What is TRUE Authenticity?

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of Biz Bytes. Now, before we get into the regular program, I just wanted to take stock and give you a little bit of a listen back to a few key moments in recent podcasts with three particular guests. Take a listen to this. We’re all humans, right? No matter what experience we have, what job we have, how much money we make.

Probably lost more money than anybody could ever imagine, and Very tiny things, particularly words that we use, can seriously change the outcomes that people get. Doesn’t do context. And it doesn’t have consequences. That’s not going to get sued. Humans who’ve used chat and did something are going to get sued. Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of Biz Bytes. Now, normally on Biz Bytes at this point in time, I’m going to be introducing a guest for the program, but on this particular occasion, we have no guests, so I hope you’re still staying tuned and listening into this particular program. There’s a reason for it.

Now we’ve had some amazing guests on the program and I want you to digest some of that information over a period of time as well. And don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of guests coming up on the program, but I wanted to take stock. I wanted to take a little bit of a listen to what I’ve been hearing. As feedback, not just on the program, but as I’ve been travelling and talking to people online and in various other networking situations, there’s a big issue, I think, at the moment with this whole idea of authenticity and creating credibility.

Now, I Anyone that’s seen any of my posts in recent times will know that I’m certainly a big advocate for podcasting and I have my separate podcast as well, podcast done for you and the podcast done for you channel. That’s a big element of what I wanted to talk to you about, but not as directly as going by the program.

Love you to talk to me about that, but that’s not the purpose. The purpose is to really discuss this whole concept of why Authenticity is not just a word that is being thrown out there as another one of these catchphrases that seems to have lasted a long time. It is a genuine concept that I think we’ve lost sight of.

In many respects, particularly in the past 18 months, there’s been such a surge in this whole idea of AI. And it’s been dominated of course, by the likes of chat GPT. Everyone is jumping on that bandwagon and losing sight of what relationships are really about, which is real conversations responding, really.

And this is the most sincere way to people in front of you. What I’ve found is really interesting is that as I’ve been talking to more and more people as part of the podcast, sometimes I’ve heard the stories before, whether it’s been on another program or in a situation where I first met the person, but the way they tell the story, in my podcast is different.

And so it should be because they’ve responded to the questions, the conversation that we’re having. Sometimes you may tell the same story, but it’s not told in exactly the same way. We’ve all had that before, haven’t we? We’ve told a story to someone and found ourselves telling that story again and again, as it may be over the years.

And I’m sure our partners will prod us on the fact that are you telling that story again. But each time it might be slightly different because it depends who’s in front of you. It might be to do with the amount of time you’ve got, it might be about the emphasis that you put on certain areas, whatever it is about responding.

So people get a real sense of who you are and what you’re about. And that is something that no AI tool is going to be able to do. It can’t respond in a way of knowing what is in front of them and how to read that situation and the way to tell a story that is essentially your story. It’s your experience and your take on that experience.

And if you think about many of your stories over the years, your take on the impact of whatever is happening in that story varies over time. Sometimes it’s because it’s just a distance thing between the events, but other times it’s because you’ve learned more and the way you might have viewed something now to the way you viewed it then could be quite different.

And I think that’s an important factor as well to consider when you’re going along this authentic trail. Now, The reason I wanted to raise this with you is not just because of the upsurge in AI as a general rule, but to get more specific. So I have been posting consistently, as you might know, on LinkedIn for some years now.

And what has frustrated me no end is the never ending, it seems the amount of comments from people who clearly are ticking a box as far as The idea of commenting is concerned and utilising an AI tool without actually bothering to view the content in any real form. It always surprises me when you post a 30 to 90 second video and the amount of people that say, I’m looking forward to watching that later.

Really? Later? When is it later? Because we all know you’re not going back to that post. So why even bother saying it? It’s because you’re ticking a box and you don’t even realise what you’re writing. Now that doesn’t do anyone any good. It doesn’t do much good for posting it. It doesn’t do you any good for being responsible for the comment as well.

