Authenticity is an important key for clear and effective communication, both in one to one situations and in front of groups. If you want to be an excellent communicator, your style of communication must be genuine.
Being authentic means that your outer expression matches your inner experience. When you are authentic, you give yourself (and others)permission to express thoughts and emotions honestly.
Why is authenticity important? It is because your degree of comfort is related to the degree of authenticity you allow yourself to express. That means when you are committed to being genuine, you are more relaxed and comfortable with yourself. Conversely, your fear is locked up in your reluctance to be real. When you do not give yourself permission to be real, there will always be tension and a sense that you need to protect yourself from being “found out”.
Stage fright and fear of public speaking are examples of what happens when we are not willing to be authentic. The tension that happens in stage fright is partly because people feel that they can’t be real in front of groups. They may be very comfortable speaking one to one with others because they can be genuine, but they don’t give themselves the same permission to be real in front of groups of people. I like to say that stage fright is fear of feeling in front of folks. Somehow, people with stage fright edit out their authentic selves when they have to speak to groups. Once, you can express your self authentically in front of others, stage fright diminishes and we feel free to share ideas, insights and expertise.
