Stop Performing. Start Leading
You’re ten seconds into your all-hands presentation when it hits you: You don’t sound like yourself. Your voice is more formal, your body more rigid, and suddenly, it feels like you’re performing instead of communicating.
That’s not a failure of preparation—it’s a failure of presence. And your audience can feel it.
Because here’s the thing: we’re constantly scanning for trust. We read tone, facial expressions, micro-gestures. We don’t always realize we’re doing it, but we feel when something’s off. And when we do, we disengage—fast.
This happens all the time in business settings. A leader gets in front of a room and subtly shifts into “presentation mode.” The voice gets more formal, the delivery more controlled. It’s not how they sound in a one-on-one conversation. It’s not even how they sound when they’re truly engaged.
It’s a version of themselves shaped by pressure and training—and it creates distance. Not connection.
We’ve seen this dynamic play out on some of the biggest public stages—most visibly in presidential debates, where performance and presence collide in real time.
Bush vs. Gore
In the 2000 election, Al Gore brought deep experience and subject matter expertise—but his delivery often felt overly scripted. Controlled. Rehearsed. While technically sound, it lacked a sense of ease or spontaneity.
George W. Bush, on the other hand, was less refined but far more relaxed in his delivery. He leaned into a conversational tone. He didn’t sound like he was performing. And that helped people feel like they were hearing the real person—not a political version.
Obama vs. McCain
Fast forward to 2008. John McCain brought years of leadership and a straight-talking style. But in formal settings, he could come across rigid—his delivery at times felt more like a transmission than a conversation.
Barack Obama, meanwhile, projected calm and control, but not in a rehearsed way. He often felt present in the moment—not just delivering talking points, but inhabiting them. That groundedness translated to trust for many listeners.
Trump vs. Clinton
In 2016, the contrast between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton offered another clear lesson in presence. Clinton often came across as highly prepared and polished—but her delivery sometimes felt overly managed. You could sense the effort to strike the right tone, to stick to the message, to present a specific version of herself.
Trump, for better or worse, was unabashedly himself. There was little filtration or polish. And while that approach raised eyebrows, it also signaled authenticity to a large portion of the electorate. He wasn’t performing a political identity—he was just being Trump.
So What Does This Mean for Executives?
It means people don’t connect with polish. They connect with presence. They trust what feels real—not what looks perfect.
And showing up that way, especially under pressure, takes work.
Here's how to start:
Know your material so well you can forget it. Not literally—but you want to be free enough with it that you can shift your focus to your audience, not your notes.
Record yourself. Look for alignment between your voice, your posture, your message. Do you sound like you?
Ask better questions. Instead of “Did I sound professional?” try “Did I come across as myself?”
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. There’s a gap between polish and presence. At first, it’ll feel vulnerable to show up without the mask. But over time, that’s what builds trust.
Acting teacher Sanford Meisner once said, “Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” He wasn’t teaching people to fake it—he was teaching them to show up honestly, moment by moment.
Leadership is the same.
Your people don’t need a flawless performance. They need a real person—clear, grounded, and fully present.
Because when you stop performing and start showing up, you don’t just deliver information. You build trust. And that’s what real leadership sounds like.
