26 Best Books on Charisma

Put simply, charisma is what makes people like you — even when they don’t know you. It’s that special magic that gives the super-successful the ability to influence and persuade others. Do you have to be born with it? Definitely not, says Tony Alessandra, Ph.D., one of the most respected leadership motivators today. Whether you’re a CEO or a clerk, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a store manager or a member of the PTA, charisma is something that can be learned, and learned fast.

Using self-quizzes and examples of charisma in action, Alessandra demystifies the concept of charisma, defines its seven key components, and offers a step-by-step program in “charisma basics” that shows you how to:
— Make first impressions powerful and positive
— Master the art of public speaking
— Develop the six essential skills of dynamic listening
— Jump-start your persuasive powers using four simple steps
— Harness the vital resources of time and space
— Motivate others by recognizing and adapting to,the four core personality types
— Create and communicate your vision, your ideas, your products.

Quotes from Charisma: Seven Keys to Developing the Magnetism that Leads to Success;

“Charisma is the ability to influence others positively by connecting with them physically, emotionally, and intellectually.”

“Leadership is practically impossible for the person who can’t listen effectively.”

“In our Information Age, almost everything is in flux; charisma is now all the more in demand.”

“The real charismatic leader has multiple skills and behaviors that are, to some extent, dependent on one another.”

“You’re never too good or too experienced to ignore some of the fundamentals of good speaking.”

“Being charismatic is a marvelous advantage in any endeavor. But unless it’s backed up by knowledge, character, skill, experience, and nobility of purpose, it will eventually be seen as the facade it is.”

One of today’s most in-demand leadership consultants, Harrison Monarth, has coached executives and CEOs in various industries, from technology, medicine and law, to hospitality, and consumer products. They have come from companies as large and wide-ranging as Hewlett-Packard, P&G, General Motors, Deloitte Consulting, PepsiCo, and Standard and Poor’s.

“There is an entire behavioral discipline behind effectively communicating through the casting of positive perception, and when one masters it, one’s achievements can become the stuff of legend.”

“‘To each his own’ has never been truer than it is when it refers to the way people filter information.”

“You can’t get to the result you want without passing through the often rusty gate of human perception with all its pitfalls.”

“In essence, we are always pitching and have been since our first cries for food or attention were shrieked from the crib.”

“In a conflict, a tiny speck of emotion can detonate an otherwise reasonable disagreement.”

Make instant, meaningful connections.
 
For interviewing, selling, managing, pitching an idea, applying to college—or looking for a soulmate—the secret of success is based on connecting with other people. And you can do it in 90 seconds or less through Nicholas Boothman’s program of establishing face-to-face communication.
 
A master of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Boothman teaches us the concept of synchrony—how to synchronize our attitudes, body language, and voice tone in a way that instantly and imperceptibly makes us irresistibly likable to another person. He explains the different between open and closed body language. The power of communicating with what he calls a Really Useful Attitude. How to be an active listener. And how to identify and read the three most important sensory preferences.
 
Step by step, it shows how to make the very best of any relationship’s most critical moment—those first 90 seconds.  
 
Make instant, meaningful connections.

For interviewing, selling, managing, pitching an idea, applying to college, or looking for a soulmate, the secret of success is based on connecting with other people. Nicholas Boothman’s program of establishing face-to-face communication is revealed in this bestseller that proves the skeptics wrong.

Step by step, it shows how to make the very best of any relationship’s most critical moment—those first 90 seconds. 

Quotes from How to Make People LIke You in 90 Seconds or Less;

“No matter what you do or where you live…your attitude determines the quality of your relationships – not to mention just about everything else in your life.”

“All relationships are built on trust. Trust is built on congruence.”

“Active listening is an active attempt to grasp and understand the facts and the underlying feelings of what is being said.”

“Synchronizing is a way to make the other person become open, relaxed and happy to be with you.”

“Likeability has something to do with how you look but a lot more to do with how you make people feel.”

Corporate CEOs are headline news. Stock prices rise and fall at word of their hiring and firing. Business media debate their merits and defects as if individual leaders determined the health of the economy. Yet we know surprisingly little about how CEOs are selected and dismissed or about their true power. This is the first book to take us into the often secretive world of the CEO selection process. Rakesh Khurana’s findings are surprising and disturbing. In recent years, he shows, corporations have increasingly sought CEOs who are above all else charismatic, whose fame and force of personality impress analysts and the business media, but whose experience and abilities are not necessarily right for companies’ specific needs. The labor market for CEOs, Khurana concludes, is far less rational than we might think.

