What is Charisma, Anyway?

In an age in which news is met with instant commentary on social media, the people who command the most attention are often the ones who speak out the quickest.

For thought leaders interested in attracting a large following and influencing more people, being quick (and often blunt) is more important than being thoughtful and weighing in with carefully measured words. Quick thinking and sharp assertions, even at the risk of sounding brazen or harsh, equal one thing in the Internet age: charisma.

Charisma is defined by Webster’s as “a special charm or appeal that causes people to feel attracted and excited by someone (such as a politician).” We all know someone like that — the person who owns the room. They’re not necessarily the most beautiful or the smartest, yet they exude a mysterious magnetism that draws others near.

So what makes a person charismatic? What do history’s most compelling heroes and villains have in common? Turns out, the key to commanding attention may simply be their ability to think fast on their feet and make sense — quickly — of the firehose of info that pours out each day.

Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia recently published a study in which they assessed a combined total of 417 participants for various measures of intelligence and personality. Volunteers were rated by friends and acquaintances for how “charismatic,” “funny” and “quick-witted” they were. These ratings were compared to measurements of mental speed gauged by timed answers to 30 questions — common knowledge questions, such as the last three on the list:

• Name a common insect.
• In Christianity, what is the name of God’s son?
• What fruit is yellow and curved?

Investigators also measured mental speed at quickly identifying patterns, as well as IQ. The results, published in Psychological Science, showed that those individuals whom others found the most charismatic were able to supply answers in the shortest time.

“How smart (the) people were was less important than how quick they were. So knowing the right answer to a tough question appears to be less important than being able to consider a large number of social responses in a brief window of time,” Bill von Hippel, the author of the study, told LifeZette.

The results may help explain why Donald Trump has consistently led in presidential polls. He’s always first to slap that “Jeopardy” buzzer. Voters don’t seem to mind if he gets all his facts straight or knows the names of foreign leaders. Being forceful and decisive is more important than being factual.

Just ask Zack Martin, 38, a Malibu-based drug counselor and Trump booster.

“If you’re trying to do great things, then you need to be willing to say, ‘I don’t know what the nuclear triad is, but I know that I’ve built a multibillion dollar empire, and I’ll apply all of that skill set in addressing our country’s problems,’” Martin said.

Martin, who’s also a guitarist and singer, said that sometimes thinking before you speak can actually backfire, at least when it comes to connecting with an audience. He compares Trump’s brand of charisma with that of Mick Jagger.

“There’s not an ounce of self-consciousness there. When it comes to speaking in front of people, or performing, then being too measured — that can get in your way,” he said.

Presence of mind — cultivated by zen masters and meditators — means being in the moment. In other words, not thinking about what you’re going to say, or what you should have said. It means not being crouched in calculation, mental Rolodex at the ready, but being willing to say the first thing that comes into your mind. And not caring too much about the consequences.

Though his study deals with charisma academically, von Hippel described to LifeZette a personal case study that hit close to home.

“My father is incredibly quick-witted, and his resultant charisma has enabled him to survive and thrive despite being a very challenging individual (to put it euphemistically).”

Von Hippel tells the story of growing up in Alaska when his dad was the only heart surgeon in the state. He generated a lot of controversy for his animosity to lawyers and his refusal to buy malpractice insurance. At one point, a local TV station posed a question about the Hippocratic oath, asking whether he would be willing to treat some of the malpractice lawyers in town, or whether he would ever turn down such a patient in an emergency.

“His immediate reply was that he would never refuse to treat a patient in an emergency, but that he wasn’t sure he’d regard a lawyer bleeding to death as an emergency,” von Hippel said.

He conceded his father and the current GOP presidential front-runner have a lot in common.

“Yes, there is no doubt Trump is very charismatic, and that’s a large part of his appeal. He thinks and responds rapidly, which people also regard as a sign of honesty, given that he clearly doesn’t take the time to think about what he should say. Trump is also evidence that charisma doesn’t necessarily make you more likable, just more compelling.”

[lz_ndn video= 30080617]

Indeed, Trump has presence, and he also projects power — two of the three pillars of charisma outlined in Olivia Fox Cabane’s book, “The Charisma Myth.” The third pillar, however, is warmth.

Warmth is what keeps a strong, powerful presence from coming across as arrogant. As rock star Sting once told Rolling Stone magazine, “Any artist worth his salt has arrogance. It’s a prerequisite of being stage-worthy. You have to have a certain air of ‘watch me, because I’m really good.’”

The line between confidence and arrogance is thin, and frequently blurred. Quick thinkers have the confidence to tell it as they see it. Projecting compassion, combined with quick thinking, projects a particularly powerful mix, as charisma master former President Bill Clinton certainly proved.

[lz_ndn video= 29914797]

And while candidate Trump doesn’t come across as cold or uncaring, he’s certainly not concerned with playing Mr. Nice Guy. So far, he’s charismatic enough, it seems — at least for his supporters.

“People don’t need nice at this stage of the game,” said Martin. “If you’re one of these people — like I am — who are really pissed off about where things are going, then this isn’t the time for nice. This is the time for effective, and you’re like, yeah, you’re my guy.”