Is 'Charisma' a natural trait which is gifted to special individuals?

I think it is probably mostly learned from parents and other people who have influence or have been examples in the individual’s life. Some of it might be hard wired or genetic, but I think it is less than 50%.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it God-given. Gideon was uncharismatic.

I think it is gifted.Gideon meaning is mighty warrior, destroyer,he did not ‘impressed’ anyone.
Moreover we can look and think about individuals besides us,those we deal regularly with.We can easily segregate them into charismatic and non charismatic,why is so we were able to segregate them?
We can observe there that the ones who we categorized into ‘Charismatic’ may not be good persons in absolute sense.So the extra factor which made them fall into ‘Charismatic’ category is gifted.

Charisma, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.

I think it is a given trait mostly, however, some develop it because they have nothing else, like me. (Although you wouldn’t think so by some of my posts here!!).

@Shippy Everyone who think they have nothing else can be a pool of knowledge because they feel insufficient about their knowledge of traits.So, i you have developed the ‘Charisma’ share your learnings.

Define charisma and analyze its etymology and history, the word alone will not tell you whether someone is gifted or something is an absolute trait. Break it down. The word posits ‘favor’ or ‘grace’ towards charm or attraction that inspires others. Both charm and attraction can be acquired behaviors or innate properties that learned behavior is inspired by. So by special, do you mean someone ‘You’ are attracted to, or influenced by; or special as in the possibility that ‘everyone’ is to like this person because of due traits? Define special in your own way so we may infer whether or not we see special in the same context.

You can teach manners, behavior, etc, but charisma comes from something within the person. It’s a lot like leadership. You either have it or you don’t. It can’t be faked.

Charisma can be proven to exist. God, on the other hand cannot. Therefore it seems unlikely that charisma is the gift of a god. Suggesting such a provenance is useless because it does not add to our knowledge or understanding of the phenomenon. It’s like saying charisma is magic.

I think it comes from specific circumstances of an individual’s life.

I believe the elements of charisma can be learned but it obviously comes to some more naturally than others.

Welcome to Fluther, @donduck.

I do think that charisma is a mostly an inherent trait.

I had this one teacher…. to whom it was all but IMPOSSIBLE to say no, because she was so charming. To her colleagues and students alike! She didn’t even try at it; it was effortless for her. Every single student in one of my classes with her, male or female, gay, straight or undecided, was in love with her and we all just sat there dazed after every class.

I believe it comes naturally to some people who have the right personality traits. Other people have to work real hard at it, lest they don’t succeed. Yet others will never be charismatic because they are held down by opposing traits, such as severe introversion.

Every person I know that has charisma has something labeled WOO by the Gallup Organization. It stands for “Winning Others Over”. Here is the description:

Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don’t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet—lots of them. Source

For those that have it, it strengthens them when in a situation where they can use it. They learn to become even better and more fluid at it. If they are lucky, they find a role where they can spend the bulk of their time being charismatic.

I suspect that it is much like @Adirondackwannabe says: you either have it or you don’t. For my friends that have it, it comes naturally. Some of us can pull it off for a short time, but it leaves us exhausted because it isn’t natural to our personalities.

@glenjamin That is an interesting observation. A co-worker, one who is an introvert, had test results showing that she has Woo. Working with people one-on-one, she could clearly get her message across and sell it. Put her in the front of a room to deliver the same message, and she became tongue-tied. There are different venues for utilizing charisma than just public speaking.

One of the widely embraced theories of personality these days, the so-called “Big Five”, asserts that there are five basic components to personality, that these are evident from early in life, and really don’t change much over one’s lifetime. Two of these five, extroversion and agreeableness, form the basis for charisma. An introvert can be high in agreeableness, but will never have charisma. An extrovert who is low in agreeableness can make a great CEO, but will likewise never come off as charismatic.

Being an agreeable extrovert is necessary for charisma, but not sufficient. Charisma also requires a skill-set that falls under the rubric of “emotional intelligence”: the ability to project positive emotion (verbally and non-verbally), the ability to read others’ emotional states and respond appropriately, and the ability to control your own emotional “face” (that which is visible to others). Much of that is developed through experience and use.

Yes @ what @thorninmud says.
It is a particular personality/temperament style, usually the more extroverted types.
I consider myself quite charismatic, I am friendly, humorous, gregarious and have the ability to unite people quickly and lend a sense of comfortableness to all interactions with me.
Just yesterday I ended up in a conversation with a customer service guy on the east coast and had the guy rolling with my humor. I am an ENTP personality and our type cranks out a lot of comedians and entertainers. You’re either a natural or not IMO.

My greatest joy is in fluidity and engagement and it is always a rare treat to meet another that can play off of my energy and keep up. NOTHING makes me happier than meeting another playful and humorous person that can match my wit and humor. It is a beautiful thing to randomly encounter other playful and spirited personalities.

There is certainly nature at work in it. And nurture as well. Parents who are fearful of others and overprotective teach the opposite of charisma. But even as an adult, one can learn to be more charismatic. A shrinking violet in kindergarten can learn to be the swan and not the ugly duckling.

Great Answers folks!!!!!!! appreciated!!
@Pied_Pfeffer : Excellent!! For your point,the charisma is playing a key role in their likability and it is just because they like to strike conversation with strangers and once that connection is on,they like to move on.This authority is given to them is only because of ‘Charisma’. For others who do not have it, they may like to meet new people and perhaps they may be excellent in their communication skills but as they lack in the charismatic persona they don’t have ability to charm others and be ruthless winners of hearts.
@thorninmud : I think the projection of positive emotions is nothing but the habit of mind which knows the clear likability among people whom they meet.Moreover we see guys who are pathetic extroverts and who hail to be agreeable among certain masses,yet they lack charisma to be agreeable and be shear charismatic.
I think the charisma can be found among different categories of persons e.g. elite intelligent leagues,actors, psychopaths, saints , great talkers,politicians, policy makers,economists, fashion artists etc etc.we cannot categorize the ability to be charismatic.
@ETpro : Sir,I appreciate your answer.
My point is why Swan is Charismatic and Ugly Duckling is not?

@donduck Well, in the fairy tale, the so-called ugly duckling wasn’t a duck at all, but a black swan. The other baby ducks saw ugly because the cygnet was black and not white like the rest of them. Sound familiar to racism in today’s world?

It was only as the cygnet grew to adulthood, growing into a bird far more lovely and powerful than any duck, that the truth of that bird’s beauty emerged from its original awkwardness.

But if you are asking if there is such a thing as ugly, most certainly there is. But it really has far more to do with internal values, and it’s often falsely judged on external ones. Here’s one of my favorite examples.