Khurana’s findings are based on a study of the hiring and firing of CEOs at over 850 of America’s largest companies and on extensive interviews with CEOs, corporate board members, and consultants at executive search firms. Written with exceptional clarity and verve, the book explains the basic mechanics of the selection process and how hiring priorities have changed with the rise of shareholder activism. Khurana argues that the market for CEOs, which we often assume runs on cool calculation and the impersonal forces of supply and demand, is culturally determined and too frequently inefficient. Its emphasis on charisma artificially limits the number of candidates considered, giving them extraordinary leverage to demand high salaries and power. It also raises expectations and increases the chance that a CEO will be fired for failing to meet shareholders’ hopes. The result is corporate instability and too little attention to long-term strategy.

The book is a major contribution to our understanding of corporate culture and the nature of markets and leadership in general.

Quotes from Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs;

“The idea that the CEO’s performance determines a company’s fortunes may be a myth, but that does not make it any less powerful.”

“The standard profile of this savior is of an individual who has served as a CEO or president at a high-performing and well-regarded company.”

“While it is often assumed that CEO searches are wide and extensive the external search is actually a very closed process.”

“The widespread, firmly held belief in the overriding importance of the CEO is all the more noteworthy considering that there is no conclusive evidence linking leadership to organizational performance.”

The woman who made self-presentation an art shows how to use professional presence to stand out, fit in and move ahead. Covers the empowering pause, posture, gestures, and more.

Quotes from Lions Don’t Need to Roar: Using the Leadership Power of Professional Presence to Stand Out, Fit In, and Move Ahead;

“Emotional energy and the people skills that go with it are what will get you to the top and keep you there.”

“Stand out to get in – by making favorable first impressions and having a positive impact on the people around you.”

“Although you can’t actually control other people’s feelings or their reactions to you, they base their perceptions on what they see – and you can control what you show them.”

“Stand out and fit in at the same time – by doing what others don’t without going to extremes.”

“Competence alone does not lead to professional success. To get to the top, stay there, and be truly successful in the business world, you need presence as well as performance, emotional strength, and the ability to get along with many different types of people.”

“Fit in to get promoted – by looking as though you belong at the top and getting along with many different kinds of people.”

A proven six-step process that will propel you to the top of the corporate ladder.

Bestselling author and world-renowned executive development coach D.A. Benton demonstrates that charismatic executives are not just born, they are made. Executive Charisma will help you

• Be the first to initiate
• Expect and give acceptance to maintain esteem
• Be human, humorous, and hands-on
• Slow down, shut up, and listen
• Ask questions, and ask favors
• Stand tall, straight, and smile

“A wonderfully personal, step-by-step guide to being a truly caring leader with integrity, confidence, and drive.”–Reuben Mark, Chairman and CEO, Colgate-Palmolive Company

“Getting to better answers, better strategies, and better positions inevitably means having an accurate and complete roadmap.  For those seeking to improve–this is the roadmap.”–Kerry Hicks, President and CEO, HealthGrades, Inc.

“Amazing.  Debra Benton has done it again.  She has uncovered fresh insights and nuances which separate the charismatic leader from the rest of the pack.”–Doug Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company

Quotes from Executive Charisma: Six Steps to Mastering the Art of Leadership;

“Your integrity will give you confidence.”

“You might hope that people won’t always notice you but they do notice.”

“A good rule of thumb is that for every five minutes of conversation, you should ask five questions.”

“There’s something good in everything if you look long and hard enough.”

“Whether it is a good or bad practice, people hire in their own likeness.”

What if charisma could be taught?

The charisma myth is the idea that charisma is a fundamental, inborn quality—you either have it (Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, Oprah) or you don’t. But that’s simply not true, as Olivia Fox Cabane reveals. Charismatic behaviors can be learned and perfected by anyone.

Drawing on techniques she originally developed for Harvard and MIT, Cabane breaks charisma down into its components. Becoming more charismatic doesn’t mean transforming your fundamental personality. It’s about adopting a series of specific practices that fit in with the personality you already have.

The Charisma Myth shows you how to become more influential, more persuasive, and more inspiring.

What is that magic quality makes some people instantly loved and respected? Everyone wants to be their friend (or, if single, their lover!) In business, they rise swiftly to the top of the corporate ladder. What is their “Midas touch?”

What it boils down to is a more skillful way of dealing with people.

