A lot of people who have to perform in public have probably wondered, what is the secret of successful speakers? In fact, they manage not only to attract the attention of the audience but also to hold it throughout the entire performance. Perhaps good speakers have some special qualities that we call charisma. Then another question arises: what is the origin of charisma? Is it an innate characteristic of an individual person or can it be developed? As a result of numerous studies by psychologists, it has become clear that the magnetism of a charismatic human being is a skill that can be developed by performing certain exercises.
The Connection Between Charisma and Emotions
To become a charismatic person, you have to be able to infect your thoughts and your actions. It is only possible if a person boils the energy that generates emotions. When he can talk for hours about his ideas so confident and fascinating that listeners can only hear his point of view on an issue.
The American psychologist Albert Megrabian has conducted research and found that words are only 7% of the information. 38% is transmitted para verbally, that is, by means of the characteristics of speech: tempo, volume, timbre, tone. The remaining 55% are transmitted by body language — facial expressions, gestures, postures. In the process of speech, it is natural for a person to express his emotions and feelings. In studying this phenomenon, the professor came to the conclusion that when words diverge from body language, the main role in the perception of the interlocutor is behind the non-verbal mode of communication, which is the main one.
So it’s important to get your emotions right, and you have to understand them first. When words do not diverge from the language of the body, the audience or interlocutor are translated precisely to the feelings that need to be conveyed. It is at this moment that the same inexplicable magnetism, the attraction of the individual, which is called charisma, emerges.
In order to develop charismatic personality skills, psychologists conduct psychophysical training at which they learn to understand their emotions, and to express them with their bodies. At the same time they learn how to understand what the body language of the interlocutor, partner expresses. The better a person hears and understands himself, the more he or she understands others, the easier it is to build a relationship, being in a social group or in front of an audience while public talking.
It should be noted that in the training of actors, there is a part when they learn to use simple techniques before performing to a huge audience, they get the skill of correct transmission of emotions.
Not being professional psychologists, in most cases, we can quite accurately grasp how comfortable our interlocutor is, we see his insecurity or arrogance, for example. Even when he talks about something else, we’re subconsciously reading anxiety, aggression, based on body language. In the same way, we capture a benevolent attitude, self-confidence, interest in dialogue, etc.
What is The Use of Possessing Emotions and Body During Performances
A man who can control his emotions, who understands how to broadcast their audience not only through speech but also through body language, knows how to listen to the public. Every emotional movement of the speaker provokes a reaction from the audience. The more nonverbal techniques a speaker uses, the more attractive he becomes to the listeners.
From the very first time a speaker appeared before the audience, they understood whether to pay attention to his words. The way a person moves, the position of his hands, legs, body, that is, the language of his body is necessarily read to the assembled and helps to form an idea of the speaker before he has uttered the first words.
For example, the speaker comes out with a firm gait, turns to the audience, without fawning, looks into the faces of the audience, smiles. It’s only been a few seconds, and he’s already created the impression of a confident person worth listening to. He demonstrated this in body language, and the public reacted correctly. The audience realized that the person sought contact, interaction, and wanted to build communication with listeners. In less than four seconds, we get the first piece of information about the person in front of us.
When an orator starts to speak, he supplements his speech with appropriate gestures: he uses facial expressions and moves within the limits of the territory allotted to him. In this way, he fills the space, vividly expressing his emotions with his body language and various characteristics of speech. For example, by talking about something that disturbs him, he moves the body towards the audience, raises the voice, lowers the tone, starts to speak louder, and the gestures become sharp. And then the audience gets angry with this theme as well. When a speaker admires an event he smiles, the movements get wider, the positions are freer. And the audience smiles back.
Stanislavsky, as a great director and teacher, was well aware of what it felt like to go on stage in front of an audience, when from excitement he could not speak, think, naturally move, feel. This aspect of training is given considerable attention in the education of actors.
Not only artists need to be able to control themselves, but anyone who wants to interact freely with the audience during public speaking. And just as actors rehearse their roles, changing the characteristics of their voices, the way they present themselves, the positions, the speaker must practice their non-verbal skills of communicating with the audience.
One may conclude that in preparing for a performance, in addition to working on the narrative, one must be prepared to interact with an audience that remembers information on an emotional level. You have to work out gestures, intonations, positions beforehand, learn to express exactly the emotions that need to be conveyed to the public.
Click here to learn more about Voice&Leadership training
