47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To The Early Greeks, Charisma Was "A Divine Gift", June 21, 2000
This review is from: Charisma: Seven Keys to Developing the Magnetism that Leads to Success (Paperback)
This book is a solid introduction to the subject of having more influence that will help those who feel challenged by social situations. Self-diagnostic questions and simple examples combine to give you a good sense of what you need to work on.
The author provides a number of definitions of charisma (including the one in the title of this review), and seems to focus on "the ability to influence others positively by connecting with them physically, emotionally, and intellectually."
Daniel Goleman has written a great deal about emotional intelligence (see his books, Emotional Intelligence and Working with Emotional Intelligence), and has noted that many people lack skill in this area. For those who have little of this capability, Charisma will provide a useful toolkit for assessing and adapting successfully in social situations.
The book is organized around a few key ideas: making a good first impression, making a good impression when you speak, being an effective listener, becoming more persuasive, using physical surroundings to your advantage, maximizing adaptability to the situation, and expanding your vision and ideas. These are all good areas to focus on, and few will find that they are equally strong in each one. Once you find your weaker points, the author provides you will simple, effective suggestions for improvement.
He sums up all his thinking in a Platinum Rule: Do unto others as they would like done unto them.
If you want more advanced help in this area, you will find Goleman, Cialdini (Influence), and books on neuro-linguistic programming to be helpful.
The main point is that we should all work on our social effectiveness and comfort. All of us know more than any one of us, and we can accomplish much more together. Enjoy this stallbusting book and have more joy in your life!
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Marketing Crime, March 15, 2000
This review is from: Charisma: Seven Keys to Developing the Magnetism that Leads to Success (Paperback)
I think charges could be brought against Alessandra for this offering. He banks heavily on the statistical knowledge that very few people who buy this kind of book ever read beyond the second chapter. Therefore, the first two chapters and the cover are merely razzle-dazzle fluff constantly mentioning "charisma," but rarely saying much about it. He then offers a weak thesis that charisma is related to communication then proceeds to stuff the rest of the book with what is obviously old material on the subject of communication occasionally tying it to charisma. This "filler" material, I will say, is solid stuff, but, overall, this book, as well as Mr. Alessandra, are very disappointing.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended!, March 16, 2001
This review is from: Charisma: Seven Keys to Developing the Magnetism that Leads to Success (Paperback)
Tony Alessandra focuses on how to build your charisma by analyzing the seven elements that comprise it: your "silent message," speaking ability, listening skills, persuasive talent, use of time and space, adaptability, and vision. He provides a short quiz you can complete at the beginning of each chapter to identify easily which areas of your charisma need work. Allessandra believes that you don't have to be born with charisma, that anyone can increase his or her level of charisma. He demystifies it in this clearly focused, very readable book. Alessandra probably could write complete books on each of charisma's seven keys. In fact, the section on adaptability is essentially a summary of a book he co-authored, The Platinum Rule. But instead of seven volumes, here is one well-edited book packed full of content. We at getAbstract recommend this book to people who want to improve their charisma, or to understand the tangible aspects of this intangible quality.
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