Dale Carnegie

( 1888 - 1955 )

Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in public speaking and interpersonal skills. Born in 1888 in self-improvement, salesmanship, and corporate training in Maryville, Missouri, Carnegie was a poor farmer's boy whose first job after college was selling correspondence courses to ranchers; then he moved on to selling bacon, soap, and lard for Armour & Company. He was successful to the point of making his sales territory of South Omaha, Nebraska the national leader for the firm. Carnegie's first collection of his writings was Public Speaking a Practical Course for Business Men (1926), later entitled Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business (1932). His major achievement, however, was when Simon & Schuster published How to Win Friends and Influence People.