The author has spent her career teaching people how to communicate for success. In her book How to Talk to Anyone (Contemporary Books, October 2003) Lowndes offers 92 easy and effective sure fire success techniques she takes the reader from first meeting all the way up to sophisticated techniques used by the big winners in life. In this information packed book you’ll find:

• 9 ways to make a dynamite first impression
• 14 ways to master small talk, “big talk,” and body language
• 14 ways to walk and talk like a VIP or celebrity
• 6 ways to sound like an insider in any crowd
• 7 ways to establish deep subliminal rapport with anyone
• 9 ways to feed someone’s ego (and know when NOT to!)
• 11 ways to make your phone a powerful communications tool
• 15 ways to work a party like a politician works a room
• 7 ways to talk with tigers and not get eaten alive

In her trademark entertaining and straight shooting style, Leil gives the techniques catchy names so you’ll remember them when you really need them, including: “Rubberneck the Room,” “Be a Copyclass,” “Come Hither Hands,” “Bare Their Hot Button,” “The Great Scorecard in the Sky,” and “Play the Tombstone Game,” for big success in your social life, romance, and business.

How to Talk to Anyone, which is an update of her popular book, Talking the Winner’s Way (see the 5 star reviews of the latter) is based on solid research about techniques that work!

By the way, don’t confuse How to Talk to Anyone with one of Leil’s previous books, How to Talk to Anybody About Anything. This one is completely different!

Develop your own personal gravity with concrete skills to stand out, be noticed, and captivate people.

If you (1) walk into a room and feel invisible, or (2) want to ensure you make a powerful personal impact – newsflash: you need better advice than “fake it ’til you make it” or “just be yourself”.

Confidently approach and excel in any social setting.

Magnetic Charisma is a book that just might fundamentally change how you interact with others. Never before have you looked behind the curtain of so-called charismatic people and the subtle ways they act and think differently. You get the “how to” along with the “why” and a multitude of illustrative examples.

We are always told that our interpersonal skills are the key to what we want in life, and it’s true. Let the actionable tips, questions, approaches, and replicable techniques in this book be your guide to growing your sense of personal magnetism and charm.

Advice from an internationally-known, professional charisma coach.

Patrick King is an internationally best-selling author and teaches charisma and social skills for a living. He’s also a late bloomer and former social recluse – he made the transformation, knows exactly what it takes, and can relate to you every step of the way – advice from someone who simply gets it.

He has been featured in: GQ magazine, TEDx, Forbes, Men’s Fitness, and the Huffington Post.

The highly focused advice will teach you what matters in an interaction, from beginning to end, subtle to obvious, small to big.

Despite the age-old saying, individuals everywhere still have a hard time realizing that it’s not all about them. Robin Dreeke uses his research and years of work in the field of interpersonal relations and behavior to help readers focus on building relationships with others in “It’s Not All About Me: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone”. Dreeke has used the techniques listed in “It’s Not All About Me” with skilled professionals within the law enforcement community as well as with sales professionals, educators and individuals across the country and world. He knows the information provided will apply to business professionals of all sectors, those just entering the workforce and those leading companies. “It’s Not All About Me” offers readers a look into the human mind, explaining how it really works. From reading body language to massaging egos in order to learn more information, Dreeke provides techniques he’s tested and mastered when it comes to building rapport with others. In some aspects, Dreeke’s “It’s Not All About Me” is about the individual and his wants, goals, desires and dreams. The 10 techniques covered in this guide will help readers achieve their goals by treating others well and placing communal wants and needs above individual ones. Dreeke believes the short and simple nature of his guide to building rapport makes the points easy to understand and adapt to one’s life. ** Warning, the content of this book is so effective that the reader should think carefully about how it is used. Dreeke does not endorse or condone the malicious use of these skills. 

Review from Amazon; Great book! Charlie’s advice is inspiring, realistic, actionable, and presented in a clear, engaging way. Not too much new content if you watch Charisma on Command on Youtube or read Charlie’s blog, but it’s definitely useful to have the information in book form. The action guide at the end is incredibly useful, you can follow the steps to live with charisma of just read about it.

The only thing I would have changed is that while most of Charlie’s advice is universal (at least for Western culture), some parts were tailored toward men, and little to none toward women. For example, he writes about deepening your voice, being louder than normal when you speak, lifting at the gym to gain muscle mass — and leaves it unclear whether women should follow this advice as well. I don’t think this is a bad thing – Charlie’s just writing what he knows best, and of course part of it comes from his experience being a dude. But if you just so happen to be a dudette looking for more specific advice to increase your attractiveness and/or become a powerful charismatic leader while maintaining some ‘traditional femininity’, look elsewhere.

