# [Book Notes] 《The Charisma Myth》, Your First Book for Building Charisma - Canonical: https://easonchang.com/posts/myth-of-charisma - Date: 2016-11-18T02:37:00.000Z - Language: en - Translation: AI-assisted, from the zh-TW original > Book: The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism > Author: Olivia Fox Cabane > One-line summary: If you have no idea how to build charisma, this is a great introductory book; if you've already read plenty on the subject, close the book and go live your life. # A systematic analysis of "charisma" The book's purpose is to "analyze what creates charisma, and provide techniques for it". The first half of the book dissects charisma systematically. Charisma has three core elements. Within seconds of meeting someone, people automatically judge them on: - Presence — "Are you truly living in the moment?" - Power — "Are you able to change the world?" - Warmth — "Are you willing to do it for me?" Different combinations of these three elements produce four charisma styles: - Authority — Churchill - Visionary — Steve Jobs - Focus — Elon Musk - Kindness — the Dalai Lama Everyone has charisma styles they're naturally good at, and different social situations call for different styles. The book offers a pretty solid theoretical framework for strengthening your charisma strengths and shoring up your weaknesses. # All kinds of charisma exercises The second half of the book provides plenty of applied examples of charisma, along with practical techniques. The techniques here are many and varied, and I personally prefer simple concepts over elaborate techniques, so I won't go through them — if you're interested, go read the book yourself. # My verdict I believe the point of reading is to "change your own behavior", and every book should be written with that goal in mind. There are two concrete ways to get there: 1. Present novel ideas that break through the reader's understanding, achieving a "change in knowing" 2. Serve up chicken soup for the soul that fires the reader up, achieving a "change in doing" For me, 《The Charisma Myth》 achieved neither. I think that's because I'm not the book's target audience. I regularly read articles about charisma, so the book didn't give me many new ideas. I also don't feel that I lack charisma, so however much the author encouraged me that "charisma can be learned", it couldn't move me. That said, it's still an excellent theory book, well suited as the first book for readers who have no clue how to start building charisma. If I had to name one takeaway, the biggest thing I got from 《The Charisma Myth》 is a renewed appreciation of how important "living in the moment (building presence)" is — the basic requirement for showing charisma. Below is my reading summary, presented as slides, for reference~