Charisma is the ability to attract, charm, and influence the people around you. Charisma is often said to be a mysterious ineffable quality—you either have it or don’t have it—but it’s actually easy to break down many of the key factors that make someone charismatic.  Such factors include, but are not limited to: confidence, exuberance, optimism, a ready smile, expressive body language, and a friendly, passionate voice. (Source:  Google).

So when it comes to starting conversations, our goal is to express all of the qualities listed above.  However, when we’re starting out it’s not easy.

How can we have confidence, exuberance, optimism, a ready smile, etc. all at the same time?

The best way to practice being charismatic when you first start talking to someone is to act just like you would act around your family & friends if you were to do an impression of someone and you know that everyone is going to laugh.  If you knew 100% that what you were doing was going to “work,” you would just go for it 100% because you would be confident that nobody would have a negative reaction to you.  You’d be bold, you’d use tons of facial expression, and most importantly you would do it in your own way because it would never cross your mind that you could have a negative reaction.

I recommend to treat people you meet just like someone who you’ve known for a long long time.  Treat people you just meet like someone who would always positively support you for expressing your personality in the boldest most vulnerable way possible.  I believe this is what it means to put your best foot forward when meeting someone.