Zig , Harvey, and Dale contributed significantly to my professional development. How?
By telling stories to show the benefit of doing something a certain way.
Ziglar would talk about ‘the Redhead’ and ‘Yazoo’, Mississippi while weaving his lessons about listening and giving value.
Mackay would wrap his storytelling around applying the laws of human nature and making it easier to have a deep relationship with others.
Carnegie was the geek of the group and told ‘why’ stories – why, based on observation and research, doing it this way gets your desired result to happen smoothly.
These three gentlemen had a common theme: communication is about 80% listening, 10% talking, and 10% just being there quietly while the prospect connects the dots.
On the surface, their topic was about sales and the message was to learn and satisfy the buyer’s needs. To see the true scope and range of their teachings, simply substitute ‘relationship’ for sales and ‘friend’ (or ‘redhead’) for buyer – these lessons work with people you care about at every level.
They each said it best in a quote captured for the ages:
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Zig Ziglar: You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.
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Harvey Mackay: A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves.
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Dale Carnegie: You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in the other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
I’m all done with the 10% talking – now it’s time for the 80% listening part – please share your thoughts.
How will this point of view help you?
I’m familiar with Carnegie and Ziglar…but you’re introducing me to Mackay. Got a book recommendation?
You should add Stephen Covey to that list, too. One of his seven habits is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. Sometimes it pays to just listen to a person to see where they are coming from without adding our two cents worth. Once we understand that person, we are in a better position to help that person.