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 is probably not enough to produce such a dramatic outcome; additionally, the successful salesperson must also demonstrate a fair degree of charisma. The problem is that charisma is not so easily defined.
In search of that combination of facial, vocal, and bodily behaviors beyond smiling that make up charisma, the authors draw on what’s known as the Emotions and Social Information (EASI) model. According to this model, emotional expressions of the charismatic communicator can influence people by shaping their interpretations (inferential path) or their own emotional responses (affective path).
Charisma’s Three Pathways of Influence
Breaking nonverbal communication down into its component parts, Pauser and Wagner suggest first that facial expressions are best understood in terms of the small, barely perceptible changes known as microexpressions. Although they last only a matter of milliseconds, they provide enough information about a person’s feelings and emotional states to allow the viewer to make a judgment.
Bodily cues are the next channel of nonverbal communication and include gestures and movements. You’ve undoubtedly heard plenty about “body language” and the need to make it work in your favor. If your arms are crossed, you give a closed-off appearance, and if you point, you can look aggressive.
Finally, as the expression goes, “It’s not what you say but how you say it.” Known as “paralanguage,” this nonverbal aspect of communication includes pitch, speaking rate, and harmony. In the case of harmony, this means whether you seem to be communicating pleasure, interest, and happiness.
Charismatic speakers use all of these cues to their benefit. They seem relaxed but not too relaxed, smile enough to seem happy (but not silly), and judiciously use anger to convince the other person to cave in to their will. Somehow, this moderate amount of anger can make the speaker seem competent and powerful.
The charismatic person’s use of body language further reinforces these two pathways of communication. Pauser and Wagner cite research showing the powerful influence of head movements, lack of trunk swivels, and upright stance, as well as keeping arms open rather than closed, and avoiding excessive leg or knee movements. And if you’ve heard the expression “lean in” as a description of successful businesspersons, this, too, can enhance charisma. Finally, eye contact can seal the deal, helping the charismatic person show interest and concern for the target of all this nonverbal communication.
The research team tested their predictions about charisma’s potential impact by developing video stimuli of “elevator pitches.” For these stimuli, one salesperson embodied charisma through being dynamic, and the other, a “restrained” salesperson, did not. Participants took on the role of customers.
The findings reinforced the importance of dynamic (vs. restrained) nonverbal expression as contributors to perceptions of charisma. Smiling and making a friendly first impression were part of the formula, but only if the smiling was somewhat restrained. Micro-expressions of anger were perceived favorably, but not overt expressions of anger. A final piece of the puzzle involved head movements. This is because, the authors suggest, keeping your head still while staring at the other person can make you seem too dominant.
Turning on Your Own Charisma
Pauser and Wagner conclude that their findings support EASI’s proposal that the totality of a person’s nonverbal communication contributes to the ability to demonstrate charisma. Importantly, they also suggest that there’s no such thing as a charismatic trait. If you believe your chances of developing charisma are next to zero, these findings suggest there’s hope. In the words of the authors, “charisma is not a stable trait, but a situationally constructed perception shaped by the salesperson's communication signals.”
As is true in much of the body language literature, the findings on charisma suggest that the best way to build your own is to get in front of a mirror and practice the way you look, talk, and hold yourself. If you don’t trust your own judgment, ask a friend or mentor. Finally, thinking about Jake, watch and learn from others.
It’s also important to keep the difference between smiling and small expressions of anger in mind. One of the variations tested in the Pauser and Wagner study was a comparison between utilitarian vs. hedonic (pleasure-oriented) products. If you’re trying to convince someone to take your advice in a practical sense, you might want to add some authoritative seriousness to your nonverbal expressiveness. After all, if you’re trying to get a job, it’s likely you won’t want to be smiling all the time; a few more sober micro-expressions will definitely be needed (though not, of course, anger).
To sum up, charisma is a quality that can get you far in life. These three simple elements can be easily practiced and adapted to your own personal style.
Pauser, S., & Wagner, U. (2026). Selling with negative emotions—better than none? Nonverbal expressiveness during sales presentations: An experimental approach. Psychology & Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70117