. Presentations are strengthened when you improve vocal range, such as projection, diction, pacing, and pitch; and body language including, posture, gestures, facial expressions, and purposeful movement.”

Thinking about the last time you had to present information in front of others for a moment  - did you keep your audience’s attention or did they seem to be bored? It could be that you need to brush up on your body language skills in order to become a more effective presenter. Here are some tips for effective body language when giving presentations.

Your Posture  – How you carry yourself has bearing on how others perceive you in regular conversation as well as when giving presentations. In order to give the best impression, it’s important to sit or stand up straight and keep your head level with your body. Avoid slouching or slumping at the shoulders or the waist, which can be the signs of not being confident. A good posture also helps you to project your voice into the room, because your diaphragm is not obstructed.

Facial Expressions – Have you ever looked in the mirror to watch your facial expressions? If you have sometimes watched people frown in the room around you as you speak, it’s likely that you are doing the same. That’s because from the time we are born, humans will mimic each other’s facial expressions when communicating face to face. To quell this and put a more positive spin on your presentations, be sure to make an effort to smile when speaking in groups and do so in a natural way.

Purposeful Movement – As you venture into doing live presentations, be sure to use all your space on the stage or the room as a whole. To remain behind a podium or desk the whole time tells others you are intimidated and this does not go over well with an audience. Instead, walk around, make eye contact with listeners, smile and use your space up. You’ll own the room and the presentation if you establish a strong physical presence.

Hands and Arms  - No one ever knows what to do with hands and arms during a presentation, feeling awkward with sweaty palms. This is where good props come into place. Take the time to grab a couple of small objects that emphasize your main points of the presentation. For example, a piece of fruit or a stress ball can be good props when displayed like a showroom item. (think The Price is Right TV show). Use these objects to make your presentation more fun, and you’ll keep your hands and arms busy at the same time.

Want to learn more about making your presentations better? Be sure to check out the Dale Carnegie course High Impact Presentations based on the sounds principles that have made thousands of business pros successful.

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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Dale Carnegie identified the number one way to attain a life of peace and happiness as being yourself in all your dealings.

Too often, we try to emulate those around us in an attempt to fit in socially or with a specific group. But if it takes changing the essence of who we are to do it, then is it really worth it in the long run?

In his book, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” Carnegie tells the story of Edith Allred of Mount Airy, North Carolina. As a child Edith was extremely sensitive and shy. She was always overweight and had an old-fashioned mother who thought it was foolish to make clothes look pretty, and dressed her accordingly.

When she grew up, Edith married a man several years her senior, but nothing changed. She felt out of place in the presence of her in-laws, who were a poised and self-confident family. Edith withdrew into her shell and became nervous and irritable. She avoided friends and considered herself a failure. Out in public, she laughed and put on an act, hoping her husband wouldn’t find out how truly miserable she was. Eventually she became so unhappy that she contemplated suicide.

But then one day a chance remark from her mother-in-law changed her life. While talking about how she brought her children up, her mother-in-law said, “No matter what happened, I always insisted on their being themselves…”

“On being themselves!” The phrase stuck in Edith’s mind. Suddenly she realized why she was so unhappy—she was trying to be someone she wasn’t.

The transformation began almost instantaneously. Edith made a study of her own personality and tried to find out who she was. She studied her strong points. She learned about colors and styles, and dressed in a way that was becoming of her. She reached out to make friends and joined organizations. And little by little, she gained courage.

It took a long time, but Edith eventually had more happiness than she ever dreamed possible, and brought her own children up with the same lesson she had to learn from such bitter experience: No matter what happens, always be yourself!

This post brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Alabama.  We would love to connect with you on Facebook!

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You would think that leadership and management are two different roles that people with authority in organizations use as they see fit. The fact of the matter is that it is very tough at times to separate these two critical responsibilities. Many situations, especially within relationships and tasks, involve the discretion of both roles to make things happen.

Ability and experience are also blended with management and leadership to assess the quality of the direction needed to make the organization a successful one. Influencing others to achieve goals and work toward completing objectives is integral; the implementing and monitoring of both behavior and processes make today’s manager a good leader. Although some managers simply are not goo dleaders, the gap between the two is smaller and smaller as the economy struggles to get back to normal.

There are some very distinctive factors that are shared between the two functions.

• Direction: Giving guidance that involves completing goals and objectives is central to accomplishments and rewards.
• Skill Development: Improving the levels of performance among employees is essential  as well.
• Improving Processes: Getting the team better every day through cooperation and focus is integral to both.
• Communication: Having the ability to create messages, listen, and build relationships is the foundation for each role; being friendly and approachable are key factors.
• Creating Accountability: Making each individual in the organization grow in responsibility helps to create achievement-oriented behavior.

These five factors, borrowed from the excellent course, Dale Carnegie’s Leadership Training for Managers, must continue to be the focus of today’s successful organization. Whether we call it leadership management or we name it management leadership, the qualities of authority, influence, and power will remain as the truest perspectives within the nature of successful leadership across Alabama for years to come.

Take the Leadership Training for Managers on Monday February 27 in Birmingham. Just click on the course title. Do it today!

This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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