Just for giggles I just looked up the definition of the word authenticity and found explanations from being truthfulness, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions. The best description I found was in the Wikipedia and it was listed that “authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures”.

How many times have we been told to memorize this script, reside or use this closing line or trick to close a deal?

I was sitting in the office the other day and an agent from California, who I have known for years, called me out of the blue to check in with me.

She moved her license to another Real Estate Brokerage firm over a year ago and was very frustrated. She has not seen the sales she has been hoping for even so she took all of the company’s’ training. Memorized every script and closing technique she was given.

After a short roll-play via Skype with her I realized what she was missing.

She was missing herself, her own true self, the authentic her I have known for so many years. She was no longer there. She stuck herself in a box of line memorization and monotone presentation when meeting with potential clients.

When you are not the true self in any presentation it will show. Potential clients will see right through the smoke and mirror you put up. Yes, you should have necessary information handy and ready to go when meeting with a client or potential client.

When giving a presentation don’t use the memorized scripts or lines. Make them yours and when they later don’t look anything close to what the originals were, that is OK. They are yours and they will reflect the true you and no one else. When you are with a client, be yourself and never forget that the most valuable gift you have to offer to your clients is yourself and take off the mask.

She reminded me of a blog post I posted just recently about “being yourself”