Morgan's 4 Underlying Intents (Aims) to Become an Authentic Speaker

Rating

Morgan's 4 Underlying Intents (Aims) to Become an Authentic Speaker

The ability of communicating authentically (and being perceived as authentic person) is a very important leadership skill. When they possess it, leaders can relatively easily move others to a position they do not currently hold. Without it, cynicism prevails and stakeholders and employees become more refractory.
How to deliver an authentic speech and how to be perceived as an authentic person? When preparing for a speech and/or to increase your authenticity, Morgan says that people's natural and unstudied gestures are often indicators of what they will think and say next. That's why he recommends to not focus on specific tricks or gestures, but to tap into the basic impulses underlying your speech. These include 4 powerful "aims" or "intends" which you can actually practice: to be open, to connect, to be passionate, and to listen.

THE INTENT TO BE OPEN WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
Being open is the first and probably the most important thing to focus on. Because when you close yourself, the listeners will see you as defensive. Then you probably miss the chance for communication.
When giving a presentation, you need to feel like (not look like) doing this to someone who you are completely relaxed with. You can rehearse with a close friend or your spouse, remember the feeling of it, and just replicate that feeling at your speech.

THE INTENT TO CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
After getting the feeling of openness, now you need to focus on your audience and feel you really connect with them. How to keep their attention throughout your speech? One strategy is to find the ones from your audience that have the strongest connection with your topic and encourage them to interact with you during the presentation.

THE INTENT TO BE PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR TOPIC
Content is important for a presentation too, but your emotional connection with the topic is more important for an authentic speech. Think about why you are giving the speech and how you feel about that. Your passion will transform an average event/talk into something memorable for your audience.

THE INTENT TO "LISTEN" TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Discover the emotional status of your audience is the most important task during your presentation. Your listeners will give you nonverbal messages as a response to your speech. You need to pick them up and response back, such as change the pace, alter the language, even eliminate some parts of your talk. If the presentation has a Q&A session, that would be an opportunity to learn about your audience, make sure you listen to them with your whole body, in an appropriate gesture.

⇨ Do you agree with Morgan? Do you have any further tips on becoming an authentic speaker?

Source: Morgan, N., 2008. How to become an Authentic Speaker?. Harvard Business Review, November 2008.

		Comments by date▼ Comments by rating Rating
		2 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Speaking Authentically Interesting... But I'm not fully clear on your "Be Open..." point. This openness seems to relate to connecting, presumably required from the start. Defensiveness seems likely to arise as a reaction to negative questions or comments during Q&A after the presentation. Agree with what I understand re your second point. The need is not just to give an impression of being relaxed but to BE relaxed? This comes mainly, I believe, from confidence; in that you know that you know your stuff; from rehearsals, so the brain is in its comfort zone not its fear zone. Also unclear on your connected members to "interact" point. Questions-interrupting- may be jumping ahead to points to be made, may disrupt the presenter's 'flow' and the 'story-images' being created in the audience's heads. Agree with your last two points, although I use different words. I use the word "enthusiastic" rather than "passionate". In training I emphasise that this is the most important aspect of presenting. Above and beyond all the techniques show enthusiasm (and when you can fake this, you are doing good. Arises from the mandate to never give the same presentation more than three times; or you risk parroting it, make changes to ensure that you remain fresh in your delivery. I use the term "observing" rather than "listening" and adjusting in the light of audience reactions. Mind map notes are an ideal notes format to assist 'pruning' on the go. I would suggest that a presenter needs to learn about their audience before writing the presentation, not at the Q&A point. This will enable them to tailor language and content rather than find that they are not on the same wave length after starting. This will assist with 'being open' / 'connecting', communicating with people not just talking to an audience. In many cases it is at the Q&A point that the presenter tends to relax and talk normally, particularly if they have been reading, head down so speaking stiltedly and this is the sense of authenticity that we want from the beginning.

		2 Chloe Xu Director, Australia
	Re: Speaking Authentically @Maurice Hogarth: Hi Maurice, thank you for your reaction. "Being open" means that we are upfront of what we want to say and are ready to receive different viewpoints or questions from our listeners. Imagine the different mindset between when we are talking to a friend or to a stranger. In the first case, we are more relaxed in exchanging opinions and willing to listen to any feedback. We are more alert and ready and willing to respond if the catcher throws out a question. As for the interaction during a presentation, it is about audience engagement. We don't want the listeners to slide away into their thoughts when we are talking; we need to capture their attentions. I agree with your point that interactions may break the flow. But to engage our audience, we can probably throw out one or two quick questions at the end of a section.

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Speaking to Engage Hello Chloe. Thank you for your clarifying. Re the 'interacting' aspect: I agree with your point that you do not want the audience "to slide away into their own thoughts" if this is taking their min...

		2 Chloe Xu Director, Australia
	Seeking Echo from the Audience @Maurice Hogarth: My understanding of choosing "strong connection" over the "minimal interest" is an action of seeking echos, positive feedback, or support from the audience, which may help us to pers...

		2 Warren D. Miller, CPA, CFA Strategy Consultant, United States
	Becoming a Better Public Speaker The fastest, easiest, and least-expensive way that I know of to become a good speaker is to join Toastermasters. I grew up with a horrific stuttering problem. I mean, you cannot imagine how bad it was...