Here’s some more detail on the second core ingredient of story that we measure in my production house’s creative process. It’s the trickiest of all: Authenticity

It’s also the only ingredient that should never be compromised.

Authenticity is about point of view. Who is telling this and why should I trust them? Vulnerability is not a core competency of Brands™ and when most of them “speak,” they sound like the most insufferable person you got stuck with at your table at the networking luncheon.

Vulnerability is a scary concept for marketers, and honestly it shouldn’t even be necessary here. The reason I go all the way to Vulnerability is because we usually start in a place that’s so far from Authenticity that if we aim for Vulnerability we might end up at Authenticity.

Everyone already knows your organization isn’t perfect. Everyone already knows you have an agenda, that you’re conflicted and struggling and don’t know what to do/who you are sometimes. But what are your real aspirations? How do you wish you were?

Fun fact: Who you most wish you were deep down is actually who you really are. Okay, back to marketing speak.

When I say authenticity is tricky, what I mean is that there can appear to be an incredibly sharp drop off a cliff from authentic to “phony garbage, instantly ignore.”

Politicians are the absolute worst at this, which is a problem because authenticity is increasingly the most important political currency. Voters are getting more and more sharply attuned to it.

These days, the most authentic-feeling (emphasis on “feeling”) candidate wins.

You can walk into a room, look someone in the eye, and almost immediately get a read on what their intentions are, whether they mean well or you just “have a bad feeling about them.” Cats to this too. Startle a cat and where does the cat look? Right at your eyes. To get a read.

I don’t have a uniform way to enhance any story’s level of Authenticity, but I can tell you that one way to ensure authenticity is to talk about something you’re passionate about (not yourself, as it’s scientifically impossible to be passionate about yourself).

This means to tell someone else’s story. To speak to the most exciting change you’re hopeful about. Saying how great you are leads only to one of three reactions:

  1. Of course YOU think you’re great.

  2. You don’t believe that.

  3. Yuck.

Stop talking about yourself.

Start describing what you do and why you do what you do and notice what brings on the most emotion. What gets you fired up or choked up? Follow that feeling to your authentic point of view. That’s the place you must tell your story from.