Charisma. History’s greatest leaders have used this skill from their arsenal to influence and inspire their surroundings in tough times. Although intelligence, integrity, and building trust are essential factors for a leader, charisma is the true x-factor that measures his or her effectiveness towards his or her team, and it is ultimately an important trait of how successful he or she is.
You’ve heard the saying that some people are more charismatic than others. It is easy to see and spot – but what makes someone more charismatic than another? Are you born with it? Can you cultivate it? How do you develop it? Why is it important? Can you even define it?
”Charisma is not so much getting people to like you as getting people to like themselves when you are around.” – Robert Brault
The good news is you actually can, and it has nothing to do with whether you are an extrovert or an introvert. It is not a mysterious gift that only people with high energy have and causes others to want to be around them. Charisma is a learnable skill, and you can develop it with practice. Just like a muscle, you can work on strengthening it in order to master personal magnetism. All it takes is some slight modifications to your behavior.
Here are four tips on how to improve your charismatic gene and to narrow the gap between you and the so-called natural charismatic person:
- Presence. Invest your attention to the person in front of you. You need to make the other person feel important by being attentive, displaying warmth and completely shutting your ego off. This person has to feel good about himself or herself while talking to you and even after the conversation is over. It is not about you but about him or her. By being genuinely engaged in the conversation, you will master the art of the presence and will be perceived as a charismatic person.
- Confidence. People like confident people. You need to have a purpose in life and exude it with confidence. A person who possesses this quality will be respected, and others will give more importance and weight to what the person will say. At the same time, he or she will listen with real intent to what others have to say. The reciprocity mixed with a little bit of humor will build your charismatic gene in the long run because you will not be perceived as being selective but rather like someone who makes everyone feel like they have something in common regardless of status.
- Charm with the nonverbal. This is a powerful technique to engage with others. Convey your passion about a cause with facial expressions, a great vocal tone and use body gestures to demonstrate your desire to express what is it what you want to showcase. An example would be to always have great eye contact with the person in front of you. Meeting someone’s gaze while having a conversation will instantly make you more charismatic.
- Be a conversationalist. Master the art of the conversation while engaging with others. Be nice while starting a conversation. A charismatic person will know how to steer the conversation in the right direction by asking genuine and rhetorical questions to draw people in and towards him or her. Charisma is taking the time to learn more about the other than about yourself. In the end, it is the ability to transfer your energy and enthusiasm to others while getting to know them on a deeper level.
Here you go, hope this was a fun read that provided value to the audience.
Thank you for reading,
Be great,