So you’re penalising everyone with very little gain. And I have no doubt that as we’re moving along that tools like LinkedIn. know when AI is being used and know when a post or a comment from someone is actually real. And why do it in a real way? Simply because engagement is where it’s at. I look back and I’m inviting you to do the same.

I look back on who my clients are and have been over the last 13 years that I’ve been in business. And the majority of them I’ve built long term relationships with. The majority of them have come from building engagement with them over an extended period of time, even before they became clients. And I hear that all the time from businesses.

So what do you think you’re gaining by just putting out messages with a very inauthentic approach? There’s this. There are clever tools and look, I’ve experimented with them as well. I’m not saying I haven’t tried these things. I’m speaking from a point of knowledge. There are tools out there that will alter a video very slightly so that it feels personal when it’s not have you seen the videos?

I’m sure you know where you have someone talking to you and they say your name at the beginning, but if you really went back and watched it did they really say your name? Because the AI tool is clever enough to be able to personalise these things for you. And we’ll make your lips move and we’ll make the voice sound like yours.

So it’s very difficult to tell. They’ll put a background behind your talking head, for example, scrolling through a website or looking at images or whatever else it might be. How do you know it’s real? And that’s what’s challenging, I think, is that when you are having something that is definitely pre prepared, then knowing whether it’s a real person who’s talking to you or it’s an AI it’s difficult to tell.

Some of you may say, does it really matter if they appear to be giving me the information? Does it really matter whether it’s real or not? I think in growing, the growing concern is that it does matter because if you start a relationship based on a lie that you’ve not actually sent them a video.

that you were responsible for at that moment. Then, you might know who’s on the list, although many people don’t know who’s on the list of who an email is going out to with personalised material on it. And then you may also find yourself not being aware of the contents in relationship to that particular person because there’s nothing worse than sending something out and not realising that you actually know more about that person than what that video that is very generic is saying or that even if you didn’t know something before a quick look helps you reveal that you would have taken a slightly different approach had you have known who it was for.

That’s all the value of authenticity. And that’s why I don’t really love that approach in sending those things out. Now. Does that mean that I haven’t done it? I’m not going to say you may be sitting there watching and going, hang on, I’ve seen you send one of those videos. Yes, I’ve tried it. And I think it is important to try these things until you work it out and see what works for you and what doesn’t.

What I am doubling down on now is relationships because relationships really do matter. Now, those of you that are sitting here and listening to this podcast, or if you’re watching it on the YouTube channel, then. Hopefully, you’re getting to know me a little bit better. You’re getting to understand who I am and what I’m about.

And that’s not just from this episode, but from multiple episodes of the podcast, you’ll understand what my areas of expertise are and how I can give you this information. Because my background is as a communications expert. For those of you that have heard my story before, you’ll know, for example, that I started my career in radio.

I’ve done a degree in broadcast journalism. I’ve worked in television, talkback radio, and I’ve worked in the corporate and not for profit sector and I’ve been in my business now in my small, in targeting mostly small businesses, but also a handful of not for profits for the last 13 plus years, all the time we have been about exposing other people’s brilliance.

That is solely what we do, it plays out in many forms and podcasts are the most recent addition to our list of things that we do. And it’s become the main focus. And the reason it’s become the main focus is because in many respects. It’s taking me full circle because it’s taking me back to my radio days that I absolutely loved.

And I’m a big believer in the value of talk back radio and of interviews and getting to know people in that particular way. But also because ultimately it goes back to what we were talking about before this whole concept of authenticity. Now here’s the difference. Whilst you can have these generic videos that can say all these things.

Things and can in, insert certain personalizations and the like. A podcast is a whole different premise. We’re about creating consistent content and conversations with you. You know I’m talking to you now. That’s right. You are listening to this right now. That’s who I’m having a conversation with.

