Social vs. Charismatic

“Does being social mean I have good communication skills?”

I’m very passionate about communication as a topic for training; it’s the course that I enjoy delivering the most. Unfortunately there’s a huge confusion between communication skills and being social. Having plenty of friends is great, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m a good communicator. Communication is a science that has to be studied whether by reading books or attending courses, and the skills will only be developed by applying the knowledge excessively to witness both short-term and long-term results.

Warren Buffet himself has acknowledged in many occasions that the best investment he ever made was attending a Dale Carnegie’s communication skills course, and that it absolutely changed his life and triggered his success as he was a terrible communicator before that.

Despite the booming of entrepreneurship in Egypt, I noticed that startups that fail are the ones that lack effective and empowering communication between its management and its fellow employees. Most entrepreneurs do great at their beginnings, when they’re still solo-players, handling everything themselves and doing fine. But once their business starts growing, and the need to build a team to help them out arises, the no. 1 challenge that’s capable enough to knock their business down shows up at their doorstep: Communication. Successful leaders master interactive communication and human relation, they have strong understanding of the human nature patterns, and this understanding can only be acquired by learning, if you don’t know it, you don’t know it. Warren Buffet – world’s most successful investor – has acknowledged in many occasions that the best investment he ever made was attending a Dale Carnegie’s communication skills course, and that it absolutely changed his life and triggered his success as he was a terrible communicator before that.

That’s what effective communication is all about, it’s about being able to influence almost everyone you meet. It’s about being able to manage conversations were all involved parties win or at least don’t feel defeated.

We build friendships over time, whether at school, neighborhood, college, work…etc. Our friends had more than enough time to get to know us, like us, and decide to hang around us. But what about being able to impress in the first 4 minutes of a job interview? What about making a great first impression in the first 4 seconds of a business meeting? What about getting your manager and co-workers to like you in your first 4 weeks in a new workplace? And what about getting your employees to admire you as a manager and more importantly as a leader in their first 4 days in your team? That’s what effective communication is all about, it’s about being able to influence almost everyone you meet. It’s about being able to manage conversations were all involved parties win or at least don’t feel defeated.

All this and even more is 100% achievable only if you decide to learn and install the skills, and develop the attitude that will transform you into a “charismatic communicator”. The positive consequences of becoming a charismatic communicator are unpredictable and might be beyond your current imagination, and the great news is that anyone can become a charismatic communicator, literally anyone, even an introvert can become a charismatic communicator, you just need to have a compelling desire to get ahead in life!

“So … are you a social person, a charismatic communicator, or both?!”