Why Enthusiasm Matters More Than Charisma When You Communicate

I've worked with plenty of people over the years who worry they're not naturally charismatic enough to be a good presenter. They've watched someone command a room seemingly without effort and decided that person possesses something they don't, whether that's natural confidence, charm, humour or simply an ability to enjoy being the centre of attention.

I don't think any of those things is a prerequisite for being an engaging communicator, and it's why, before I ask someone to think about their presentation, their key messages or even what they want their audience to remember, I often want them to take a step further back.

Why are you the person talking about this, and what genuinely matters to you about it?

Because if we can find that, we've usually found something far more useful than charisma. We've found enthusiasm.

Why enthusiasm makes people want to listen

Think about the last time something really captured your attention. It might have been a holiday you'd just returned from, an event you'd attended, an experience you'd had or simply a brilliant book, television programme or film you couldn't stop thinking about.

I'd be willing to bet you didn't need presentation training before you told someone about it. You knew what you wanted to say, probably had stories and examples ready without having to search for them, and there was something in the way you talked about it that made it obvious you cared.

That's the enthusiasm I'm interested in because we respond to it. Someone can talk about a subject I know very little about and hold my attention because their enthusiasm makes me curious, and while I might not have cared particularly about the topic when they started speaking, I can begin to care because it's so obvious that they do.

The opposite is also true. Give a great topic to somebody who sounds bored by it and, guess what, the topic starts to become dry, boring, ignorable and forgettable too.

So, when someone tells me they don't think they're charismatic enough to present well, I'm much less interested in trying to make them more charismatic than I am in helping them identify what they genuinely care about.

You don't need to manufacture charisma

I think people sometimes approach presentation training believing there's a particular kind of communicator they need to become. They need to be more polished, more commanding, perhaps funnier or more energetic, and somewhere along the way they can start trying to perform rather than communicate.

That's not what I want.

If you're presenting a new product, perhaps you were involved in developing it and know the difference it could make for customers. If you're explaining a technical subject, perhaps you've spent years working in that field because you find it fascinating. If you're talking about a change within your organisation, perhaps what really matters to you is making sure the people affected understand what's happening and why.

And sometimes the enthusiasm isn't actually for the subject itself. You might struggle to get excited about presenting the quarterly figures, but care deeply about what those figures demonstrate, the people whose work produced them or the decisions you hope they'll help your audience make.

That's what I want people to find because it's real, and audiences are remarkably good at recognising the difference between genuine enthusiasm and someone who's simply been told they need to bring more energy to their presentation.

Before you prepare your presentation, work out why you care

This is why I like people to take this step before they start worrying about slides, messages or delivery. Ask yourself why you're the person presenting this, what matters to you about it and, importantly, why you want the people listening to care about it too.

You don't necessarily need to tell your audience any of this explicitly. I'm certainly not suggesting every presentation needs to begin with a grand declaration of your personal 'why'. Instead, I want you to keep it in mind while you're preparing and communicating because it helps you decide where your natural energy lies, which details deserve emphasis and which examples might bring the subject to life.

Once we've found that, we can work on everything else. We can simplify the message, structure the presentation, think about what the audience needs, stop you waffling and prepare you for the questions you might be asked.

Those practical communication skills matter enormously, but I think they work much better when there's something genuine underneath them.

Enthusiasm doesn't mean being loud

This is also where I think enthusiasm can become confused with charisma, because an enthusiastic communicator doesn't have to bounce around a stage, tell jokes or become the loudest person in the room.

Some of the most engaging people I've trained have been relatively quiet, but you can still see and hear when they've reached the part of the subject they really care about. It might be in the detail they choose to share, the story they suddenly become more animated telling or simply the way they explain something because they genuinely want you to understand it.

That's why I don't believe there's a single 'presentation personality' people need to develop. I want you to be authentically you, but with the skills and confidence to make it easier for your audience to appreciate and remember what you're saying.

And there's an important brand benefit to that too. If people enjoy listening to you, understand what you're saying and remember it afterwards, some of that positive impression transfers to the organisation you're representing. It's the halo effect I talk about in my workshops, and one of the reasons I believe the person communicating matters just as much as the information being communicated.

Enthusiasm still needs clarity

There is, of course, a danger in telling somebody to focus on a subject they genuinely care about because enthusiasm can very quickly become waffle. I've worked with enough experts over the years to know that once you've found the thing someone loves talking about, getting them to stop can occasionally become the next challenge!

That's why enthusiasm doesn't replace structure. In many ways, it makes structure even more important because when we care deeply about something, everything can start to feel relevant and worth sharing.

Knowing what you want your audience to understand, why they should care and what you'd like them to remember helps you channel that enthusiasm rather than allowing it to disappear into ten fascinating examples when one would have made the point perfectly.

I've explored those three questions in my short Content Hub video, 'Three Questions I Ask Before Every Presentation', if you'd like a practical way to apply this thinking to your next presentation. Once you've worked out why you care, those questions help you turn that enthusiasm into something your audience can care about too.

Why enthusiasm matters for a Brand Champion

This is also why enthusiasm sits at the heart of what I mean when I talk about Brand Champions. A Brand Champion isn't simply someone who's learned how to present well or can confidently deliver an approved message; they're someone who can convey their enthusiasm for a topic, product or organisation in a way that's easy to understand and helps other people become interested too.

For me, that ultimately comes back to advocacy. The purpose of communication isn't simply to share information, but to help people understand, remember and care enough that they might become advocates themselves.

If you don't care about what you're telling me, I'm going to find it much harder to care either. But when your knowledge is accompanied by genuine enthusiasm, and you have the communication skills to make that enthusiasm accessible rather than overwhelming, you're giving your audience something much more compelling than charisma.

So, before you worry about whether you're charming enough, confident enough or naturally entertaining enough to hold a room, forget about trying to become somebody else's idea of a great presenter.

Work out why you care, and let us see it.

Create your own Magnetic Message

If your organisation needs help defining its messaging, I'd be delighted to discuss a bespoke brand messaging workshop. But I'm assuming that's not why you're here... 

And if you're the person expected to present, influence, answer questions or represent your organisation, I'd love you to join my free 'Create Your Magnetic Message' Masterclass.

It brings together many of the same principles I've used with international organisations for years and applies them to the people delivering the message.

Because organisations don't communicate, people do.

Join me for the next free 'Create Your Magnetic Message' Masterclass and discover practical frameworks that will help you communicate with greater clarity, confidence and impact, whatever the occasion.