What if charisma could be taught? That’s the Google Tech Talk I gave June 1st. No, the video won’t be available for the outside world. Sorry.
But if you wish you’d been there, here’s a keynote which will give you a condensed, highlights of the first segment.

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Most of us assume that charisma is something you’re either born with, or not. But science is proving otherwise.  What makes people charismatic, and which aspects of charisma can indeed be learned? This talk will present the highlights of a few compelling studies, as well as practical tools for everyday application.

Call it the “dog and pony show.”

Call it the most grueling three weeks of your life.

Call it what you will – the Roadshow may be the single most defining moment of your company’s history. 

If it’s successful, it leads to an IPO price that has you shooting champagne corks through the cubicle aisles at the office.

If it’s not successful, it could lead to a lackluster performance on opening day, and a management team and board left scratching their heads (and reaching for the nearest bottle of something strong).

With many feeling hopeful for 2011 IPOs, now’s the time to be plotting and planning so your team is in a position to make a lasting impression on the investment ecosystem.

Another great insight from Dr. Ali Binazir: don’t underestimate the influence of your mental diet on your daily life. Says Benazir “The influence of the info we allow casually to enter our psyche is real and substantial.”
He describes a simple but dramatic “priming” experiment devised by psychologist John Bargh; in which subjects were asked to make sentences out of a list of words as quickly as possible. Certain participants were given a list containing the words “old,” “grey,” “wrinkle,” “bingo” and “Florida”. What was really being measured was the time it took for subjects to leave the testing room and get to the front door of the building after completing the test.

Believe it or not, those who’d had the “old” words in their quizzes were about 30% slower-moving than those who didn’t. Simply reading certain words “aged” them, albeit temporarily.

The reverse experiment was organized by Ellen Langer of Harvard, who gathered a group of elderly patients in a nursing-home like environment; but surrounded them with the decor, clothing, and music of their twenties. The researchers went so far as to pipe in the radio programs & TV shows from that time; and the magazines all around were from that era. Even the fridge was stocked with long-discontinued foods.
In the ensuing weeks, physical exams showed tighter skin, better eyesight, less joint pain, increased muscle strength and even higher bone density than before and compared to the control group.

As Benazir cautions: if elements of ourselves as fundamental as bone density and eyesight are affected by what we see, hear, and thus what we think; can you imagine what it’s likely to be doing within our minds? The New York Times has a fascinating “who’s minding the mind?” article with more startling experiments.
Some mental food is health food. Some mental food is junk food. Pay close attention what you’re pouring into your mind.

Here’s a nifty little app that actually increases focus; concentration; and high-quality productivity. Freedom locks you away from the internet on Mac or Windows computers for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom frees you from distractions, allowing you time to focus, write, analyze, create.

Freedom enforces freedom; you’ll need to reboot if you want to get back online while Freedom’s running. The hassle of rebooting means you’re less likely to cheat, and you’ll enjoy enhanced productivity. Freedom does one thing and it does it exceedingly well: It helps you get work done.

And they’ve really thought this through: it gives you get a respite from the influx. But you can still send outgoing mail, which means if you suddenly remember one important thing you need to send out, you can.

It’s been a blessing for me  in terms of carving out good, solid chunks of focused work; without the possibility of temptation to go look at anything else.

Considering the very high cost of partial attention, this can be a great boost to your quality-work-output.