The Charisma Myth: How to Engage, Influence and Motivate People

Charisma is not innate, it is a set of behaviours that can be learnt and practiced trough our daily interactions. To help achieve this , Olivia Fox Cabane outlines here how to work on what she considers to be the three greatest assets of personal magnetism that is, power, warmth and presence. Quick to read, the whole is a nice pop psychology book, both entertaining and relevant -for example, I particularly like her idea of charisma as acting as a virtuous circle (your mindset affects your body language that will impact on the way people interact with you which will affect your mindset etc.). However, as with any pop psychology it falls short on many aspects -not enough science, too many personal anecdotes and not enough partial data, show more silly sounding tips and advices etc. Coming from someone who 'has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT and the United Nations' I was expecting something more serious and in-depth! show less

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked this up, but I was pleasantly surprised! This book is filled with practical advice, exercises and relevant stories on becoming more charismatic.

I have to admit, I had a lot of preconceived notions about charisma and what makes a person charismatic, and Olivia Fox Cabane showed me how wrong I was! I particularly appreciated the focus on mindset work: visualizing, reframing, and being present are such worthwhile practices -- for becoming more charismatic, and also for having an incredibly fulfilling life.

I'm excited to start practicing some of the strategies outlined here to increase my charisma, influence, and leadership skills.

Good information. Author breaks charisma down into a few areas:
Presence (being present in the moment, focusing on the other person)
Warmth (goodwill, empathy, compassion)
Power (confidence)

The author suggests finding an "area of specialty" for your charisma:
Focus (presence)
Visionary (inspirational)
Kindness (warmth and confidence)
Authority (status and confidence)

She also talks about self-compassion, which is an important step in developing warmth and confidence.

The book is an easy read, with key points listed at the end of each chapter. There are also exercises to help you work on a specific area. You can skim through it and get the main points in a couple hours, or read more carefully and try each exercise for a more thorough experience. show more

A solid book on the topic. I would have preferred something a little more dense, with various theories and research to support/refute them. This is more of a quick "how-to" book. That's probably what most people need.

It's a little light for my personal taste. I feel like the same information could have been conveyed in a magazine article, and it's frustrating to scan through pages looking for important information. But a book earns more profits, I'm sure. It's capitalist inefficiency - the most useful, streamlined version of a product won't make as much money, so consumers get the bloated, lumbering one. It's true of a lot of self-help books.

There's also a rather weak work-around for atheists in some exercises ("If you don't believe in God, imagine the universe as a benevolent being, and ask it for help...") It took many years of hard work to rid myself of toxic religious beliefs. Imagining a "benevolent being" is likely to drag me back into a mental state I don't want to be in. I wish authors with a belief in God would have more respect for those of us who don't want to follow the path of faith--or some generic, watered-down version of faith.

But overall, a useful book for those of us that don't naturally have charisma. Not much new material for people who read sites like Lifehacker, but it created connections between concepts that I hadn't thought of before. show less

This book is in the classic self help genre of books like How to Make Friends and Influence People. While there is a bit of real science, be it neurological or psychological based on analysis of real data, many of the ideas presented are more antidotal in nature which was a disappointment to me. I believe that this book would be useful to someone who wanted to improve their impact while interacting with others. I am a bit uncomfortable with the focus on personality and image rather than character. That said, some of the practices advocated are likely to bring about character changes, especially the practices related to seeing and treating others with grace.

“To know others is knowledge; to know oneself is wisdom.” ~Lao Tsu

Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey….What do these people have that you and I don’t? Charisma. They seem to have some special power or personality traits that attract people to them effortlessly. They attract all the attentions when they walk into a room, even without speaking. Somehow, we were taught that either we have this trait, or we don’t; so I was immediately drawn to this title once I spot it in a bookstore, and…

Yes, charisma can be learned.

Presence, warmth and power.

According to this wonderful book written by Olivia Cabane, charisma is a matter of presence, warmth and power. Presence is constantly paying attention show more to what’s going on when you’re interacting with people. If you are 100% involved, they feel valued and respected. One of these important skills is listening skill.

Warmth is expressed through kindness, actions and even body language. Do you think your body language has more power over the words you speak, or vice versa? You’re extremely wrong if you say “words.” Your physical comfort and mental state affect your words and body language, and people pick up messages from our body language and words that you don’t even realize yourself. Through out the author described multiple ways and exercises to get over or control your mental and physical discomfort, which will help increase personal charisma, the image that your body language and words projected.

Power is the most important and influential charisma. You do not have be an actual world leader like Colin Powell to impress people with your authority. The way you carry yourself, your body language and the way you dress and act can increase your impression and influence in others.

Not all charismatic people attract people the same way. There are all different kinds of charisma like the different kinds of personality. They can be achieved with different exercised and mind tricks and can be used on different situations. There's only one "first impression" in each event, and it's important to make it count. There are lots of exercises through out the book to help you learn the skills. Although I think they are a bit time consuming, they are actually useful.

Get the book. The wait is over. It's your turn to shine. . show less

Can charisma be learned?

It can. Or, at least, that's the promise of this book.

I'm not completely convinced that "Anyone" can master the "Art and Science of Personal Magnetism". The author, while seemingly well credentialed and very experienced, uses her clients as examples and case studies. The problem with this, is that most of the clients she serves are already in positions of power, for the most part, and it's too easy to assume that those in power already posses a good amount of charisma to begin with.

If you already know you posses some charisma then this book is probably good in helping you identify what kinds of charisma you posses . Then you can work on improving those with a focus.

Deals with charisma, but goes way beyond that to include emotional and confidence management, how you carry yourself and connect with others, doing presentations, etc. Ideas are ok, but it's extremely repetitive and long-winded

What it Covers:
• The 3 keys to charisma—presence, power and warmth—and how specifically to develop and project these ingredients in your communications and interactions
• The obstacles to charisma and how you can overcome them
• Why it’s crucial to develop a charismatic mental state
• The 4 key charismatic styles, the pros and cons of each and which style to adopt
• Specific tips on how to apply charisma in various situations, including presentations, communications and difficult situations.

Book show more summary at: https://readingraphics.com/book-summary-the-charisma-myth/ show less