© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete 2005 revised text of Building Yourself, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's guide to living the successful life.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Building Yourself Table of Contents
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All this advice is wise on the outside, foolish on the inside. All too often the term “education” means “going to school,” or “getting a degree.” There is nothing wrong with going to school or getting a degree, if what the student learns is either enriching or useful. But when faced with the pressures of the sophisticated, multi-billion dollar education industry, the uninformed person is apt to take the path of least resis­tance—do what everybody else does. That's a shame, consider­ing all the options open to someone who has the guts and the drive to get an education in other ways.

Education for the true achiever is always more than attendance at an institution. This chapter covers general skills that form the foundation for success. Some of these skills may take decades to develop. Other skills are fairly easy to pick up, if you pay attention to them early in life. What all these skills have in common is that they're often overlooked by traditional colleges and schools.