Why authenticity matters

We communicate for a range of reasons: to inform, to persuade, to connect. Regardless of the purpose, though, authenticity is critical.

When we meet someone, we take meaning from much more than what they say to us. Tone of voice, facial expression, and body language are all critical. We also interpret other things we can see: their clothing, grooming choices, accent and more. A thousand signs and signifiers inform our judgements about whether someone is trustworthy, and how we will rate what they tell us.

Tiny signals help us determine if someone is credible and trustworthy, and whether we like them: often a critical but important element in persuasion.

These lessons count not only face-to-face, but for how we present ourselves in other ways too: in media interviews, in articles, our social media presence and more. Authenticity is an important aspect of this. If we think someone is being ‘authentic’ - their real selves, we are more likely to hear and trust what they say.

We all want to put our ‘best foot forwards’ but a hyper-polished presentation is not always the best bet. And if you are not a strong writer, or perhaps not a confident one, it can be tempting to hand the pen over to someone else who lives by words and could write something outstanding.

This can be a mistake. People may not want to hear from your ‘best you’. They may want to hear from the ‘real you’. That person may be more relatable, and hopefully also pretty trustable.