Fascination Trigger #3: Mystique

Sally Hogshead is the author of Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation. In it, she talks about seven ways people can harness their natural personalities to be captivating to others. Every Wednesday, I'll be going over one of these triggers.

[If you missed the introduction to this series, click here. If you missed Power, the first trigger, click here. If you missed Passion, the second trigger, click here.]

I like that Mystique comes after Passion, because the two are fairly opposite. Whereas Passion engages the audience, Mystique self-engages, editing their ideas and opinions so as to not over-communicate with others. Just by virtue of being less heard, their opinions are more influential.

Television series have this down pat. They throw enough out there to tease, but not enough to tell the story line. Even news anchors do this...setting up the audience to anticipate receiving the latest breaking news. Mystique is all about raising questions and then not answering them.

Was Lee Harvey Oswald part of a conspiracy theory? This debate still drives people insane. There are more questions than answers.

According to Sally Hogshead, there are 5 defining characteristics of Mystique personalities:

1) Understated - they often stay in the background, out of the limelight. They observe and plan before acting, an never without thoughtful deliberation.

2) Complex -  since the Mystique controls their expressions and emotions, they can be hard to figure out. You just don't "know where you stand" with a Mystique.

3) Rational - the decisions made are based on data and quantitative information, gathered and analyzed thoroughly.

4) Reserved - they are usually guarded, and they never want to reveal with they are truly upset or angry, because this would be admitting a vulnerability.

5) Deliberate - they do not act on impulse, but are usually a bit more self-conscious, and comb through their thoughts and actions so as to only share what it essential.

One author who has Mystique written all over him is Polish author Krystian Bala. He is a convicted murderer serving 25 years for planning and committing the murder of Dariusz Janiszewski in 2000. The police in his town were stumped as to whodunit, until clues were found in Bala's on novel Amok, written in 2003. Turns out, it was a fictional version of his real-life killing, complete with information on the killer could have known. WHAT THE HECK?? Why would he do this? Of course, sales skyrocketed as readers looked for other clues in the book. And yes, that's a picture of him behind bars. Not that many authors have that fresh, jailbird brand.

Let's Analyze

How can Passion learn from Mystique? Vice Versa? Do you know anyone who is a good mix? What other traits might a Mystique have that lends them that certain something we all wish we had? Know any other Mystiques?