I recently worked with a newly minted CEO who, faced with an upcoming presentation, worried about his “lack of charisma.” He was an engineer by training and an introvert who felt uncomfortable speaking in front of groups. One of the reasons he was chosen for his position was that he was considered a masterful listener. So we practiced bringing listening into his speaking. Soon he realized that his greatest strength as a speaker was not his ability to charm his audience, but his ability to pay attention to their needs. Employees walked away from his presentations motivated and “feeling understood.” This CEO may have lacked charisma, but he had a far more valuable skill: presence.
Do You Need Charisma to Be a Great Public Speaker?
How to deliver your message without distracting your audience.
December 13, 2019
Summary.
As a speaker, we often yearn to be charismatic. We want people to be drawn to us and like us, but here’s the catch — your job as a speaker is not to get the audience to like you, but rather to get your message across. In fact, if the audience is too focused on you, they may actually miss your point. According to numerous studies, emotion is the basic currency for remembering content. A listener must connect emotionally to what they hear in order to remember what the speaker says. So charisma can actually douse our emotional response. This is where presence comes in to save the day. Presence enables the speaker to get out of their own head and connect directly to the people in the room.
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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Writing Skills. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Capture your audience's attention with smarter emails, Slacks, memos, and reports.