More than ever, we demand authenticity of our leaders today.  The ones we haven’t already given up on.  And so of course authenticity is essential in communications. 

What is the latest research telling us about how to understand – and create – authenticity?  Can it in fact be created? 

The next big communications idea from neurological research is that we are unconscious experts in reading each other’s body language.  That was important for survival once, and it’s still essential for day-to-day living. 

The key word is ‘unconscious’.  We’re not very good at reading body language consciously.  It’s too subtle, it happens too fast, and we’re not wired to understand it.  But, at the unconscious level, something marvelous happens.  We don’t just read the body language.  We ascribe intent to it, and we do that in the blink of an eye – literally, before we can form a conscious thought about it. 

That is, we see a hand gesture, and, rather than stopping with that, saying to ourselves, Oh, what an interesting hand gesture, we react unconsciously to the intent:  she must be angry at me.  Then, we may have a conscious thought about it.  Or we may react emotionally, and just get uneasy. 

What that means to communicators is that much of our communication happens unconsciously, instantly, and before conscious thought.  That has important implications for how speakers show up – with authenticity, or not. 

If you show up unprepared, and nervous, the odds are good that your body language will signal that to the other bodies in the room.  People will read you as insincere, unprepared, incompetent, and so on.  The unconscious dialog will already be signaling trouble long before you’re consciously ready to try to make a good impression. 

The unconscious doesn’t make exceptions or give you a break.  It doesn’t think, he’s just probably a little nervous because it’s the beginning of a speech.  It just thinks, Oh-oh.  Trouble ahead.  One of the pack is nervous.  In fact, the one who’s supposed to be the alpha in charge. 

You’ll have failed to seem authentic, the fundamental test of leadership today, before you’ve fairly started.

That’s why it’s so important to prepare adequately for an important speech, meeting, or event.  That’s why it’s so important to be clear about the story you’re telling and your emotional attitude toward it.  That’s why it’s so important to be consistent in what I call the two conversations – content and body language. 

This insight is at the heart of my new book, Trust Me:  Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma.  http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Steps-Authenticity-Charisma/dp/0470404353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229113611&sr=1-1  Authenticity is too important to leave to chance today.  And so is charisma.