By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm:
The basics of public speaking aren’t that hard to learn. But among even experienced speakers and persuaders, some seem to be more magnetic than others. That factor, charisma, makes the speaker more interesting and the content more likely to seem clear and influential. It is believed that the charisma factor played an evolutionary role in allowing some individuals to gain followers, which led to the rise of communities and governments. Today, charisma helps not just in determining elections, but in everyday persuasion and influence, building the likability that is a key factor in credibility. Charisma has a dark side that was studied extensively following World War II, as researchers asked how some leaders manage to mobilize large parts of the population to embrace or allow terrible things. But it also has a bright side, an attraction factor for every communicator that can make every other aspect of their communication more effective.
So what goes into charisma? Despite it being labeled as a kind of “X-factor,” the components of charisma are fairly well researched. Rather than being mysterious or innate, it boils down to some identifiable qualities. Some of those qualities you probably can’t control. For example, a recent piece in The Atlantic reports on a Dutch study showing that taller men are considered more charismatic. Studies (von Hippel et al., 2016) also suggest that quick thinkers who are naturally witty and humorous are more charismatic. While you can’t simply become taller or increase your mental processing speed at will, there are some other ingredients to charisma that are more open to your conscious control. In this post, I will review a handful of documented techniques to help you create charisma.
Things You Can Control in Order to Boost Charisma
Employ Dynamic Modes of Delivery
Higher energy is more persuasive. We like and gravitate toward speakers who are dynamic in their voice, movement, and expression. Recent research (Signorello & Rhee, 2016) looked at the communication styles employed in the current campaign, specifically at Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, and found that what works in building charisma, particularly with larger audiences, is continuous and somewhat dramatic variation in pitch and volume.
Be a Change Promoter
That preference for dynamism applies at a substantive level as well. When Bill Clinton recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention on behalf of his wife’s candidacy, he walked through her life story in a way designed to counter the status quo establishment mantel that had been placed on her during the primaries. He swung for the fences, concluding that she is, “the best darn change-maker I ever met in my entire life.” Of course people can agree or disagree on directions of change, but there is a basic appeal to change itself, to action rather than inaction. For example, research (Nohe et al., 2013) shows that business team leaders are more charismatic when they are perceived as being change agents.
Be Engaged and Love What You Do
It is a good rule of thumb that you have to be interested in order to be interesting. When a speaker is truly engaged or excited about their material, then a good bit of that rubs off on the audience. That is why some of the best litigators I know tend to live and breath their case: They go to bed thinking about it and they wake up thinking about it. Research on leadership tends to confirm this as well. For example, one study of female educational leaders (Bakker & Xanthopoulou, 2013) showed that greater engagement among leaders led to higher perceptions of charisma.
Respond to Crisis
Historians have long noted that the times tend to make the leader, and periods of perceived crisis lead to the emergence of charismatic leaders. Our need for security in a crisis makes us want someone who is strong and trusted. And it is not just the leader, it is also the issues they are addressing. One study (Davis & Gardner, 2012), for example, shows the perception of addressing a crisis makes leaders more charismatic. That suggests that persuaders might enhance their charisma by positioning themselves as responding to a crisis. Adherents to the Reptile approach to legal persuasion, for example, advise framing a plaintiff’s case so you are not just arguing for an individual’s interest, but addressing a common danger that affects all of us. The successful application of that frame might make you more charismatic as well.
Just Practice Good Communication
One strong theme in the research is that charisma is the outcome of many good communication basics just practiced at a very high level. One study (Antonakis, Fenley, Liechti 2011) for example, found that middle managers and MBA students trained for 30 to 90 hours in 12 “charismatic leadership tactics” including gestures, metaphors, and other basic techniques, were able to measurably improve their charisma. So legal persuaders who focus not just on making their case, but making it well, will be more charismatic. So use those analogies, stories and anecdotes, contrasts, rhetorical questions, and expressions of moral conviction and you will increase your perceived charisma.
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Other Posts on Style:
- Speak Extemporaneously: Seven Tips for Losing the Notes Without Going Off-the-Cuff
- Practice
- Look Like You’re Winning: 2012 Presidential Debate Series, Part One
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Antonakis, J., Fenley, M., & Liechti, S. (2011). Can charisma be taught? Tests of two interventions. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 374-396.
Bakker, A. B., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2013). Creativity and charisma among female leaders: the role of resources and work engagement. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(14), 2760-2779.
Davis, K. M., & Gardner, W. L. (2012). Charisma under crisis revisited: Presidential leadership, perceived leader effectiveness, and contextual influences. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(5), 918-933.
von Hippel, W., Ronay, R., Baker, E., Kjelsaas, K., & Murphy, S. C. (2016). Quick Thinkers Are Smooth Talkers Mental Speed Facilitates Charisma. Psychological science, 27(1), 119-122.
Nohe, C., Michaelis, B., Menges, J. I., Zhang, Z., & Sonntag, K. (2013). Charisma and organizational change: A multilevel study of perceived charisma, commitment to change, and team performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 378-389.
Signorello, R., & Rhee, N. (2016). The voice acoustics of the 2016 United States presidential election candidates: A cross-gender study. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 139(4), 2123-2123.
Image credit: 123rf.com, used under license