Authenticity is key

This week I was coaching someone who was honing his speech for a local competition. It is often at these times when we are anxious to be successful that we begin to “perform” and forget who we are as people.

When we speak in public the audience wants to see who we really are. They want to feel the person touching them in a way that enables them to be drawn into the world of the speaker. I noticed that as we began to work on the connection with the audience that the speech took on a new life. The life of the speaker, his true thoughts and emotions came through and he immediately connected with me and I began to feel and “be” in his world. This allowed me to really listen to him and hear and experience the words rather than just have them bounce off me.

Sometimes in our desire to be successful we introduce ways of speaking that others have used. Mannerisms, gestures and stress patterns that our not ours naturally. The result is a false picture and the effect is to turn the audience off, far better to slightly exaggerate our own natural ways of being. When we speak on a stage it is necessary to make things larger so that we can be seen and heard at the back. Our natural gestures need to be bigger and our voice needs to be clearer and more powerful. However, the nature of who we really are is so vital in keeping the audience with us as we speak. We need to be as authentic as possible if we really want to have the greatest impact.

Who have you heard speak recently? What was your reaction? Did you feel the connection with the speaker and really believe they were authentic?

Martin Luther King was an incredible speaker. I remember the first time I heard him speak and how I was moved to tears – I was twelve years old and I really felt his words although I did not even understand all that he said.

My client came 2^nd in the competition – a really fantastic achievement as this was his first real test in the speaking world. Was he authentic – yes! Did he draw the audience in - yes! Was he pleased – of course!