When most people think of speakers or seminar leaders or trainers, they think of this perfectly polished, perfectly sounding, perfect looking person on stage with the perfect vocabulary and the perfect gestures and the perfect hair and the perfect on and on and on.
I mean come on, you’re on stage in front of hundreds or even thousands of people, so you better look and sound as perfect as possible, yes or yes? And the answer, of course, is, NO!
Be authentic. I repeat —BE AUTHENTIC.
Authentic is a thousand times more important and more impressive than perfect. Here’s why:
1. People Can Detect Inauthenticity
The truth is, people can tell when you’re not being honest with them. When you try to put on a performance that doesn’t come naturally to you, you can do a lot more harm than good! Instead, look and act and sound like your everyday self to put your audience at ease.
It’s perfectly ok if you say “um” or “ah” or stumble on your words. It’s even okay if you forget what you’re talking about! Really great trainers don’t try and memorize everything. I keep my notes right in front of me at my own trainings to help guide me and keep me on track with what I’m talking about.
2. People Embrace Your Imperfections
People embrace your imperfections — it makes them relate to you more.
Here’s what happens when you give a speech or presentation that’s over-rehearsed: people get uncomfortable. They don’t like you and they aren’t sure why. They know you can’t possibly be like this in real life, so they wonder what’s hiding behind the mask of your perfect appearance, perfect words and perfect smile.
Even worse… You just end up reminding your audience of their own imperfections! Instead of making them feel at ease, you make them feel insecure. This isn’t even happening on a conscious level. Just the idea of perfection makes people feel uncomfortable and makes them not like you.
You know what I do when I lose my place in front of an audience? If I’m away from my notes and get off topic, or forget where I was, I ask the audience. I say, “Hey, what were we talking about?” It always gets a laugh. They tell me, we work together, and the training keeps going.
No one cares that you’re not perfect. In fact, most people love it because they aren’t perfect either!
When you’re on stage or in any setting where you’re teaching a group of people, be the REAL you despite some of your imperfections or weaknesses because they don’t care — they know that you’re real and consequently, they’ll then know that what you say is also real. This principle is something I discuss in more detail in my free web class, Teach And Get Rich. To learn more, click here.
Reason #2 why authenticity is the most important thing you can do while public speaking: No one cares that you're not perfect. Most people love it because they aren’t perfect either! Share on X
3. It’s Not About You Anyway — So Focus On Your Audience!
The truth is, your audience doesn’t really care much about you. They care about themselves. That’s not selfish. That’s human nature.
Who cares if you’re not perfect or polished or even good-looking? None of that affects their life.
It’s about the connection you form with your audience that moves them and makes them interested to learn more.
It’s about what you are teaching, the knowledge and information you provide, and what result it’s going to have for them.
The next time you start to feel insecure or worried that you’re not good enough or perfect enough, just remember: it’s not about you. It’s about them. So be yourself!
Not sure what to teach or train others for side income or as a business?
Get your FREE worksheet here to discover what topics you can teach or train!
4. Professional Presentation Training Can Often Do More Harm Than Good
There’s no “right way” to train people so don’t believe everything you learn about how to present or teach well. In my opinion, formal training isn’t worth your time or money. Why? Because formal training is about smoothing out your weaknesses and imperfections.
You leave your training session being less authentic than ever, with tons of “correct” postures, gestures, and speech effects you were taught to practice. And when you go in front of a crowd, they don’t know who you really are as a person. They don’t trust you. They aren’t comfortable.
So not only have you spent your valuable time and money developing “skills” that don’t help as much as you think they do, you may actually be making your presentations less effective.
Remember: your audience might be able to learn the information you’re presenting elsewhere, but they’re choosing YOU for your unique approach and perspective.
Here’s what it all boils down to:
When You Are Not Authentic, Your Audience Can Smell It!
Sure, they’ll smile and clap for you at the time. But they will never buy your product or come back to learn from you.
You already have what it takes to go up on stage or do online trainings, change people’s lives and become successful.
But what you may not have is a proven step-by-step process that shows you how to use your authenticity to become a confident and effective speaker that gets rich.
That’s why I’m inviting you to attend my brand new free web class called:
Teach And Get Rich:
“How To Make $100,000 In A Single Weekend Teaching What You Know And Love”
In this web class you’ll learn:
- How you can get paid to teach what you love, all while being yourself and using my unique teaching methods to get rich
- The exact strategy that small businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs, coaches, and authors use to double and triple their business revenue every year
- 9 critical (but super simple) secrets that turn a beginner speaker into a pro speaker
- And much, much more
Instead of a long list of do’s and don’ts, designed to make you the perfect presenter, I want to give you the 9 critical secrets to turn a beginning speaker into a pro and an advanced speaker into a multimillionaire. The class is absolutely free! Good or GREAT?
Click here to register or select a date and time below that works best for you. See you there!
What did you think of the article above? Do you feel authenticity is the most important quality for any speaker? Please share in the comments section below!
For Your Freedom,
UP NEXT:
Why You’re Already “Qualified” To Teach – Even If You Don’t Know It Yet
Awesome! 🙂