Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Ten minutes of a podcast teaches me more than an hour with most books. Dale Carnegie, Yuval Noah Harari and Jerry Seinfeld all worked their material out in front of people before it reached a page.
Show Notes
Ten minutes of a podcast teaches me more than an hour with most books. Dale Carnegie, Yuval Noah Harari and Jerry Seinfeld all worked their material out in front of people before it reached a page.
Featuring: Dale Carnegie, Yuval Noah Harari, Jerry Seinfeld
Brought to you by:
Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities.
HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do.
Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video.
Chapters:
(00:00) Podcasts versus books
(00:10) Dale Carnegie's night classes
(00:46) Harari's Sapiens lectures
(00:51) Seinfeld rebuilds his act
(01:13) Writing alone versus talking to a listener
Where to find Dru:
I write an essay daily. Get them free
Follow me on X
Watch my video essays on YouTube
Follow Dru's Notes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.
Creators and Guests
JS
Guest
What is Dru's Notes?
One mental model each day in a few minutes. Habits, business, building products and thinking clearly. From Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc.
I learn more from 10 minutes of a podcast than from an hour with most books.
So why would two people talking teach me more than a book someone spent years writing?
Dale Carnegie tested his advice on a classroom before he wrote it down. He taught public speaking at night to people in business. His students needed more than speaking lessons, so he searched for a textbook on getting along with people.
He came up empty and wrote a short talk instead.
Each season he gave the talk and sent the class out to test it. A week later they reported back.
The rules started on a card the size of a postcard, then grew into a leaflet and a series of booklets. Years later, the booklets became How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The book has sold more than 30 million copies.
Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens also began as lectures to his history students.
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld tests each joke on a crowd before he keeps it. After his sitcom ended, he retired his old jokes in an HBO special. Then he built a new act from nothing.
He'd show up unannounced at basement comedy clubs and try new jokes one at a time. The documentary Comedian filmed it.
It took him more than a year to build a full hour.
Alone with a page, you can spend an hour trying to sound smart. Across from a listener, you aim to be understood.
What could you explain to a friend before writing it?