How to Be Authentic Eyes Roll
I learned a couple of pretty awesome things today, but this isn't one of them. And since it's a Sunday, and I have a couple of hours to kill, I'll write it down.
I read a handful of really, really great thinkers and writers. Over the years, my tolerance for sloppiness, spammy behavior, and bullshit has taken a huge hit. That's why there's only a handful left. I used to read dozens. Now I cull the herd at the slightest inkling of...oh Lord, I'm going to say it, please forgive me...inauthenticity.
Oy vey. Authenticity. A word that is regurgitated and spewed more times than a 12-pack of Natty Ice at a high school house party. Boy, do those marketers love it.
I'm sick of the business “experts”, marketing blogs, and social media gurus pounding the table about how to be “authentic”.
What does “authenticity” mean, anyway? Maybe there are two definitions:
- What they think it means
- What the actual definition is
The “what they think it means” definition is something you have to learn from taking an awesome webinar, or reading a “FREE white paper” or downloading a horrifically meaningless e-book. Basically, it's the Catholic Church camp: you can't talk to God, but through a priest. To get the answers you seek, you'll have to go through the middle man first.
This middle man has an agenda, of course. Whether it's to be kept in a job, to feel wanted or needed, or to skew God's words to mean what he thinks they should mean.
Well I think you can talk directly to God. You don't need any of these “expert” middle men to teach you how to be authentic. It's a natural, wonderful ability we are all born with.
Want to know how to truly be authentic? Just be.
True authenticity means no overthinking. Just type the words. Just say the thing. At a networking meeting, just laugh with your annoying cackle the way you always do.
Some of my best communications work has come through what I scientifically call “diarrhea of the mind”. I sit down and just blurt out my thoughts as fast as I can. No editing. No thinking.
The work that results from this technique is always my best. We can all tell when something is forced and when it's truly authentic. It's painful to read the forced stuff. Not to mention boring as all hell.
Crap. Ok, I lied a little. This diarrhea technique maybe does have a couple rules. I'll call them “clarifications”, however. (Hey, as I'm writing, my thoughts crystalize and new shit comes up. I'm not going to alter my previous statements. Makes me seem more “authentic” right? Ha!)
1. Edit ferociously
Once the “authenticity” has been spewed forth from your brain onto the page, step away for a while. Then come back and have a look. Everything you wrote is valuable. But go through and find the top 10% most precious nuggets. Cut everything else.
Obviously, when speaking, this is impossible. So skip to “clarification” #2.
2. Mad Respect
Treat people's eardrums and eyeballs like the precious, non-renewable resources that they are. Know that any attention any human gives you in any form is a gift, and revere it as such. If what you have to say is just sorta awesome or sorta funny or sorta helpful, ask yourself if it's worthy of their gift.
There it is. How to be an authentic business communicator in a mere 635 words. Looks like I violated my own rule of “edit ferociously”, doesn't it?
Whatever.
Hopefully you found this post incredibly awesome, incredibly funny, and incredibly helpful.
If not, I realize you've blessed me with your time and attention, and for this I am truly grateful.