How can you practice something like charisma, which is so indescribable? Something you can’t feel or touch? Well, I am here to tell you exactly how to practice charisma in a way that improves your charisma skill set.
What is Charisma?
Charisma is quite an abstract subject, so we need to define it and take it from its abstract state into a practical state. We can do this by thinking about the situations where we want to be charismatic, such as:
- In a job interview
- On a first date
- Meeting someone new for the first time
- Speaking to an old friend
- Delivering a presentation
- Speaking to a boss or CEO
- While at a networking event
- At a social event
- When leading a meeting
Once we have decided the situation we want to be charismatic, then we have to ask ourselves why we want to become more charismatic in that particular situation. There can be many reasons, such as:
- To build better relationships
- To have more confidence
- Overcome shyness
- To present yourself as influential
- To be more memorable
- To develop rapport with colleagues
- To network better
- To have better customer service
- To appear more qualified
- To have a relationship with bosses
- To be more persuasive
You can start to see we are now taking something abstract like charisma and making it more practical. By doing this, we can create exercises around these more practical situations and therefore increase your charisma.
Charisma Skills to Practice
Here are a handful of activities you can do to practice and improve your charisma. As charisma is a range of soft skills, you can break them down individually to hone and perfect skills like:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Body Language
- Conversations
- Humor
- Confidence
- First Impressions
- Reading Emotions & Body Language
- Small Talk
Activities to Practice Charisma
Video Yourself
I know most people do not like watching themselves or listening to their voices; however, growth is on the other side of discomfort. For this activity, you will need to do the following:
- Pick a topic that you know something about, it can be anything, school, work, football, your stamp collection, etc.
- Then record yourself on your phone talking about that topic for at least 5 minutes. Do not prepare anything; just talk about it.
- Review the footage.
When you are reviewing the footage, you do have to be critical. I would recommend reviewing the footage 3 times. Once with just the sound on to listen to just your voice, are you mumbling? Do you use filler words? Do you repeat phrases? Then review the footage with the sound off and just watch yourself. Do you look uncomfortable? Does your body do something you didn’t realize? Do you struggle to make eye contact? Finally, review the footage with both the video and audio on. What’s your impression of the person? What do you like, and what do you dislike?
Just Questions Game
This game is ideal for those who run out of things to say and need to practice learning about other people and asking good questions in a conversation.
To play, all you need is another person.
How to play: One person starts by asking the other a question, and the person has to respond to that question with another question, and it goes back and forth to resemble a conversation just using questions. The loser is the one who gets stumped and cannot think what to ask next.
The game was very popular on the TV show Whose Line is it Anyway? See below an example of the game in action:
Two Truths and a Lie
If you want to improve your body language reading skills and be able to decode someone better, then this is the activity for you. The game is exactly what it says. Someone starts by saying 3 facts about themselves; however, two of them are true, and 1 is a lie. It’s your job to figure out which one is the lie.
For example:
- I was the captain of my football team
- I was an extra on a BBC TV show
- I learned to ride my bike at 15
What you are looking to practice is your ability to read body language and pick up non-verbal cues. Does the person smirk when they say a line? Do they look away, or do they act natural? These are things you can practice with someone.
Talk
This game is for those who feel like they are too quiet and do not say a lot. Talking more can help your charisma as you are giving the other person more information than is necessary. By doing this, you enable the other person to ask you questions as you are giving more than a one-word answer.
To play the game “Talk,” you start with a one-word topic like Shoes. You start to talk about as much as you can about shoes, and then without warning, your partner will say “talk” when you say a word, and the topic changes to that new word.
For example, let’s take shoes, you say:
You: “Shoes are great, everyone wears shoes like office workers, builders, athletes…”
Partner: “Talk”
You: “Athletes play a range of sports from basketball, football…”
This keeps you on your toes as the change in topic can happen at any moment. It also helps you speak about a topic you may not know a lot about.
Elevator Pitch
You will have heard the term ‘elevator pitch’ when watching shows like Shark Tank or Dragons Den. An Elevator Pitch is a 30s breakdown of your idea or concept. It’s called that because you should be able to communicate your idea in a short time, roughly the duration it takes to ride an elevator.
There are common questions people ask you such as:
- Where are you from?
- What do you do for a living?
- What did you study?
- Who do you know here?
Most conversations start with these questions so practice your elevator pitch. Write it down, make it punchy to the point yet informative, it’s harder than you think.
I even made a TikTok about this very idea:
Yes, And…
This is a storytelling game you can do with a partner and it teaches you about communication and active listening. You start with 1 line from a story, and each of you says 1 sentence to move the story forward, each of you must start with the phrase “yes, and…” For example:
Person 1: “Last week I flew to space…”
Person 2: “Yes, and when I got there I decided to take a trip to Mars”
Person 3: “Yes, and when I got there I met some aliens”
Person 4: “Yes, and I spoke to them in English, and they offered me alien food”
You get the idea.
Guess Who
Another game you can play to practice charisma skills is the game called ‘Guess Who’. For this game, you can either do it in real life or with characters from TV shows. What you do is look at a photo of a person and guess their backstory; are they good, are they evil? Do they have friends? Are they successful? Paint a picture of this person and ask yourself WHY did you think these things.
Do you believe they were successful because they were in a suit and tie? Do you believe this person was in trouble because of their shifty eyes?
This is a great exercise because you can observe other people and reflect on yourself. If you want to look more accomplished, what do you need to change?
Conclusion
Improving charisma is possible through practical exercises and conscious effort. By recognizing specific contexts that demand charisma and understanding personal motivations for enhancing it, targeted activities can be designed for its refinement.
Engaging in exercises such as video self-assessment, the “Just Questions” game, and “Two Truths and a Lie” fosters active listening, effective communication, and quick thinking, all vital components of charisma. Similarly, activities like the “Talk” game, “Elevator Pitch,” “Yes, And…” storytelling, and “Guess Who” cultivate confidence, spontaneity, and the ability to establish meaningful connections.
By regularly practicing these exercises and reflecting on personal growth, individuals can refine their communication styles, enhance interpersonal skills, and develop a more compelling presence. Charisma, far from being an innate trait, is a skill that can be nurtured and perfected through dedicated practice and self-awareness. How do you practice charisma? Through consistent effort, deliberate engagement, and a willingness to grow, anyone can develop and embody charismatic qualities.