Now, there are other times when I’m having a conversation with someone that I’m interviewing and that in turn is about wanting you to have a fly on the wall aspect and. Feel as though we’re talking to you in the conversation that we’re having. But at the end of the day, it’s about being real. It’s about having those informed, responsive conversations.

And I do like to call it a conversation rather than an interview because I’m not looking to interview someone in a way that you might appear on a current affair style program. I’m looking to have an informed conversation with them. It’s why, again, why I think podcasts are such a great tool.

And a valuable source of information to people, but I want to take it one step further. And I’m going to give full credit here to George Bryant and those of you that are. Avid followers of not just me, but of the podcast will know that I spoke to George Bryant in the most recent episode, and we’re going to be getting him back again on the program very soon.

George is an absolute S expert in client relationships. And one of the big things that he talks about is this whole idea. of people needing to feel safe. It’s beyond that whole idea of no, and trust. It’s the next step. It’s people feeling safe with you. And what’s really interesting is that if you build up a level of no, and trust, which you can do through a podcast, the next level is an absolute absolute must and a critical step is to make people feel safe when they engage with you one on one.

And there are lots of ways that you can do that, and my job here today is not to go through all of those, except to say to you, to make people feel safe, it’s all about how you continue the conversation. That’s why podcasts are also really important, because you want them to be real and authentic. I don’t want you to feel as though I’m putting on some kind of show here, and then when you come and deal with me, you don’t get the show, you get something completely different.

very much. There’s no show here. This is who I am. This is me talking to you. I can tell you I’m looking at you directly because of my setup here, but I don’t have a script here at all. I’m not looking to script it. I want to be real with you. I wanted to see where this was going to take us in this conversation, not to pre plan it out in some elaborate way and read a script to you.

And I think you could tell if I was reading a script, it would be a little bit more obvious, maybe not as obvious as that. But it’s actually a difficult thing to pull off to read a script in a particular way. Newsreaders practise it. a lot before they get really good at it.

Actors practise a lot before they get really good at it. Chances are, if you’re in business, you’re not good at it unless you happen to have one of those other skills on the side, but even so you can tell. So it is about being real. And when you’re real with people, You give an opportunity to really take people to that next level when they engage with you directly and make them feel safe.

How do you make them feel safe? You have to basically not make them feel any buyer’s remorse. You have to make them feel like they really are. That you’re really in there for them from day one. If you’re leaving a huge gap between when you first engage with them and take a deposit, perhaps whatever the, or process is to when you start doing things for them, or if you immediately just send them to a whole bunch of videos and try and send them more stuff, you’re not making them feel safe.

You’re not making them feel loved. So really the whole role of a podcast is to introduce the concept of which you want to engage with people on a direct basis. I think that’s an important idea and it’s something that I’m more than happy to explore further with anyone who’s interested because I have a whole series of models that I can talk about and tell you why it’s really important, but I want you to understand that concept of safety and definitely check out George Bryant and Mind of George podcast if you want to know more about that sort of stuff as well.

But I want to get back to this whole concept of being real. And why it matters more than ever. The simple fact of the matter is that we have less and less attention span. But the one thing that is cutting through is podcasts. And I find that really quite interesting and fascinating. The amount of people that tell me that they will listen to a podcast.

Now it might be for 15 minutes a day, or it might be an hour. Often it’s tied to travel time or people out there. It’s out walking, exercising in some way, shape or form, whatever is the excuse for doing it. There is a solid time when people tend to focus because often people will tell you, did you hear the podcast and about this and about that?

And they can tell you detailed information about it. Don’t you want to be on the back end of that? Don’t you want to be the person delivering that? I hope that’s exactly what you’re going to do when you sit and listen to this podcast. is Share some of the details with your colleagues, with your peers, because it is so important to get cut through in business and to have that real conversation.

So here’s the difference, right? You are listening to me right now. Now, unless you are already one of my clients and thank you for listening into the podcast as well. And let me know if you are, cause I always want your feedback. Most of you that are listening now are not my clients at the moment. We may not have ever had a direct conversation.

