Do you know how to be charismatic?

Charisma, Politics

  The word charismatic gets thrown about quite a bit.  I’ve heard people call someone “charismatic” when I would have labelled that same individual “bombastic a**hole.”  I’ve also encountered people I would label as highly charismatic that others describe as inaccessible or aloof. The last year has been an interesting study in political charisma, with Justin…

Talking to strangers

Confidence, Connecting

Much like any other skill, we need to practice talking to be good at it. You don’t need to sweat buckets over complex presentations or formal speeches to become a good talker.  You just need to talk with people.  Lots of people.  Different people.  I know some great presenters who are surprisingly poor at just talking with…

Communicating Intimately #2: The Experience

Connecting

The funny thing about establishing intimacy with an audience is that it doesn’t necessarily matter whether you, the speaker, feel that an intimate moment has been shared.  Like just about any desired emotion, what really matters is that your audience feels it.  They, quite frankly, don’t give a damn about what’s going on in your own…

(Hand)Written words

Connecting2 Comments

There is something magical about receiving a hand-written note.  Assuming that the content of the note is desirable, they give a sort of warm fuzzy feeling that can only be approximated by flowers or a box of chocolates. As communication now is all about instantaneous delivery, hand-written greetings – especially when delivered by mail – are…

Charisma matters

Business behaviour

I’ve spent most of the past week flat on my back fighting a vicious sinus infection.  Unable to string together a single coherent sentence in written or spoken word, I settled for laying on the couch watching lousy television and feeling sorry for myself. Much of that layabout time was spent watching old episodes of the…