7 Tips From Charismatic Leaders

Top recruiters and executives will readily tell you that charisma is regarded as essential for career success, especially if you hope to reach the top executive ranks. For my new book, 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators, I interviewed and profiled more than two dozen leading CEOs and executives who are considered charismatic leaders, among them California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. These men all shared seven traits that marked them as especially charismatic. By identifying and adopting their behaviors in our own professional communications, we can project this same aura.

Here are seven ways to project charisma in your professional dealings.

1- Be passionate
Passionate individuals establish and convey an emotional connection with their topic. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz once told me that he communicates by telling stories. For example, when he tried to get skeptical investors to back the concept behind the "Bean Stock" program offering health benefits and stock options to part-timers, he told the story of his father who was left without a safety net when he broke his leg at work. Schultz is committed to building a company that treats employees with dignity and respect. Underlying this commitment emotionally helps convey its impact.

2- Have boundless energy
Charismatic individuals keep themselves in great shape and exude exceptional energy when entering a room. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has more energy than most anyone on his staff. But he works at it. Despite a heavy schedule running the world's fifth largest economy, he finds time to work out daily. He says that doing so is essential for maintaining the energy he needs to meet the demands of his enormous responsibilities and public appearances.

3- Articulate a bold vision
Inspiring business professionals articulate a bold and inspiring vision. During an interview, Intuit founder Scott Cook considers it vital to communicate a big vision -- especially for employees. "Your people want to know that their work is adding up to a great cause... that they're working for more than a paycheck," he said. One of the most famous examples of communicating a bold vision comes from legendary entrepreneur Steve Jobs. Jobs convinced one-time Pepsi CEO John Scully to take the helm of Apple by asking him, "Do you want to sell sugared water the rest of your life, or do you want a chance to change the world?" Scully didn't take long to take up the challenge.

4- Animate your speech
Charismatic speakers do not speak in monotone. They have a magnificent vocal delivery with peaks and valleys -- they speed up or slow down to emphasize a point. They raise and lower their voice all in the course of a sentence or two. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison uses well-timed and well-placed pauses to flag important points. Speaking with a monotone delivery with no animation in your voice is dull, boring and fails to keep listeners engaged.

5- Carry yourself with confidence
Charismatic leaders use confident, authoritative and commanding body language. Watching Cisco CEO John Chambers give a speech is like taking a course in confident body language. He maintains eye contact more than 80% of the time and speaks directly to individual people in the audience, instead of looking randomly about or over the heads of his listeners (as many speakers do). He uses a wide variety of hand gestures and maintains straight posture while standing or sitting.

6- Use clear and concise language
Charismatic individuals are easy to listen to because they keep their remarks clear and concise. One day I worked with the CEO of a chip company who described his enterprise exactly like this: "Our company is a premier developer of intelligent semiconductor intellectual property solutions that dramatically accelerate complex SOC designs while minimizing risk." Translation: We make chips that make your cell phone smaller, more powerful and able to last longer on a single charge. Keep it simple.

7- Have fun
Charismatic individuals are fun to be around. Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson never gets involved with a new business unless he has fun at it. It shows. His enthusiasm for projects is contagious and rubs off on everyone -- customers, colleagues, employees, and investors.

unlock the keys to charisma

Although most people will tell you that charisma cannot be taught, it's worth attempting to identify and adopt the distinct qualities of business leaders who are considered charismatic individuals. These are the kind of men that people can't help but follow. Adopting these seven keys in your own professional communications will help you persuade others to hire you, buy what you're selling or follow your vision.

Carmine Gallo is a business presentation coach and author of 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators.