What is Charisma?

In My Humble Opinion
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Elvis had it. There is a film (of which I know not the name) of him in concert (the black leather era) where he is just wonderful. I was never a fan, particularly, until I saw this tape. Elvis rocks!

Is charisma anything like ‘cool’? I get to use my favorite Buffy vignette! Ahem:

Xander: This “cool” thing…what is it, where do you get it? Who doesn’t have it and who decides who doesn’t have it? What is the essence of “cool”?

Oz: Not sure.

Xander: You, yourself, are considered more or less cool–why is that?

Oz: Am I?

Xander: Is it about the talking? You know, the way you tend to express yourself in short, non-committal phrases?

Oz: Could be.

Xander: I know, you’re in a band! That’s like a business-class ticket to cool with complementary MoJo after take-off! I gotta learn an instrument. Is it hard to play guitar?

Oz: Not the way I play it.

Xander: OK, but on the other hand–eighth grade–I’m taking the Flugelhorn and getting zero trim. So the whole instrument thing could be a mislead.

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Well there you have it. “Charisma” is that indefinable quality where if you DID walk into a room and start acting like you knew everyone, it WOULDN’T be annoying. Not only that. People would REMEMBER you when you left the room. People who you didn’t speak to would be like “what’s wrong with me that he didn’t say hi?”

And there’s a diference between real charisma and faking it. The guy faking it would be annoying. You might be like “what is this guy selling me?”