There is an old saying：“Give a dog a bad name and you may as well hang him.”But give him a good name—and see what happens！
PRINCIPLE 7：
Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
Chapter 29
Make the Fault Seem Easy to Correct
A bachelor friend of mine，about forty years old，became engaged，and his fiancée persuaded him to take some belated dancing lessons.“The Lord knows I needed dancing lessons，”he confessed as he told me the story，“for I danced just as I did when I first started twenty years ago.The first teacher I engaged probably told me the truth.She said I was all wrong；I would just have to forget everything and begin all over again.But that took the heart out of me.I had no incentive to go on.So I quit her.
“The next teacher may have been lying，but I liked it.She said nonchalantly that my dancing was a bit old-fashioned perhaps，but the fundamentals were all right，and she assured me I wouldn’t have any trouble learning a few new steps.The first teacher had discouraged me by emphasizing my mistakes.This new teacher did the opposite.She kept praising the things I did right and minimizing my errors.‘You have a natural sense of rhythm，’she assured me.‘You really are a natural-born dancer.’Now my common sense tells me that I always have been and always will be a fourth-rate dancer；yet，deep in my heart，I still like to think that maybe she meant it.To be sure，I was paying her to say it；but why bring that up？
“At any rate，I know I am a better dancer than I would have been if she hadn’t told me I had a natural sense of rhythm.That encouraged me.That gave me hope.That made me want to improve.”
Tell your child，your spouse，or your employee that he or she is stupid or dumb at a certain thing，has no gift for it，and is doing it all wrong，and you have destroyed almost every incentive to try to improve.But use the opposite technique—be liberal with your encouragement，make the thing seem easy to do，let the other person know that you have faith in his ability to do it，that he has an undeveloped flair for it—and he will practice until the dawn comes in the window in order to excel.
Lowell Thomas，a superb artist in human relations，used this technique，He gave you confidence，inspired you with courage and faith.
If you want to help others to improve，remember ...
PRINCIPLE 8：
Use encouragement.Make the fault seem easy to correct.
Chapter 30
Making People Glad to Do What You Want
Back in 1915，America was aghast.For more than a year，the nations of Europe had been slaughtering one another on a scale never before dreamed of in all the bloody annals of mankind.Could peace be brought about？No one knew.But Woodrow Wilson was determined to try.He would send a personal representative，a peace emissary，to counsel with the warlords of Europe.
William Jennings Bryan，secretary of state，Bryan，the peace advocate，longed to go.He saw a chance to perform a great service and make his name immortal.But Wilson appointed another man，his intimate friend and advisor Colonel Edward M.House；and it was House’s thorny task to break the unwelcome news to Bryan without giving him offense.
“Bryan was distinctly disappointed when he heard I was to go to Europe as the peace emissary，”Colonel House records in his diary.“He said he had planned to do this himself ...
“I replied that the President thought it would be unwise for anyone to do this officially，and that his going would attract a great deal of attention and people would wonder why he was there....”
You see the intimation？House practically told Bryan that hewas too important for the job—and Bryan was satisfied.
I knew a man who had to refuse many invitations to speak，invitations extended by friends，invitations coming from people to whom he was obligated；and yet he did it so adroitly that theother person was at least contented with his refusal.How did he do it？Not by merely talking about the fact that he was too busy and too-this and too-that.No，after expressing his appreciation of the invitation and regretting his inability to accept it，he suggested a substitute speaker.In other words，he didn’t give the other person any time to feel unhappy about the refusal，He immediately changed the other person’s thoughts to some other speaker who could accept the invitation.
Childish？Perhaps.But that is what they said to Napoleon when he created the Legion of Honor and distributed 15，000crosses to his soldiers and made eighteen of his generals “Marshals of France”and called his troops the “Grand Army.”Napoleon was criticized for giving “toys”to war-hardened veterans，and Napoleon replied，“Men are ruled by toys.”
This technique of giving titles and authority worked for Napoleon and it will work for you.For example，a friend of mine，Mrs.Ernest Gent of Scarsdale，New York，was troubled by boys running across and destroying her lawn.She tried criticism.She tried coaxing.Neither worked.Then she tried giving the worst sinner in the gang a title and a feeling of authority.She made him her “detective”and put him in charge of keeping all trespassers off her lawn.That solved her problem.Her “detective”built a bonfire in the backyard，heated an iron red hot，and threatened to brand any boy who stepped on the lawn.
People are more likely to do what you would like them to do when you use...
PRINCIPLE 9：
Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.