3 Ways to Convince Anyone to Do Anything for You |
Getting other people to do what you want them to do is a quality that can be useful in many situations.
A new study tests the factors that contribute to charisma through three nonverbal channels.
Rather than think of charisma as a trait, the research suggests that with practice you can bring out your own.
If you had to name the qualities of a charismatic person, what are the first thoughts that come to mind? Jake is a great salesperson who is able to sway even the most reluctant of customers into spending more than they intended to. If you’ve encountered someone like this, the chances are you were swept away by their air of certainty, friendliness, and ability to engage you in conversation. You ended up with a product that you’re not sure you would have purchased had anyone else been at the other end of the deal.
While it is true that certain qualities don’t easily translate into specific, measurable factors, the study of charisma could have important practical and theoretical applications. From a practical standpoint, charisma can be helpful if you’re trying to persuade people to do what you want them to. Theoretically, charisma becomes interesting to study in and of itself, given its presumed combination of communicative styles, particularly the nonverbal ones.
A new study by Lauder Business School’s Sandra Pauser and University of Vienna’s Udo Wagner (2026) suggests that charisma, “a crucial quality attributed to dynamic communicators in personal selling,” is what’s needed for successful selling. Based on data derived from the show Shark Tank, the authors claim that a “one-unit increase in smiling behavior” is associated with a “1.47 times higher likelihood of investment success.” Smiling alone........