CHARISMA

How to be more charismatic

AI can write your pitch. You're the one who has to give it.

Charisma sounds like something you're born with. A team at the University of Lausanne tested whether it can be taught. They trained half of a group of 34 managers in a set of speaking tactics. Three months later, coworkers' charisma ratings had gone up for the trained managers compared with the rest.

In a second study, 41 MBA students gave a speech, learned the tactics and gave it again. The second speeches used the tactics more often. Speeches that used more of them were rated higher on trust, competence and influence. The British Psychological Society's summary covers both studies.

What does charisma look like day to day? Researchers at the University of Toronto built a six-item charisma test with two halves. Influence: you have a presence in a room, you can influence people and you know how to lead a group. Affability: you make people feel comfortable, you smile at people often and you can get along with anyone.

The five habits below cover both halves. The first four come from the Lausanne training. The fifth is the affability half of the Toronto test.

1. Tell it as a story

The Lausanne training taught leaders to make a point with a story or an anecdote, and with a metaphor or a comparison. Give the story a person, a problem and how it turned out.

Drill: pick a point you need to make this week, like why a project matters. Tell it as a story in under a minute: who was there, what went wrong and what happened next. Then add one comparison, like "Signing up was a maze with no exits." Record it and play it back. Cut anything that doesn't move the story along.

2. Use a contrast, a list of three or a question

The training also taught three rhetorical devices. A contrast puts two things side by side: "We planned for a hundred users. We got ten thousand." A list of three groups your reasons: "It's faster, cheaper and easier to fix." A question you answer yourself sets up your point: "So what changed? We started asking customers first."

Drill: take a one-minute answer you'll give soon, like a project update. Add one contrast, one list of three and one question. Record the old version and the new one, then play them back to back. Keep the lines you'd actually say.

3. Say what you believe

Four more tactics from the training: say what the group is feeling, say what you stand for, set a high goal and show you're sure it can be reached. Compare "I think we could maybe try to grow a bit" with "We'll double sign-ups by June."

Drill: finish these out loud. "I know this has been ___." "I believe we should ___ because ___." "By ___, we'll ___." Then listen for hedges like "I think", "maybe", "sort of" and "probably". Cut them and say it again, letting your last word fall. There's more on hedges and endings in how to sound confident when you speak.

4. Let your voice and face move

The training's other three tactics are nonverbal: an animated voice, facial expressions and gestures.

The voice part has its own evidence. In a small Columbia University study, eight listeners rated 45 short clips of the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates. Listeners who rated a clip charismatic tended to rate it enthusiastic and passionate too, and clips they found boring got lower charisma ratings. Clips with more pitch variation also got higher charisma ratings.

Drill: say "We had a rough start. Now we're ahead of schedule." Keep your voice low and slow on the first sentence, then lift it on "ahead". Record it once flat and once with the movement. Then compare. Let your face and hands move the way they would if you were telling a friend. For more pitch drills, see how to fix a monotone voice.

5. Make people comfortable

The other half of the Toronto test is about how people feel around you. In one of the team's studies, pairs of students who had just met chatted for 10 minutes and rated each other. Students who scored higher on the affability half tended to be rated more likable by their partners.

Drill: in your next conversation, ask two follow-up questions before you talk about yourself. Use the other person's name once. Then record yourself saying "It's good to see you." once with a straight face and once with a real smile. Listen to both.

Use them lightly

The Lausanne training took real time, and its authors warn that overusing the tactics can tip into self-parody. Think big hand waves and forced metaphors. Pick one or two per answer and put them in words you'd say anyway.

A 10-minute routine

Record a one-minute answer you'll give this week, like an introduction or an update.
Play it back. Count the stories, contrasts, lists of three and questions. Note where your voice goes flat.
Rewrite one part as a short story and add one device.
Record it again with your voice moving on the words that matter. Play both takes back to back.

Do it a few days a week with a new answer each time.

Practice it in Charisma Lab

Charisma Lab is a speaking coach on your iPhone. Three of its Train techniques match habits on this page, and all three are open from the start. In the Clarity track, Structure Your Points hands you a line like "The steps are research, prototype, and test." Your take passes when it uses at least two structure words like "first" and "then". In Conviction, No Hedging passes a take with none of the hedges it checks for, such as "I think", "maybe" and "kind of". It names any it finds. In Dynamics, Pitch Variation hands you a line, and a take passes when you say it with a pitch range more than 25% of your average pitch.

In Speak, tap the center and tell the coach what you're practicing for, like a toast or a team update. Say it out loud in short chunks, since a pause of about two seconds ends a take. You hear each take played back. Then the coach tells you what to fix and sends you back in.

Setup is free and includes a short live session with the coach. After that, Speak and Train need Pro, which is $14.99 a month in the US. See pricing.

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FAQ

Can you learn to be charismatic?

Yes, at least partly. In the Lausanne study, managers trained in the tactics on this page got higher charisma ratings from coworkers than managers who weren't trained. A 2026 replication found that training again made leaders use the tactics more and that the tactics generally helped how followers rated them, though not on every measure.

What makes someone charismatic?

The Toronto test splits it into influence and affability. Influence is presence and the ability to lead and persuade. Affability is making people comfortable and getting along with them. In the team's studies, people high on affability were rated more likable by strangers. People high on influence came across as more persuasive when they read out a weak argument.

How can an introvert be charismatic?

Try a short story, one contrast and a clear point with no hedges. They're things you do when you speak, so you can practice them whatever your personality. The Toronto team found charisma scores related to the Big Five personality traits, which include extraversion, but distinct from them.

How do you come across as charismatic in an interview?

Answer "Tell me about a time" questions with a short story: the situation, what you did and how it turned out. Give your reasons for wanting the job as a list of three. Then stop on your point. See how to answer "Tell me about yourself" and how to stop rambling in interviews.

How can I be more charismatic in public speaking?

Open with a short story, and add one contrast where the stakes change. Let your voice drop for the problem and lift for what you'll do about it. Then record a run-through and compare two takes, as in how to record yourself practicing a speech.

What is a charismatic voice?

In the Columbia study, it was a voice that moved. Clips with more pitch variation got higher charisma ratings, and listeners who heard a clip as enthusiastic tended to hear it as charismatic too. To practice, see how to fix a monotone voice.

Is charisma the same as charm?

They overlap. Listeners in the Columbia study who rated a clip charismatic tended to rate it charming too. The Toronto test adds influence to the picture: a presence in the room and the ability to lead a group.

More practice guides

Updated November 1, 2026.