I tried this one weird charisma trick in a lift last week… and it worked far better than I expected.
It’s 8:42am.
Tiny lift.
Five strangers.
Peak silence.
Eyes on phones. Shoulders tight. Nobody breathes too loudly.
Normally, I would’ve just followed the unwritten social contract and stared at the floor number like everyone else.
However, this time I wanted to try something.
I always challenge clients to take small, low-risk charisma interactions.
Examples would be:
Speaking to your coffee barista
Chatting to your waiter
Saying hello to the postman
These are low-stakes interactions where it doesn’t matter what you say; it just gets you out of your comfort zone and shows you that, even if it goes wrong.
Nothing happens.
As the tension was building
I looked around and said:
“Does anyone fancy a game of Eye-Spy until we get to the top?”
For the first half a second… Nothing
The one guy smiled
Another sniggered
One woman said, “Oh, go on then.”
Just like that, the atmosphere in the lift changed
We chatted about the weather (of course), someone joked about Mondays, and another complained about the building’s ancient lift speed.
By the time we reached the top floor, people were actually saying goodbye to each other.
Total time: 38 seconds.
Charisma is not about saying something clever
It’s about the confidence to make this first move
Too often, we are waiting for people to make the first move
We are afraid of rejection, worried about what people will think, and fearful of looking silly.
You will be rewarded for making the first move, not by how witty your answers are.
That’s why the smallest social risks often create the biggest shifts in how people experience you.
No big personality required.
No confidence “hack”.
Just a willingness to try
This week, I challenge you to try your own “lift moment”:
Say the small thing.
Make the light comment.
Ask the simple human question.
Then watch what happens.
And if you’d like help building this skill deliberately in meetings, leadership, or daily life, you already know where to find me. 😉
Speak soon,
Sebastian from Art of Charisma
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