Be yourself when presenting

"Be yourself"

"Be authentic"

These are two of the most common tips I hear when I ask people for their top presentation tips.

Trouble is, if you are on the receiving end of that tip, what exactly does it mean you need to do?

And there's more. The next tip people often give is "Tailor the presentation to the audience" - Does that mean you should also tailor your style to the audience? Doesn't that conflict with "be yourself"?

Here's our guide to being authentic as a presenter.

First off, presenting IS different to other types of communication, so be yourself should not mean, "present exactly the same as you talk to a colleague".

And...that means we each need to go out and find our comfortable, natural presentation voice. You need to work on establishing what it is.

4 years ago I watched a bunch of Tony Robbins videos and then decided I would try on some of his techniques in real life. You can probably guess the result - my feedback from participants dipped as my attempts to inspire them felt awkward!

Find the right role model

But, in that failure lay the solution. You do need to borrow from other people, but pick people who are similar to you.

Just like if you read the holiday reviews or wine recommendations, there is no point in listening to the views of people who have totally different taste to you.

My reference point is actually a weather presenter and election analyst. From the UK, 30 years ago, a guy called Peter Snow. I loved his energy and enthusiasm for presenting facts and numbers, and revealing what it all meant - the insight.

I found my natural style is to move between low and high energy, to focus on revealing insights, to try and be humble and be a servant of the audience.

It's a journey

Recently someone asked me what would be the name of my movie if I turned my life into a movie, and I decided it would be "Journey to the Centre of the Onion".

That means to me that life is a journey of self discovery - trying to get to know yourself and why you do the things you do. Peeling back the layers.

And presenting is like that.

You may not actually know who is your authentic self. That may evolve over time (the self is not as fixed as we like to believe!).

Keep going on your journey towards authenticity.

So, get out there and try some new ways of presenting and see if they a) feel natural / comfortable to you, and you enjoy doing them and b) if they resonate with the audience and help you succeed.

That's how I think you can be yourself, be a great presenter, and get yourself nearer to the best version of who you are meant to be.