How do audience members typically respond when they hear an inauthentic speaker make a business presentation?

Reprint: R0811H

Like the best-laid schemes of mice and men, the best-rehearsed speeches go oft astray. No amount of preparation can counter an audience’s perception that the speaker is calculating or insincere. Why do so many managers have trouble communicating authenticity to their listeners?

Morgan, a communications coach for more than two decades, offers advice for overcoming this difficulty. Recent brain research shows that natural, unstudied gestures—what Morgan calls the “second conversation”—express emotions or impulses a split second before our thought processes have turned them into words. So the timing of practiced gestures will always be subtly off—just enough to be picked up by listeners’ unconscious ability to read body language.

If you can’t practice the unspoken part of your delivery, what can you do? Tap into four basic impulses underlying your speech—to be open to the audience, to connect with it, to be passionate, and to “listen” to how the audience is responding—and then rehearse your presentation with each in mind. You can become more open, for instance, by imagining that you’re speaking to your spouse or a close friend. To more readily connect, focus on needing to engage your listeners and then to keep their attention, as if you were speaking to a child who isn’t heeding your words. To convey your passion, identify the feelings behind your speech and let them come through. To listen, think about what the audience is probably feeling when you step up to the podium and be alert to the nonverbal messages of its members.

Internalizing these four impulses as you practice will help you come across as relaxed and authentic—and your body language will take care of itself.

You rehearsed your speech thoroughly—and mastered that all-important body language. But when you delivered the talk, you sensed little enthusiasm in your audience.

What’s going on? You’re probably coming across as artificial. The reason: When we rehearse specific body language elements, we use them incorrectly during the actual speech—slightly after speaking the associated words. Listeners feel something’s wrong, because during natural conversation, body language emerges before the associated words.

To demonstrate your authenticity, don’t rehearse your body language. Instead, imagine meeting four aims:

• Being open to your audience

• Connecting with your audience

• Being passionate about your topic

• Listening to your audience

When you rehearse this way, you’ll genuinely experience these feelings when delivering your speech. Your body language will emerge at the right moment. And your listeners will know you’re the real thing.

The Idea in Practice

Morgan recommends rehearsing your speeches with these four aims in mind:

Being Open to Your Audience

To rehearse being open, practice your speech by envisioning what it would be like to give your presentation to someone you’re completely comfortable with. The person could be your spouse, a close friend, or your child. Notice especially what this feels like: This is the emotional state you want to be in when you deliver the speech.

This state leads to more natural body language, such as smiles and relaxed shoulders. And the behaviors in turn lead to more candid expression of your thoughts and feelings.

Connecting with Your Audience

As you practice your speech, think about wanting to engage with your listeners. Imagine that a young child you know well isn’t heeding you. You want to capture—and keep—his attention however you can.

In such situations, you don’t strategize; you simply do what feels natural and appropriate. For example, you increase the intensity or volume of your voice or move closer to your listener. During your actual speech, these behaviors will happen naturally and with the right timing.

Being Passionate About Your Topic

While rehearsing, ask yourself what in your topic you feel deeply about: What’s at stake? What results do you want your presentation to produce? Focus not on what you want to say but on why you’re giving the speech and how you feel about it. Let the underlying emotion come out in every word you deliver during rehearsal. You’ll infuse the actual speech with some of that passion and come across as more human and engaging.

“Listening” to Your Audience

To practice fulfilling this aim, think about what your listeners will likely be feeling when you step up to begin your presentation. Are they excited about the future? Worried about bad news? As you practice, imagine watching them closely, looking for signs of their response to you.

During your presentation, you’ll be more prepared to identify the emotions your listeners are sending to you via nonverbal means. And you’ll be able to respond to them appropriately; for example, by picking up the pace, varying your language, asking an impromptu question, or even eliminating or changing parts of your talk.

At a companywide sales meeting, Carol, a vice president of sales, strides energetically to the podium, pauses for a few seconds to look at the audience, and then tells a story from her days as a field rep. She deftly segues from her anecdote to a positive assessment of the company’s sales outlook for the year, supplementing her speech with colorful slides showing strong growth and exciting new products in the pipeline. While describing those products, she accents her words with animated gestures.

A version of this article appeared in the November 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review.