The Greek’s Divine Gift
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The Greek believed that select people, the chosen ones, are bestowed with a divine gift by the Gods themselves. The gift allows the person to wield the power to mesmerise people with their mere presence: you know, it’s the kind of the power that makes the room go silent when that person walks in. They called the gift ‘Charisma’.
In this post, we will decode what goes into making this magic potion.
Think about every charismatic person you have come across in your lives. If you carefully analyse them, you will realise that regardless of their profession or position they posses something common: Their ability to make you listen to them. They command your respect effortlessly and earn your trust authentically. As young adults how do we wield this superpower?
1. Change your attitude: Although we use the name given by the Greeks, we are not going to adopt their mindset towards charisma. Charisma is not innate; it is a skill that can be mastered with practice. The most important insight that I would urge you to take away from this post.
2. Perfection kills Charisma: (Draw your breath) You read that right: Most of us have this idea that charismatic people are inherently perfect. But the truth is the opposite. Think about it, we tend to think of people who are picture-perfect as snobs and not charismatic. Charismatic people are just more confident of their ability to fix any issues that arises.
3. Confidence: Charismatic people are confident (Duh!) But the trick to their confidence is really simple: They are happy and excited. Their innate happiness helps them to be more authentic and confident. You can use some of the following tips to give yourself a sudden burst of confidence
a. Put a pencil between your teeth: I know it sounds gross, so please do not do it in front of other people if you value your reputation. But research supports this trick. The facial feedback hypothesis says that you can trick your brain into thinking that you are happy if you keep a happy face.
b. Stretch: Yep. Go to the lavatory and stretch your hands over your head and hold for there for 10–15 seconds. Similar to the previous tip, this tricks your brain into feeling more confident and gives you the sudden boost to take on the World. Believe me it works.
4. Be a better Listener: This one we have all heard before. But how exactly do we be a better listener? Its simply by asking more ‘why’ questions. Be curious and ask more questions that would reveal their personalities to you. If some one told you that their best birthday gift was an album gifted to them by their friends, ask them why they feel that it is the best. Although the reason seems obvious to you, they may give a reason that will leave you surprised.
5. Master Conversationalist: I just said that being a better listener is about asking the right questions. Here’s a list of few questions that you can ask your conversational partner that will help you gain their respect and trust: the very essence of charisma. But do remember these are merely conversational starters. The idea is that once you are comfortable with each other, deeper questions will flow.
a. Which is your favourite travel experience and why?
b. Who was your favourite teacher/lecturer and why?
c. What’s your story?
d. What were the highs of your day/week/month?
Remember to follow up the answers with the ‘why’ questions.
Here’s to the most charismatic version of yourself!!
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