Whatever happened to charisma?

I grew up in an age of icons. Heck, I aspired to be one myself, if only to my small pool of admirers. I attend many web conferences every year much like this week, where I am an offical blogger at Le Web in Paris and get to hear, interview and blog on some great speakers. But, and here's the thing, I also attend conferences, start up camps and tech workshops almost weekly where I must listen to people address a crowd, whether its 50 or 5,000. Speaking publicly used to involve some training in holding an audience. Only those with the magic ingredient charisma, they got to speak. Even Jesus Christ knew this. He himself fed people by hand out of baskets, 5,000 of them, if I remember correctly. *********Groucho Marx, Dorothy Parker,Gilda Radner and Bill Cosby, had us apoplectic in the isles at their dry unforced humour.***** A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. Groucho Marx I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Groucho Marx I remember the first time I had sex - I kept the receipt. ***** Groucho Marx The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Dorothy Parker.... °°So, how do these other mundane people who work in same corporate back office, churning out software to the masses, get to occupy the same stage with the likes of Golda Meir, Billy Graham, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Robbins, Magic Johnstone, Paul Newman,Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul the second, Barak Obama: all of whom have Charisma in spades? I'm damned if I know, honestly!************************************************ ***While motivating your sales team in Boondockville to send out more and more antivirus software, might earn you enough to drive a Lexus, BUT it should never guarantee you a place on any stage, speaking. Unless of course, you happen to be a great speaker/storyteller and can inspire and delight an audience anyway..************************* How did all these second-rate corporate ants, Johnny-come-lately journos and reality star-wanabees land up behind a microphone? Answers on a postcard please, you can win a trip with me, listening to some of them. *********Im looking forward to @garyvee of wine libary TV, and Chris Brogan talk at le Web today. Even if I hated wine, and social media and NJ was my least favourite dialect, I could still listen to them because they have passion for the subject ! ********************* Here's what I recently wrote on the subject "If you are not passionate about your project/product, no one else will get it either. I'm surrounded by Computer Science graduates, who insist they will programme their rise to the top, every step of the way, exercise complete control, and force their brilliant new idea into our homes". .... I have one thing to say.... if you can't generate excitement, and lets face it, some of us just cant, then pay someone else to light the fireworks for you. AND GET OUT OF THE WAY. #Know someone who inspires you, or not? let me know, post a comment here and tweet about it. Donna Jackson, Social Communications Strategist