Would You Like to Become More Commanding, Convincing, And Charismatic?

In this book, Steve Cohen, master magician and star of the long-running Chamber Magic show in New York City, will reveal the secrets of all great showmen and magicians;how to persuade, influence, and charm, and ultimately accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to do. As Cohen writes, “You’ll discover how to take over a room, read people, and build anticipation to a feverish pitch so people are burning to hear what you have to say.”

Win the Crowd will teach you Steve Cohen’s Maxims of Magic, simple rules you can use to take charge of practically any situation, from on-the-job disagreements to dating to important cocktail parties. The Maxims of Magic will wash away insecurities and hesitations, and replace them with confidence, poise, and leadership. What’s more, Steve Cohen will show you:

• How to Create a Magic Moment. Capturing people’s imaginations and attention so they listen carefully to every word you say.
• How to Command a Room. Showing everyone in the room that you are speaking right to them, making them all feel unique;and completely focused on you.
• How to Read People. Learning to sense what people are feeling and thinking as you speak, what they want from you, and how to make them feel like they are getting it.
• Misdirection. The most important trick in all of magic;getting inside people’s heads, and directing what they are thinking at every minute.

When you strip away the sleight of hand tricks, magicians are essentially masters of attracting and holding attention and impressing audiences, exactly the psychological secrets you need to be successful in life and business.

Want to learn how to make people laugh out loud?

How to Make People Laugh is a book that targets regular comedians, such as you and me. It does not try to transform you into a professional comedian. Instead, it puts comedy in the spotlight of everyday life.

With this book, you will learn techniques that you can easily incorporate at parties or even in regular banter with friends and colleagues.

How to Make People Laugh maintains its hold on wholesome family goodness. After all, you are trying to create not just a comedic persona but an overall persona. You want people to see you a certain way. Are you Hilarious Harry, Dad Joke Diego, Sarcastic Sharon, or Deadpan Dan? All of those are better than Offensive Oona, Dirty Joke Dean, and Literal Lisa.

This book will show you how to have a general sense of humor—or make full use of the one that you already have. After all, not all jokes are uproariously funny. Some can make you grin. Some can make you smile. So, if you start out making people smile, instead of making them laugh, you are on your way.

In How to Make People Laugh, you will discover:

• The science of charisma
• How you can develop confidence and charisma
• The role of body language in the equation
• The role of personality in the types of jokes and delivery
• Guidelines to great improv
• Examples of possible improv responses
• The value of thinking on your feet
• Learning not to take yourself seriously
• Using metaphors and definitions
• Possible joke structures that you can follow
• Examples for every joke style
• Creating comedic personas with examples
• And more!

This book has ample illustrations and examples to get you started. It can be difficult if you are trying to jump from the quiet wallflower to the center of attention. However, you should know that some of the most famous comedians are introverts, and their thoughtfulness and observational skills create the best insightful and truthful material.

If you are an extrovert, on the other hand, then you have the set of skills to be the life of the party. What you need to do is to learn how to listen. Good improv requires excellent listening skills.

How to Make People Laugh is a book for anyone who wants to make the world a happier place.

Which sort of seducer could you be: Siren? Rake? Cold Coquette? Star? Comedian? Charismatic? or Saint? This book will show you which. Charm, persuasion, the ability to create illusions: these are some of the many dazzling gifts of the Seducer, the compelling figure who is able to manipulate, mislead and give pleasure all at once. When raised to the level of art, seduction, and indirect and subtle form of power, has toppled empires, won elections and enslaved great minds. In this beautiful, sensually designed book, Greene unearths the two sides of seduction: the characters and the process. Discover who you, or your pursuer, most resembles. Learn, too, the pitfalls of the anti-Seducer. In part II, immerse yourself in the twenty four manoeuvres and strategies of the seductive process, the ritual by which a seducer gains mastery over their target. Understand how to ‘Choose the Right Victim’, ‘Appear to Be an Object of Desire’ and ‘Confuse Desire and Reality’. In addition, Greene provides instruction on how to identify victims by type. Each fascinating character and each cunning tactic demonstrates a fundamental truth about who we are, and the targets we’ve become – or hope to win over. “The Art of Seduction” is an indispensable primer on the essence of one of history’s greatest weapons and the ultimate power trip.

