Public speaking
Speak Authentically And Express Your Emotions
How to reveal yourself authentically
Sometimes the detours shorten.
I look up and slide into the intense blue of her eyes, seemingly larger than usual. Her eyebrows are raised and two wrinkles ripple across her forehead.
It’s the last day of second grade.
I’m standing by the desk, holding a box full of white chalk in my clenched hand. 100 pieces of chalk, the kind that leaves its soft mark on the blackboard without squeaking.
“I brought it for our class”, I say in a whisper.
“And why on the last day of school, Raluca?” She asked?
The firmness of her puzzlement shakes me like driving over a pothole in the road.
I’m silent. I wait…
Scenes of these two years and moments from my conversation with my parents a few days ago are playing in my mind.
I was in school number 22 on the other side of town. My special, silver-haired, blue-eyed teacher, a family friend of mine. Her last generation.
I’d leave home at 6:00 in the morning so my dad could be at the hospital at 7:00 for his on-call report, after dropping me off at school.
After school we’d eat in the canteen and have boarding. We’d sleep long on the desks with our heads on our backpacks, do homework and go out to the park. My parents would pick me up around 5 o’clock.
After 2 years like that, my parents decided to move me to a school in the neighbourhood, closer to home.
“But don’t tell the teacher, we’ll be diplomatic about it.”
I solemnly promised.
The chalk box was my roundabout way of saying; “thank you for these two years. I won’t be here next year.”
Honestly, in the excitement of the moment I think I mumbled something, not even very understandable.
“You know, I won’t be here next year! I’m moving to another school.”
Shortcuts shorten the relationship and the authenticity of communication.
Say what you mean!
Whether we’re talking about public speaking or our own interactions, authenticity is key.
What does authentic communication mean to you?
What does it mean to be authentic and express your emotions?
Here’s what I see in this (if we’re talking about public speaking) right now:
Believe what you say.
Put yourself into the content, let your personality, your values, your beliefs shine through in the message you deliver.
When you speak from the energy of what you believe in you are more convincing. You know that, don’t you? Have you ever tried to convince someone of something you didn’t believe? How was it?
Be comfortable appearing to be who you are to people, while remaining open to the audience, allowing them to have their reactions, whatever they may be.
Let your outer expression mirror your inner reality.
Do not contradict yourself through your body language. Create harmony between what you say and what you do (in fact this is the definition of authenticity in everyday interactions as well)
“Authenticity is when you say and do things you truly believe in.”
Simon Sineck
Don’t calculate your gestures. Let them flow as conversationally as possible and reinforce your verbal message
Let your humanity show through, let your emotions touch your audience, with vulnerability, but also with the knowledge to steer emotion in the right direction, to interweave low emotions with high emotions and support the motivation and energy charge of your listeners
Get out of the calculated image of ‘who should I be’ and speak from who you are.
Audiences get a sense of authenticity in the speaker. Your public simply opens up to someone who is vulnerable and speaks from the heart. They offer trust and become receptive to the message.
So, let your personality shine through in what you say, let the audience see glimpses of how close friends know you. Open yourself up and show the heart and soul in you, the vulnerable, emotional you, not just the expert and professional you.
“The way to do is to be .”
Lao Tzu
If you haven’t read the first part of this trilogy about connecting to your audience using emotion you can find it here:
Want to make your presentations magnetically attractive? Discover how to captivate and engage your public from my free guide: Speak so that people listen.
