Charisma

Describing inspirational leaders, in 1947 Max Weber coined the term charisma, from the Greek word charismata, meaning the gift of grace. Today, the notion of charisma as a gift or innate talent has been replaced with the belief that it can be learned (Antonakis et al., 2011). Charismatic nonverbal communication involves a modulation of one’s behaviour, enhancing client engagement (Heide, 2013). In other words, whilst the word charisma is sometimes interchangeable with warmth and competence, it involves adjustability. The charismatic are able to roll with life’s punches, being confident in different situations, and taking matters at their own pace. Charisma also requires congruence, the messages coming from different modes all match. Furthermore, there are certain nonverbal behaviours that are synonymous with charisma.

Charisma sometimes looks like power.

The displays of charismatic behaviour must, it seems, be present for charisma to be accurately and consistently perceived (Tskhay et al., 2018). The perception of power has achieved more attention: the powerful being expected to be animated, to stand erect, initiate handshakes, make plentiful eye contact, lean forward or orient towards others while adopting open postures (Carney et al., 2005)., and many of the behaviours associated with power also align with charisma, particularly poise and expansive movements. But it’s the use of time that’s the most telling shared behaviour. Powerful and charismatic people move with ease, steadily, assuredly. They both also make good use of eye contact but the charismatic know when not to over use it.

Unlike power, charisma is distant from dominance. The leaning in when in conversation, nodding, and eye contact, all convey attention. The charismatic gesture more and laugh more often too. They move with no awkwardness, no rushing, and with no abrupt displays or expressions. When they pause during speech, it’s not a delay tactic, it says 'don’t just hear me, listen!'

Slowing down is another form of expansion, and when you have the confidence to own people’s time, you are exerting a form of control over them. The charismatic person’s use of time extends to others, who feel like they are borrowing it. The charismatic listen, they observe, they make others feel listened to, and feel seen. This may involve the adopting of different preferred modes of communication, or repeating back a person's name or favoured expressions, validating and attention-proving. All the time, the charismatic are communicating with the receiver’s unconscious mind, reassuring them of trust and similarity. To engender trust, the charismatic may first reflect their receiver’s behaviour as well as their words, echoing their unconscious hopes and appearing to share their concerns.

Tip: Actually listen, don’t just pretend to.

Emotional expressiveness is a key element of charisma. More emotionally expressive people are rated as more likable and more attractive (Friedman et al., 1988).

Rather than mirroring another person’s body language, the charismatic are more likely to match it, a subtle difference, but an important one. For example, instead of facing the other person and rushing to mirror their gestures, the charismatic with be seated or standing alongside them – no more than a 45-degree angle – as if they are on the same team, a position that is not adopted immediately. Mirroring is more likely to be representative, not actual. For example, if a person uncrosses their arms, the charismatic may unclasp their hands in return. This may say, unconsciously, 'yes we are on the same team, but it is not you that is our leader.'

Tip: Matching or mirroring gestures or postures can be too obvious. Less so the matching of facial expressions. We don’t often see out own face whilst conversing, but may see in another person’s expression of our emotion staring back at us. Matching is a powerful way of establishing rapport and making the other person feel understood and valued.

The opposite of charisma is demonstrated in the person that speaks but doesn’t listen. The talkative person that says little and thinks less. Their time is rushed, their expressions end apace, their gestures are limited, choppy or hesitant. Their words come from the throat and not the chest.

Tip: Know (or plan) when to speak and when to pause for effect. A deliberate pause can create anticipation and engage the listener, or be used to allow them to absorb your words and consider their meaning, heightening the impact of the message.

Charisma is in the eye of the receiver (or perceiver) and they will perceive charisma when the message they are receiving is delivered in a way that aligns with (or exceeds) their highest expectations/standards. One way a message can be delivered with positive affect is with the use of symmetry, which has various positive outcomes (Palmer & Hemenway, 1978). Symmetrical arm movements are particularly effective (Mehrabian, 1969). This old positive relationship between symmetrical arm gestures and charisma has been more recently replicated (Cui et al., 2017). The symmetry is not only attractive, it forms a triangle directing the receiver’s gaze to the speaker’s mouth/words. This works well with symmetric two-handed gestures which also happen to be more common than one-handed gestures (Efron, 1972).

Research further reveals that symmetrical arm gestures are associated with favourable outcomes including customer satisfaction (Beck et al., 2002). Most importantly, they enhance perceptions of charisma (Cui et al., 2017) yielding favourable attitudes toward the communicator (Mehrabian & Williams, 1969). Symmetrical stimuli are more aesthetically pleasing on the eye, and more easily processed (Little & Jones, 2003; Wilson & Wilkinson, 2002).

Anasingaraju et al. (2016) proposed the term ‘charisma gesture’ which they defined as a synchronous-parallel-outward hand gesture. A gesture favoured by President Trump.

As charismatic nonverbal behaviour influences perception of the person delivering the message and the message itself. It is unsurprising that it can also elicit a favourable response, which can be seen in consumer behaviour (Bass, 1997; Leigh & Summers, 2002; Wood, 2006). In many retail situations, the more charismatic someone is, the more they are likely to induce favourable outcomes (Holladay & Coombs, 1994; Leigh & Summers, 2002). There is much crossover here with the study of impression formation (Burgoon 1985), how social impressions are formed during initial encounters, mostly based on nonverbal cues (Riggio & Friedman 1986). As discussed above, a salesperson’s arm movement and positioning can produce favourable attitudes (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2014) and nonverbal behaviours have long been considered an important tool for effective sales (Stewart et al., 1987). As Garcia (1995) found, strong correlations exist between a salesperson’s charismatic behaviour and their sales performance. 

Whilst the research is weighted to both verbal and nonverbal messaging being important markers of charisma (Heide, 2013), the findings do lean more on the delivery of a message over its content (Holladay & Coombs, 1994; Awamleh & Gardner, 1999). Choosing the right words is important but not as much as the use of eye contact and gaze, gestures, vocal timbre and variety, facial expressions, the use of touch etc. (Holladay & Coombs, 1994; Leigh & Summers, 2002). A salesperson’s decoding of the buyer’s nonverbals is also important when considering their needs (Alavi et al., 2016).

The role culture plays in what classes as charismatic is interesting and suggests that charisma can be learned, as opposed to it being an innate talent. The definition of charisma, essentially being appealing to others, holds true across cultures but how this is achieved varies. Charismatic communication has culture-specific facets (Khatri et al., 2001). The nonverbal behaviours predicting the perception of charisma in a sales conversation do seem to be culture-specific, even when it comes to the appeal of symmetry (Pauser et al., 2018).

Hand and arm movements, which account for most conversational gestures, vary across cultures including how symmetry and asymmetry is employed, as first described by Efron (1972). Kendon (1981) classified high- and low-gesture cultures. For example, English and German are low-gesture languages, while Hebrew and Turkish are considered high-gesture languages (Pika et al., 2006). The type and frequency of gesture in Austria that's expected of the charismatic is different to that in Israel or Italy. In the low-gesture cultures, it is the parallel outward-focused (symmetrical) gestures that are deemed particularly charismatic (Cui et al. 2017), whereas asymmetrical gesturing is valued more highly (and more prevalent) in high-gesture cultures (Efron, 1972). In Israel, you are more likely to observe single arm gesturing and, when both arms are employed in gesture, they tend to move asymmetrically (Efron, 1972; Kendon, 2004; Shuter, 1979).

In studying charisma, we need to consider what behaviours make someone more appealing, and understand that cultural variations and changes influence this. Nevertheless, humans share many needs, and behaviours that help satisfy these needs may contribute to the perceived presence of charisma.

References

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