Charisma=C, Art=A, Science=S, Practice=P The most skillful performers and communicators understand and apply the best of art and science. You can either use this knowledge to enhance your own communication skills (to Jedi Master standard) or to be more aware of the techniques deployed by those seeking to influence you. The book is a breathless, informative and funny journey through factors contributing to excellence in communication, from the six rules of influence, creating a powerful performance, constructing speeches, how to avoid being manipulated by advertisers, steering clear of the arrogance trap, which emotions to build in an audience (and in which order).

Improve Your Social Skills is a comprehensive, practical guide to social skills.It contains 200+ pages of step-by-step, easy-to-understand explanations of social interaction, written by a professional social skills coach whose TEDx talk on overcoming the social challenges of Asperger’s Syndrome has been viewed over 180,000 times.You’ll learn how to:

• Make Conversation (and keep conversation flowing smoothly!)
• Read Body Language (and send positive signals with your own body language!)
• Meet New People (and make friends with them!)
• Tell Stories In Conversation (that don’t bore your audience!)
• Combat Shyness And Social Anxiety (a little courage every day adds up!)
• Date Successfully (without manipulation or sneaky tricks!)
• And More! (lots more!)Ok, enough with the bullet points.I’m Dan Wendler, and I wrote the book. I wrote it because I believe everyone deserves a place to belong and I didn’t want poor social skills to hold anyone back from friendship and community. even if they struggle with social skills. I know firsthand how hard it is to struggle socially. Growing up, I was bullied, harassed, and excluded — no matter how hard I tried to fit in. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome that I put the puzzle pieces together. I realized I struggled socially because I didn’t have any social skills — and just like any other skill, social skills can be learned. So I started to learn them. It took hard work, but I soon started to see improvement in my ability to interact with others. Eventually I was able to start making wonderful friends and today I feel comfortable and confident in all sorts of social interactions.On January 1st, 2012, I launched ImproveYourSocialSkills.com to share what I’d learned with the world. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the site every year, and I’m excited to help even more with the Improve Your Social Skills Kindle guide.The guide you’re about to read is a compilation of the social principles I’ve learned during my lifetime of personal social skills study, as well as the techniques I developed while offering hundreds of hours of social skills coaching. These principles led me to a life full of close friendship, satisfying connection, and tender romance.I believe that with these principles, you can live a life full to the brim with friendship, connection, and love. I hope that after reading Improve Your Social Skills, you’ll believe that too.

Everyone talks about charisma and how they want to have it so badly. But what is the word charisma?

The synonyms for charisma are captivating, alluring, charming, fascinating, bewitching, enchanting, seductive, and magnetic.

With all these powerful words to explain it, who wouldn’t want to be a charismatic person?

Your clients will never stop using this incredible book!

Charisma can be used for either good or bad, depending on the person that possesses it. When it’s used for good, the end result is always a good feeling. Now, back to the question, what really is charisma? How then can everyone command such charisma, and what are the things that characterize a charismatic person? Is it possible to speak to people and have them listen to you regardless of whatever form of distraction there maybe?

Regardless of your situation and your aims as a person, one of the essential requirements for success in life is the charisma of an individual. This is the quality that will enable you to have full command of a room and also endear other people to you. This is what will also convince other people of the ideas you have. Every leader who has been able to win the love and admiration of devoted followers possesses charisma.

Charisma is the attribute that makes other people go unimaginable lengths for you willingly. Charismatic people are described as those that are not only powerful but are also likable. They are unique, irresistible, and possess every combination that will help them open doors of opportunities.

If you wish to develop charisma, you do not have to possess unique genes to build yourself to become a person who has an endearing, powerful, and likable demeanor.

As a result of the fact that charisma is not a magical trait that one cannot easily explain, it can be further broken down into a set of solid and generally nonverbal attitudes that a person can learn, practice, and turn into an attitude as well as a way of life. These attributes are divided into three different categories are Presence, Power, and Warmth. When a person combines these behaviors effectively, it will result in a strong personal attribute that will attract other people to him or her.

How to become a trusted resource for consumers in a society of constant manipulation.

People decide who to trust, what advice to heed, and which individuals to forge personal or transactional relationships with based on a simple metric of believability. Success, in turn, comes from understanding one basic principle: how to be more trusted. Likeonomics offers a new vision of a world beyond Facebook where personal relationships, likeability, brutal honesty, extreme simplicity, and basic humanity are behind everything from multi-million dollar mergers to record-breaking product sales. There is a real ROI to likeability, and exactly how big it is will amaze you.

