Being Authentic - Lessons From a Motivational Speaker

Be crystal clear about what authentic means.
**This is hugely misunderstood**

Authentic does not mean I am unfiltered onstage.

Authentic means the person I am offstage is the person I am onstage. The person I am offstage is complex. On one hand, I'm warm and kind and irreverent. On the other, I'm driven and business-orientated.

When it comes to the business of speaking, event planners want R-E-L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y. If you cannot deliver exactly the same talk, you'll struggle.

So I go onstage having rehearsed my talk so I know it backwards. Now I can be warm and kind and irreverently playful with the audience, confident I can come back on script when needed. This makes me 100% authentic on stage.