
Follow This Rule — If You Want To Be Popular (1922) - mikecane
http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/1922-follow-this-rule-if-you-want-to-be-popular/
======
wallflower
Politics aside, I'm fascinated by the personal recollections of people who
have met Bill Clinton [1]. Bill Clinton is legendary for making people who
shake his hand feel like they are the most important person in the room.

A book I read (can't remember the title) said something that has stuck with
me. Paraphrased: "Everyone can be as charismatic as Bill Clinton. You do it on
a job interview or on a first date. The secret is... he does it all the time"

"Clinton had this huge charisma. He was wearing a pair of black trousers and a
blue checked shirt with his sleeves rolled up. His presence made everyone
around him so comfortable. He had this extraordinary ability to make us feel
very special. He took time out to speak to each one of us — asking about our
family, where we were raised and educated, what were the things in our life
that we hold important." [2]

[1]
[http://www.bing.com/search?q=meeting+bill+clinton+%2B+charis...](http://www.bing.com/search?q=meeting+bill+clinton+%2B+charisma&go=&qs=n&form=QBRE&pq=meeting+bill+clinton+%2B+charisma&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=)

[2]
[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120507/jsp/calcutta/story_154...](http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120507/jsp/calcutta/story_15459603.jsp)

~~~
stfu
Ironically similar stuff has been said about George W. Bush:

[http://www.quora.com/George-W-Bush/What-is-George-W-Bush-
rea...](http://www.quora.com/George-W-Bush/What-is-George-W-Bush-really-like-
in-one-on-one-conversation)

But I guess in today's world it is unlikely to take a high office that is
based on popularity by not having a winning personality - even so the facets
might become distorted through media.

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cvursache
A great must-read on the same idea - with lots of examples from very different
social situations - is the popular book "How to Win Friends and Influence
People"
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influenc...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People))
. It's only 300 pages long, but there are a lot of great principles in it that
one can follow.

~~~
xsmasher
I second this recommendation, with an aside: the title was an incredible turn-
off to me, but I read it anyway and it is worth its weight.

It is not lessons on "How to be False and Unctuous" or "How to Abuse the
Kindness of Others," which were the original images that the title evoked from
me.

~~~
jw_
I have to agree - I found the title monumentally off-putting as well (and
wound up reading it on the Kindle to avoid having the book title displayed to
my fellow train passengers, how sad!) but I was glad that I read it.

The book seems like it'd be "your guide to becoming a smarmy dick in 30 days!"
but it really stresses sincerity and other various laudable goals. A lot of
the book is obvious in hindsight but it's pretty well written and has become a
classic for good reason.

------
RyanZAG
As with the other article from 1922 [1], this article is just so much better
written and conveys a far more widely useful point than the articles you see
in the media today. Feels a bit like journalism in general has gone backwards
enormously.

I think this because journalism is now ranked by 'page views', when in 1922,
journalism was ranked by professional editors. For journalism, page views = ad
views = revenue, so optimizing for anything else is folly. A short article
with eye catching headlines and sensationalism is always going to outdo a
great article like the OP. Any way to reverse this trend? Even pay-for
journalism today is still plagued by 'page views', as no follow up article is
going to be written if the views are low. Back in 1922, nobody really knew the
page views and they could only be badly estimated with a reader's survey.

[1] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4969041>

EDIT: I've actually changed my mind - journalism of this standard is
definitely alive and well, you just have to look to lesser known bloggers now
instead of big media. This is probably the true death-knell of big media if I
ever saw it - loss of quality content. I present the following blog post from
this year as evidence:

[http://www.lindsredding.com/2012/03/11/a-overdue-lesson-
in-p...](http://www.lindsredding.com/2012/03/11/a-overdue-lesson-in-
perspective/)

The way writing styles have changed in general in 100 years is also
interesting!

~~~
huherto
And this article survived from 1922. So it is probably good. Selection bias?

~~~
testing12341234
Also, these are two articles hand picked from one year from all sources that
printed news that year. That's a very small sample size to extrapolate from.

~~~
edanm
I think you and the GP were making the same (valid) point.

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mrxd
Sometimes I meet people who follow this advice, and it usually doesn't go very
well. Yes, egotism and self-centeredness is common, but it is a vice, and I
try not to be that way. I really don't appreciate it when someone tries to
encourage me to be egotistical. It is manipulative and harmful to me.

~~~
cbsmith
Someone is doing it wrong then. Appealing to one's ego isn't the same as
encouraging one to be egotistical.

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personlurking
If anyone is wondering about the use of "to-day" (and, as a bonus, "to-
morrow"), the following are from Etymonline.

"To-day"

O.E. todæge, to dæge "on (the) day," from to "at, on" + dæge, dative of dæg
"day". Generally written as two words until 16c., after which it usually was
written to-day until early 20c.

"To-morrow"

late 13c., to morewe, from O.E. to morgenne "on (the) morrow," from to "at,
on" + morgenne, dative of morgen "morning". Written as two words until 16c.,
then as to-morrow until early 20c.

...

The latter reminds me of Spanish where they say "mañana por la mañana" (lit.
tomorrow during the morning) and Portuguese where they say "amanhã da manhã"
(lit. tomorrow of the morning).

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svnexp
"the only way to “sell” yourself, or anything else, is to get other people’s
interest by showing your interest in them"

This can easily be taken the wrong way and come across completely unauthentic.
For example ..

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W34wyKZlWQ>

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frankc
If you liked this article you should read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends
and Influence people as it is very much along these lines. It's a famous book
for a reason: the advice is tried and true.

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FarhadG
Thanks for the article! Loved reading it

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adidash
Brilliant read with many takeaways! Mike - Thanks for sharing!

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um304
Excellent read, thanks for sharing!

