Transcripts


 

July 28, 2006:
Effective Flattery
Interview with Richard Stengel, author of You're Too Kind - A Brief History of Flattery


Mike Carruthers:
Flattery can get you everywhere, if you know how to do it right.

Richard Stengel:

Flattery works. People like you, if you show that you like them, and there are some effective techniques to being a better flatterer. One of the classic techniques is to be specific so that you don't say to someone, "You're the greatest." You say, "Mike, you're a wonderful interviewer, and in fact I remember an interview you did several years ago with this sheepherder in New Zealand, that really changed my life."

Richard Stengel, author of the book You're Too Kind-A Brief History of Flattery

Dale Carnegie always talked about "Find something you really like about someone, and tell them. It's much easier to praise someone, it's much easier to flatter someone if it actually reflects something you kind of believe, and you can actually torque up the belief to make it seem like you're sincere. Essentially Dale Carnegie said that once you fake sincerity, nothing really can stop you.

Flattering someone behind their back is also very effective.

So, if I said to someone that you know, "Boy I did this interview with this guy the other day and it was just fantastic and it really went well." and it gets back to you, and you think that's honest praise because I'm not actually sucking up to you directly and in person, where we can sometimes be skeptical of it.

And another technique is to add a little bitter with the sweet.

You don't just say "The play was wonderful." You say "You know that first act, there was a moment there where my attention was diverted, but the rest of the play was better than Hamlet."

For transcripts visit our website somethingyoushouldknow.net. I'm Mike Carruthers and that's "Something You Should Know."




 
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