Likeonomics provides real-world case studies of brands and individuals that have used these principles to become wildly successful, including:

• An iconic technology brand that awakened a revolution among their employees by standing for something bigger than their products
• A Portuguese singer who used YouTube to rack up more than 30 million views and launch her professional career. A regional team of financial advisors that went from being last in the nation among 176 branches to first, and stayed there for 13 of the next 15 years
• A tiny professional sports talent agent who achieved the impossible by landing the #1 drafted player in the NFL draft as a client through the power of relationships
• Author Rohit Bhargava is a founding member of the world’s largest group of social media strategists at Ogilvy, where he has led marketing strategy for clients including Intel, Pepsi, Lenovo, Seiko, Unilever, and dozens of other large companies

With Likeonomics as a guide, readers will get unconventional advice on how to stand out in a good way, avoid the hype and strategic traps of social media, and appeal to customers in a way that secures your company as a trusted and believable resource.

Required reading at Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School.
 
Everyone wants to be more appealing and effective, but few believe we can manage the personal magnetism of a Bill Clinton or an Oprah Winfrey. John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut trace the path to influence through a balance of strength (the root of respect) and warmth (the root of affection). Each seems simple, but only a few of us figure out the tricky task of projecting both at once.
Drawing on cutting-edge social science research as well as their own work with Fortune 500 executives, members of Congress, TED speakers, and Nobel Prize winners, Neffinger and Kohut reveal how we size each other up—and how we can learn to  win the admiration, respect, and affection we desire.

From the bestselling author of Love Is the Killer App.

You can win life’s popularity contests.

The choices other people make about you determine your health, wealth, and happiness. And decades of research prove that people choose who they like. They vote for them, buy from them, marry them, and spend precious time with them. The good news is that you can arm yourself for the contest and win life’s battles for preference. How? By raising your likeability factor.

The more you are liked, the happier your life will be. In The Likeability Factor, business guru Tim Sanders shows how to build your likeability factor by teaching you how to enhance four critical elements of your personality:

• Friendliness: your ability to communicate liking and openness to others

• Relevance: your capacity to connect with others’ interests, wants, and needs

• Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people’s feelings

• Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity

When you improve these areas and boost your likeability factor, you bring out the best in others, handle life’s challenges with grace, enjoy better health, and excel in your daily roles. You can win the close calls and tight competitions that define and determine success and happiness at work and in life—The Likeability Factor can show you how!

There is a universal language beyond words we all speak. Understanding how to consciously use it helps you communicate with your boss, your coworkers, your children, your spouse and connect more deeply with anyone, anywhere, anytime, no matter where they come from. Cultural anthropologist Robin Sol Lieberman shows us how choosing to speak the very real language of Charisma can be the most important choice you make in the 21st century.

An inspiring visual guide to a richer life.

“If there’s a thinker to steal from, it’s Jessica Hagy.”—Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Newspaper Blackout

How to Be Interesting is passionate, positive, down-to-earth, and irrepressibly upbeat, combining fresh and pithy life lessons, often just a sentence or two, with deceptively simple diagrams and graphs. Each of the book’s more than 100 spreads will nudge readers a little bit further out of their comfort zones and into a place where suddenly everything is possible.

It’s about taking chance—but also about taking daily vacations. About being childlike, not childish. It’s about ideas, creativity, risk. It’s about trusting your talents and doing only what you want—but having the courage to get lost and see where the path leads. Because it’s what you don’t know that’s interesting. 

The Laws of Charisma explores the vital skills and traits needed to earn trust, generate interest, and motivate others in the workplace. Bestselling author Kurt Mortensen defines the intersection of these pivotal abilities as charisma–an enviable quality that can lead to improved relationships, greater income, and more success in every area of life. To some extent, charisma is innate, but in this inspiring guide Mortensen explores the trait’s four core elements to show how anyone can draw out a more charismatic and compelling presence. With the help of practical tools, simple principles, applicable exercises, and insightful assessments, you’ll learn how to radiate confidence, passion, power, and optimism; influence others by improving communication skills; and persuade and empower anyone by creating instant rapport. People with the ability to enter a room and draw instant attention, effortlessly exuding charm and radiating energy, are better able to influence what gets done and ultimately achieve what they want. The Laws of Charisma is packed with everything you need to develop and bring out the more charismatic person within.