Do you stand up for yourself in social situations? Do you feel confident interacting with others? Are you assertive with your social needs? Social assertiveness is essential for conserving social energy.
People with a great presence have an easy time making lasting connections and are extremely good at rapport-building. Your presence has a direct relationship to your ability to create lasting personal relationships and build a network.
Do you enjoy public speaking and presenting? Specifically, are you comfortable communicating your ideas to large groups? Master communicators know how to present themselves, and effectively get their message across.
People who can sustain lasting confidence are able to conquer their shyness and avoid awkwardness. They might have internal strategies or mantras to get them through their anxiety, or they have socialized enough to overcome any nervous tendencies.
How do you get past small talk? In my book Captivate, I talk about the idea of BIG talk. This is when you level up boring, predictable small talk into deep, memorable conversation.
Would people describe you as likable? Is it easy for you to get people on your teams or influence others to your point of view? Likability is an important facet of trust. We often hear about being “authentic” or “genuine.”
People who are good at reading people are exceptionally strong at knowing how others think and feel. Decoding people, having a strong sense of intuition, and being very empathetic are the emotional intelligence aspects of interpersonal intelligence.
Pitching is a very important people skills for professionals because it happens all the time — not just at networking events with your elevator pitch, but also during every meeting when you are asked your opinion, in emails when you introduce yourself, and on conference calls.
You do not have to be leading a company or be the president of an organization to be considered a leader. Leaders in both work life and social life are able to get buy-in, rally teams and generate camaraderie.
While I was doing research for our flagship course People School, I found that charisma is the perfect blend of two essential people skills traits: warmth and competence.