Connection Cannot Exist Without Authenticity

I recently completed a class online to learn how to be a more inspirational speaker.  The class was aptly called SPEAK + INSPIRE.  

As part of the class, there was a large community on Facebook, with over 1700 people in it. Not too big, but big enough to feel a little nervous putting myself out there. As part of the class we had to shoot videos which we then shared in the group and they were commented on by any of those 1700 people.

Some people in the group were HIDING, others were PROVING, and still others were BEING.

Guess which ones had the most profound connections?

The ONES who were BEING.

Unfortunately, I was one of the PROVERS. I did all my videos, I didn’t hide my face or my voice, but I was putting on a mask and performing. I was doing all the “RIGHT THINGS” but not doing them with my HEART, and instead it all came from my EGO.

At the end of the class, I took some additional time to watch some of the other videos and realized that there were HUNDREDS of amazing people in the group who had CONNECTED with one another at a much deeper level than I had connected with anyone.

To put it simply, I was JEALOUS and SAD.

I thought I had done it. I thought that I had connected with people, but I really hadn’t. What had I done or not done? Why is it that the woman who helps people connect, couldn’t connect herself?

The answer was clear--I hadn’t been AUTHENTIC.

Luckily, to my great surprise, we are doing it all again. The instructor probably doesn’t even know, but there is a large contingency of us who have decided that we want to go DEEPER, so we started it all again. Each day, we are going back and re-watching the videos and re-doing the homework.

This round--I AM BEING REAL, and what a difference it makes. I have connected with people all over the WORLD. I am posting videos every day, rather than just when assigned. I am taking off the layers, and letting people see the real Theresa. As the instructor says, I am “putting skin in the game.”

It made me wonder if YOU are putting skin in the game where it really matters, or are you HIDING or PROVING?


Staying silent and/or letting your EGO drive you won’t lead to much change.

But being VULNERABLE and being AUTHENTIC, will allow for some of the walls to come down, and for bridges to be built.
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Compassion. Connection. Collaboration.