A communications coach has revealed her go-to tricks for improving your ‘likability’ and charisma – and says limiting jerky movements having clean fingernails, wearing flattering clothing and projecting ‘warmth’ are key to success.
Michelle Bowden, a certified speaking professional, has delivered her Persuasive Presentation Skills masterclass for more than 12,000 people and works with the who’s who of international business to help them win multi-million-dollar bids and projects.
Now, she’s written her new book How to Persuade to equip readers with the skills, tips and actions you need to get exactly what you want and improve your charisma.
‘It’s a fact that likeable people are the ones who get furthest in life. Even if you’re not the smartest or most experienced, if you are the most likeable, you’ll often be the most persuasive in the moment,’ Michelle says.
‘In contrast, unlikeable people are a turn-off. They destroy the joy and can make people feel uncomfortable, judged and fearful.’
‘The four most unlikeable behaviours in others were unsatisfactory grooming, killing the fun, and ignoring or talking over others.’
What should you do instead?
1. Be attractive
Whether you like this fact or not, attractive people get more breaks in life than their ‘plain’ counterparts.
Business psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic reported in 2019 that people who don’t fit a society’s dominant aesthetic criteria simply don’t get the same breaks in life as those who do. And psychologist and researcher at Harvard University Nancy L Etcoff and her colleagues published a 2011 study that found that groomed woman who were wearing makeup were seen as more attractive, competent, likeable and trustworthy than women who presented with a bare face. Pretty convincing!
The good news is that ‘attractiveness’ doesn’t really relate to your ‘natural’ beauty. Whatever you look like, you can certainly make the most of your qualities and features.
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© Michelle Bowden 2022. Michelle Bowden is an authority on presentation & persuasion in business. Michelle is a CSP (the highest designation for speakers in the world), best-selling internationally published author (Wiley), and a regular commentator in print, radio and online media. www.michellebowden.com.au