Open any books and blog posts about how to improve public speaking skills, you are sure to find the word “authenticity”.
What is exactly authenticity and why is it being mentioned everywhere?
Authenticity, according to America’s top communication coach Nick Morgan, is “the most important quality in leadership communications; with it, you can move people to action; without it, you can’t even get a hearing.”
Authenticity is critical in any communication, whether you are talking to one or one thousand. It speeds up the work of turning you into a powerful, persuasive and charismatic communicator.
What relevant words come to your mind when you see or hear the word “authenticity”?
Genuineness, sincerity, truthfulness, credibility……?
Wikipedia says, authenticity refers to the truthfulness of origins, ……, and intentions.
Improve Public Speaking Skills with Authenticity
[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”]You cannot present the emotion of excitement without being truly excited inside. [/pullquote] In public speaking, authenticity, to simply put, means “be yourself”. Be the person who you really are, and let your personality and natural style flow.
You may ask, “how to be yourself? Aren’t we told to use vocal variety and vary our body languages?”
Yes. But have you ever got frustrated and disappointed no matter how hard you try every time to inject various voices and body languages in your speech, you may be still told being mechanical and pre-programmed? Or you don’t feel like being yourself when you are so animated on the stage with various voices and body languages?
If you are not being yourself and putting another persona, you are seen unauthentic. You know the result of being unauthentic? You lose your audience and disconnect the communication link.
But isn’t it the way we are taught? When we are happy, we shall smile or laugh; when we are sad, we shall lower our voice or look down; when we are excited, we shall raise our voice or jump up; when are angry, we shall frown or even scream……
Well, that’s only half of the truth…
The Other Half of Truth in Improving Public Speaking Skills
To dig out the other half of the truth, you’ve got to understand that “Mind and Body are one”, one of the NLP presuppositions. It means, for every internal neutral pattern, there is a corresponding behavioral manifestation and vice versa.
What does it have to do with using vocal variety and body languages?
Huge correlation between them.
If you are going to present the emotion of excitement, you can not just raise your voice or jump up without being truly excited inside. People could feel the fakeness. To present the excitement, you need to align the internal with the external. How do you do that?
There are 2 ways to doing that.
Use Your Body to Look for Signs to Improve Public Speaking
Think back to a time when you are excited, (maybe it’s the moment before your first date?) Go back to that moment and note your body languages that go with it. Write down how your body languages look like and keep practicing them until they become natural. (This is called Anchoring in NLP and the body languages going with that particular emotion are called Anchors) Keep in mind that the key here is to keep practicing until it becomes natural.
Search inside Your Mind Think of Ways to Improve Public Speaking
Once the body languages of your excitement are etched in your memory board, you can draw it out anytime you need to present the excitement. You no longer need to search in your stockroom of gestures. In another word, you call back the Anchors whenever you want to present the excitement.
Prepare to Use Authenticity to Improve Public Speaking Skills?
List all the emotions you want to have in your speeches, think of a time when you are with every particular emotion, note the body languages going with the emotion, write them down, and keep practicing them until they become natural.
Similar to using any NLP techniques, it is essential that you put what you learn into practice.
To improve public speaking skills need not be difficult if you allow your authenticity to shine.
Remember, when you are truly yourself and unique, your audience will also perceive you as authentic and real.