Be careful not to give unsolicited advice.  It has been well said that advice which costs nothing is worth what it costs.  If people desire your counsel they will probably ask for it, in which case they will be more likely to appreciate what you have to tell them.

Do not voluntarily recommend doctors, dentists, osteopaths, pills, coffee substitutes, health foods, health resorts, or panaceas for the ills of mankind.  If you can be of service to others in these particular respects, it will be when you are specifically asked for such information.

It is most imprudent to carry an argument to extremes.  If you observe an unwillingness in the other person to be convinced by what you say, you had better turn to another subject.  Conversation should never resolve itself into controversial debate.

It is well to avoid discursiveness, over-use of parentheses, and positiveness of statement.  Keep your desires and feelings from over-coloring your views.  A flexible attitude of mind is more likely to win an opponent to your way of thinking.

Take special pains to enter into the minds and feelings of others.  Be interested in what they want to talk about.  Let your interest be deep and sincere.  Adopt the right tone, temper, and reticence in your conversation.

You should accustom yourself to look at things from the other person’s standpoint.  It is surprising how this habit enlarges the vision and gives a charitableness to speech which might otherwise be absent.  It is well to remember that no person can possibly have a monopoly of knowledge upon any subject.

Good conversation demands restraint, adaptability, and reasonable brevity.  There is an appalling waste of words on all sides, hence you should constantly guard yourself against this fault.  When there is nothing worth-while to say, the best substitute is silence.

Practice self-discipline in talking.  Correct any fault in yourself the instant you recognize it.  If, for example, you realize that you are talking at too great length, stop it at once.  Should you feel that you are not giving interested attention to the speaker, check your mind-wandering immediately and concentrate upon what is being said.

Do not be always setting other people right.  This is a thankless as well as useless task.  They probably do not want your assistance, or they would ask for it.  Besides most people are sensitive about their shortcomings, and prefer to get help and counsel in private.

There is no more important suggestion than to rule your moods.  Ofttimes the feelings run away with the judgment.  What you think and say today may be due to your present mood, rather than to matured judgment.  Let your common sense predominate at all times.

It is not well to give too strong expression to your likes and dislikes.  These, like all your feelings, should be governed with a firm hand.  Opinions advanced with too much emphasis may easily fail to impress other minds.  Remember always that your greatest ally is truth.  Therefore frankly and faithfully examine your important opinions before giving them expression.