Charisma the key to standing out, trainer says
In an age in which we are bombarded with information via Facebook, Twitter and many other sources, the ability to stand out, grab people's attention and engage them has become even more important, says Owen Fitzpatrick, an international trainer and autho
“And charisma is the most effective way to attain this ability,” he stressed.
The Irish neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) master trainer will lead a workshop on “Mastering Charisma” in Bangkok this week, his first in Southeast Asia.
Charisma is neither about sex appeal nor about being popular. Rather, he said: “It’s about making impacts on people by communicating authentically in the most effective way.”
“We never see a boring baby,” noted Fitzpatrick, as people are born with charisma, but most lose it because they learn to be scared of rejection, fearful of not being accepted, or because they try to fit into situations and thus elude their individual uniqueness.
Applying some NLP techniques, the Bangkok workshop will focus on teaching people to change the way they think and the way they behave in situations, he said.
One important skill for developing charisma is “storytelling”, because people who master it will be able to grab other people’s attention. And this can be achieved by “not just telling people a fact. Tell what you [are] feeling by talking [about] how you feel,” Fitzpatrick said.
Charismatic leaders stand out by demonstrating their true selves instead of “being fake”, speaking loudly, or trying to be the most important person in the room. “First, change the way you think. You need to be fully yourself, even [though] some people may not like that,” he said.
The workshop will also provide some techniques for creating a first impression and enhancing confidence. Many people, for instance, are not aware of the importance of the minutes during which they walk into the room, which can shape the way people perceive them, he said.
Fitzpatrick said charisma was culture-specified to some extent and thus the most important thing was to observe and be aware of this issue. Organising many workshops in Japan during the past couple of years, Fitzpatrick said he thought Thais might share a similar challenge to the Japanese, who usually separate their “public and private faces”. To overcome their lack of confidence, he taught Japanese participants in his workshops to apply the “karaoke mentality”, since he noticed Japanese people can conquer their fear well when they are singing karaoke songs.
Fitzpatrick’s list of the world’s most charismatic leaders includes Barack Obama, the late Martin Luther King Jnr, George W Bush, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Britney Spears, the Dalai Lama, and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Natthapatch Danbenchaphan, managing director of Mind Master, which organised the workshop, said the king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, was interested in having Fitzpatrick conduct a charisma course in that country.
Fitzpatrick is a licensed master trainer of NLP, co-author of “Conversations with Richard Bandler”, and an expert in the areas of charisma, language skills and public speaking. His Bangkok workshop will be conducted from Friday to Sunday.
