5 Habits of Interesting People

What makes someone interesting?

Or – as they say in marketing lingo – a person of interest to others?

It’s a combination of factors, really… and here are five of them for your consideration:

They are not vanilla

They’re quirky, pugnacious, determined, and they don’t give a rat’s ass what the rest of the world thinks. (They also don’t mind using terms like “rat’s ass” in a blog post.) Bottom line: wolves don’t lose sleep over what sheep think of them. Think Donald Trump or Bill Clinton. How vanilla are YOU?

 

They are articulate

Love ’em or hate ’em, these folks can articulate a point of view. Opinionated, loud, proud, and never dull. The sound bite “frequently wrong, never in doubt” was made for them. Think Dave Chapelle or Rachel Maddow. How quotable are YOU?

 

They stand FOR certain things

And they stand AGAINST other things. They energize their followers, antagonize their foes, and polarize the rest of us in the middle. Sound bite: If you don’t risk turning SOME people off, you’ll never turn anybody on. Think Howard Stern or Wanda Sykes. What stand are YOU taking?

 

They build movements larger than themselves

No matter how big, loud, rich, and famous they are – they’re building something bigger than themselves and strive to make an impact beyond themselves. Think Oprah or Bill Gates. What’s YOUR movement?

 

They don’t seek media – they ARE the media

They are tastemakers, movers, shakers, interviewers, and relationship-builders. They don’t wait for the media to come knocking – they are more likely to post videos, write articles, and interview others to feed their tribe a steady diet of top-notch content. What media did you create today?

I showed this list to my friend, Jeffrey Gitomer, the King of Sales, and he added a few more:

• they are attractive – not necessarily pretty
• their words make you think
• their ideas inspire you to take new and better action
• they make you want to connect with them so that you don’t “miss” anything
• they make you happy to be in their presence (virtually or in person)
• you will travel to see them
• they inspire YOU to become more interesting