Book excerpt: It may be difficult to define, but we all know presence when we encounter it. Someone walks into the room and people step aside. Heads turn. When those with presence speak, people listen. When they ask, people answer. When they lead, people follow. People with presence look confident and comfortable, speak persuasively, think clearly even under pressure, and act with intention and integrity. Presence is not something you have to be born with. It's not about status symbols or position. It's not about who you are but about how you are. And it's something anyone can learn. Award-winning speaker and consultant Dianna Booher provides scores of practical tips on the physical qualities, communication techniques, thought processes, and attitudes that underlie powerful personal presence. This comprehen- sive guide will enable readers to become compelling leaders no matter what their current position. Booher shows how to master the dozens of small and significant things that work together to convey personal presence. She details how dress, body language, manners, and even your surroundings enhance credibility and build rapport. You'll learn to use voice and language to demonstrate competence and deliver clear and memorable messages, think strategically and organize ideas coherently, and relate to others in ways that convey genuine interest, respect, good humor, and reliability. Personal presence can help you get a date, a mate, a job, or a sale. It can help you lead a meeting, a movement, an organization, or a nation. Presence can take you wherever you want to go. With Dianna Booher's expert, entertaining advice, you can have the same kind of influence as the most successful CEOs, celebrities, and civic leaders.