Imitations don’t sell- everyone knows it, yet they don’t give up on it!

The most difficult task for me while coaching my mentees is to get them to unlearn wrong practices or ‘styles’, they have picked from popular speakers.

We are in a world of YouTube, Instagram and multiple online media platforms rolling out videos by the second. There are many ‘influencers’ and ‘motivational gurus’ who have grown popular for their content and style.  Many want to become like them or wish to copy their style, because they feel it’s ‘cool’ and they too would develop a follower base. Many believe Public Speaking is what people showcase on the videos.

I have had a few clients reach out to me mentioning names of popular influencers and saying “I want to become like him/her. I also want to have a YouTube channel” and when I see them delivering their speeches, they end up being a terrible imitation of the original influencer. In fact there are times when it turns out to be a comedy!

What one must understand is that each person has a unique style and way of delivery and it suits them best.  Trying to emulate them will get you nowhere.

The reasons I have heard as to why people try to copy or imitate someone’s style or way of delivery are:

• They are popular because of their ‘Style’, so it will work for me as well
• As a public speaker it’s important to appear ‘sophisticated’ and one way to achieve it is by imitating a popular icon.
• Public Speaking is about displaying your intellect and therefore you need to appear larger than life!
• “I don’t know how I need to appear or behave on stage, so let me imitate someone who is a popular”
• Many even imitate a speaker unknowingly. It is probably a sub-conscious impact of watching a lot of their videos.

Let me tell you this – Simplicity is the greatest sophistication. The simpler your approach, the greater is the connect you establish with your audience. You don’t need to appear intellectual but speak using simple words and with clarity to create an impact.

As a coach, the one aspect I always focus on while coaching, is to understand each mentee’s inherent style and help them discover a better version of themselves. A coach should never produce clones of himself!

As an aspiring Public Speaker, a few things you must figure out in the due course of your journey on stage are:

• What is your natural style? ….and learn to accept and hone it-Each person has a natural style of the way he/she speaks (when they aren’t conscious of their surroundings). It is important to identify it and work on improving it, rather than trying to imitate a speaker.
• Work on your ‘crutches’- Crutches are mannerisms or movements we sub-consciously resort to while we are on stage. This could be things like a clenched fist, pointed fingers, casual stage posture(where you are standing with your bodyweight on one leg ) or even using filler words like “You know” often as a way of expression. It is important to identify these crutches and work at eliminating them. A good coach will easily identify these and work with you at overcoming it. Another way to identify your crutches is to record your speech and watch it.

If you stick to these fundamentals, with time you will develop your own natural style and that would become your identity.

Life is about creating your own identity and not being identified as a ‘clone’ of another speaker.

Discover your true style on stage and the world will love you for it!