The Charisma Myth

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How could Marilyn Monroe go from being undetectable on a crowded subway train to being swarmed by screaming fans in a matter of moments?  How can one person convince masses of strangers to buy into what they say while someone else with the same or greater levels of understanding of the subject and skill not even be able to persuade those who should be most supportive of them?  How can one business executive always land big deals while another offering the same product or service struggles to stay out of the red?  Charisma.

Olivia Fox Cabane's The Charisma Myth argues that this often overlooked topic is not something that is reserved for a select few, but rather can be taught and trained.  She discusses this in great detail, covering the different types of charisma, which to use based on your personality, and which type goes best with your desired outcome.  She provides exercises to improve charisma that challenge how you view certain scenarios, how you think about yourself and the world around you, and the actions you take on a daily basis.

What I liked most about this book is that it made me look at a subject that has a huge influence in so much of what I do but that I really hadn't spent any time studying or reading about.  I always figured charisma was something you were either born with or not.  After reading this book, it is apparent that charisma, just like almost everything else, is a skill that can be improved with effective practice and proper training.

Cabane breaks charisma down into four types:  Focus Charisma, Visionary Charisma, Kindness Charisma, and Authority Charisma.  She discusses the body language, verbiage, tone of voice, actions, and mindset that goes along with each, as well as when to apply each type of charisma.  She also discusses the three behaviors that tend to go with any type of charisma:  presence, power, and warmth.

Each chapter ends with Key Takeaways that help sum up everything that was discussed in the chapter.  Because a lot of the information seems more natural or common-sense than in other behavioral improvement books, I found these takeaways to be more useful to ensure that I didn't miss anything that I may have only glanced over.

I recommend this book to anybody who wants to be heard and taken more seriously, who feels like they have something to say but nobody takes the time to listen, who wants to improve the feedback they get from others, or who wants increase the impact they have in their industry, whether by volume or density.

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