I’d love to change that. And I hope you will engage with me and book a time just even if it’s to get to know you and check out my website and you can see there’s a book now link and you can happily book a 15 minute introductory call and we can have a chat and get to know one another. But that’s the thing, isn’t it?

That I can have that reach out to you now on multiple levels on multiple platforms. By being real. If I just simply put out a message that said, Hey, book an appointment with me. How many people do you think would actually respond? And how many people do respond? We’ve all tried. Haven’t we sent out these generic kinds of messages and whether it’s got an AI attached to it or not, we’ve sent them out in the hope that people will book a meeting with us and that it will get somewhere.

The difference is here that by listening to me now, you’ve, I’ve, you’ve heard a bit of a conversation that we’re having, I’m having with you and you’ve I’ve been able to cross reference, not only with, the materials that are out there for me, but other podcasts episode to understand who I am and what I’m about.

There’s a reason you want to book a meeting with us. You want to continue this conversation about authenticity. You want to investigate the idea of a podcast and if it’s right for you and how to go about doing it. And I’m more than happy to help you with those things. And those of you that reach out do so because firstly, you’ve got to know and trust me.

And then hopefully what I’m going to do is make you feel safe and want to engage and do more so that we can build the relationship and see if a podcast is, in the, on the horizon for you, or if you need help with other marketing related activities. Let’s start from a point of knowledge that you understand who I am, what I’m about, the people I mix with.

I’m really proud of the fact that. The many of the guests that I’ve had ongoing relations with in a business sense from a, from sometimes from years before they’ve been on the show other times as a result of being on the program. And that’s something that I’m really excited about.

And it is something that I want you to consider doing for your business because authentic conversations matter. They build your network. They build the audience and they ultimately build opportunities for you to grow your business. So I’d love to have a conversation with you about it. I hope you’ve appreciated some of the things that I’ve had to say.

I always welcome your feedback on this. One of the things that I would like to just mention at the tail end of this is please. I’d love it if you would subscribe to the YouTube channel. The reason I’m asking you to subscribe to YouTube, even if you are listening right now on Spotify or Apple or Amazon or any other podcast platform, where of course, I’d love you to hit the like and subscribe and comment button on there.

But the value of also subscribing to our YouTube channel is you’re not just supporting my podcast, but you’re supporting all the podcasts that we’re supporting by bringing them to the public. And there are a number of those that are sitting on that channel and that’s, and I’d love you to have one of those podcasts on that channel in the future.

So hit subscribe and hear not just from me, but from all of the podcasts. That we’re working with not all of them, but certainly a great sample of the podcasts that we’re working with at the moment. So again, thank you for your attention. And also, I’m going to break all of the rules here and tell you to do lots of things at the end of it, because All the experts will tell you and including me is saying, give one message at the end and the message is subscribe to the YouTube channel.

But I also want to say to you, don’t be afraid to reach out. And if you ask someone or you know someone who you think I should have as a guest on my program I’m always welcome to those suggestions as well. You can reach out to me in any way. The best way to do it is either through LinkedIn.

Or perhaps via email you can get all of those details. You can comment, you can connect with me through my website. There’s lots of ways to do that. I’d love to hear from you. Always open to those suggestions because we want to continue the calibre of guests that we’ve had in recent times. A big shout out to George Bryant, who’s just.

really given so much information to me and to those that have engaged with him in recent times also to to my, yeah, good old friend, Paul Dunn, who was another recent guest on the program and John Autridge who more recent person that I’ve started to engage with regularly and a bunch of others like Simon Bowen.

Thank you so much for what you’ve given to my podcast and I look forward to having everyone’s company and to have more guests on coming programs. Always feel free to reach out. As I said, please subscribe to the YouTube channel and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Be real, be authentic, and more than anything else, think about getting your own podcast.