Compelling People:The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential

Everyone wants to know how to be more influential.  But most of us don’t really think we can have the kind of magnetism or charisma that we associate with someone like Bill Clinton or Oprah Winfrey unless it comes naturally.  

Now, in Compelling People, which is already being taught at Harvard and Columbia Business Schools, John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut show that influence isn’t something we have to be born with -- it’s something we can learn.

Neffinger and Kohut are partners in KNP Communications, a firm specializing in presentation coaching and communications strategy for corporate and political clients.  They also lecture regularly at Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, MIT, Bennington College, and the Naval War College.

In this summary, they trace the path to influence through a balance of strength  and warmth.  Each seems simple, but only a few of us figure out the tricky task of projecting both at once.  The ability to master this dynamic is so rare that we celebrate and elevate those people who have managed to do it. 

Drawing on cutting-edge social science research as well as the authors’ own work with Fortune 500 executives, members of Congress, TED speakers, and Nobel Prize winners, this summary of Compelling People reveals how to win admiration, respect, and affection.