AUTHENTIC VS. SYNTHETIC SPEAKERS
PRESENCE: (as in stage presence)
The state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place.
How "there" or present are you? Are you fully "there" where you are? The more present you are, the more of yourself you give to your audience, and the more authentic your presentation becomes.
There are specific characteristics used for comparisons between the authentic and the synthetic speaker. An authentic speaker is an extroverted, expressive,interested speaker whose presentation is natural and effortless. That speaker is looking outward, being who they truly are; they're "unleashed".
The synthetic speaker is trying to be interesting, but because they are fearful of unleashing themselves, they are very scripted, thinking about what they are going to say next, instead of about what is needed-in the moment-to drive a point home. Synthetic speakers typically try to emulate those whom they consider to be really good speakers, instead of being themselves, but because it's coming from an inauthentic place, this strategy always falls flat.
There are different degrees of "there-ness," and what I look for in my sessions with my executives, performing artists and my speakers is the degree of "there-ness" that they exude.
My goal is to help each of my clients be so "there" that they are not even tempted to think or look inward while they're presenting-to make sure that their attention is alive and fully on the audience, as though they were engaged in an engrossing conversation with them. I've found this approach to be a very effective tool in helping my clients really hit their mark as effective leaders and speakers.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Maintain the integrity of who you are, and don't lose sight of the ideas you embrace when you speak in public. You will never lose your audience if you never lose sight of your essential sense of truth. Be true to yourself, and your audience, in turn, will be true to you.
Here is a simple and effective exercise for you to do:
STRIVE FOR AUTHENTICITY
Get into the daily practice of noticing how many of the specific authentic and synthetic speaker traits are present in your conversations with others, both on your side and on theirs. Embrace the qualities under the authentic column and learn their opposites in the synthetic column to avoid them and be an authentic speaker.
AUTHENTIC VS Synthetic
Extroverted Introverted
Expressing Impressing
Interested Interesting
Natural Artificial
Effortless Forced
Reaching Restraining
Observing Opinionated
Looking Thinking
All the best!!
Joe Yazbeck
Internationally Published Best-Selling Author
Master Speaker & Coach