Need your anchors and reporters to work more authentically on camera? When we asked viewers how they could tell when talent were being authentic, we learned a lot that can help you help them with that.
In a study recently published by the Pew Research Center, authenticity was one of the qualities Americans said they value most in journalists. But when Pew asked a focus group of 45 people what they meant by authenticity, a number of them said they “weren’t exactly sure.”
In late 2020, we asked over 800 news viewers how they could tell when talent were being authentic or inauthentic.
When we put it to them that way, viewers had no trouble at all telling us what they meant.
"How can you tell when an anchor is being authentic?"
Here’s a list of the terms viewers used most when we asked them how authenticity shows up for them. When you look at how they use these words (see below), a clearer picture of authenticity — and how to coach it — begins to emerge.
One of the things it’s surprisingly hard for newsrooms to understand is that authenticity in delivery is not about perfection. It is about making connection. And viewers are telling us that it’s actually the imperfections that clue them to authenticity in talent. Should you be deliberately imperfect? Of course not. But if you think that simply executing flawlessly gets you there, you are missing the point.
Many viewers describe authenticity in terms of what it is not. And what it is not appears to be exaggerated effort in any form — appearance, voice, facial expression or attitude. It’s about sincere effort, something that’s virtually impossible without proper preparation. This is telling us that authenticity is seeded as much or more by what talent do before the newscast as it is by what they do on the newscast.
When viewers describe the ideal anchor in our national studies, honesty is an increasingly important concern. Here you can begin to see that the perception of honesty is driven by your anchor’s way of being. There is a spirit of honesty that viewers believe they can recognize.
When is the last time you watched a newscast with the sound turned down and asked yourself what your team’s facial expressions were telling you?
As you can see, viewers believe that it tells them a lot — including whether an anchor is authentic or faking it.
"How can you tell when an anchor is NOT being authentic?"
Here are the words viewers use most when they are describing how they can tell when an anchor is not being authentic.
While I’ve never worked with a client that reported fake news, I’ve known many anchors over the years who thought they could get away with faking knowing the news — and newscasts that were produced to support them in that.
Viewers are telling us that they see right through us.
If you have talent who think being more authentic means somehow being less expressive, they need to think again — unless they want viewers to believe they are authentically bored.
Other research has shown that expressive people are not only liked more than others. They’re trusted more.
When is the last time you listened to your team talk without watching them? Viewers tell us that inauthenticity is something they can hear and, again, it has to do with expressiveness and how it connects to what people are saying.
Some viewers equate inauthenticity with too much facial expression. Others equate it with too little. Either way, it’s clearly key to how viewers assess the authenticity of your talent.
They believe they know it when they see it.
Preparation is the mother of Authenticity.
All of this is to say that maybe there’s no mystery to what viewers mean by authenticity at all. It’s simply a matter of what’s observable about you — what they can see, what they can hear, what they can feel — and whether it’s telling them that you really know and care or are just pretending to know and care.
And really knowing and really caring is hard work, especially when time and resources are in short supply. Because there are no shortcuts. You’re either prepared or you’re not. You either know what you’re talking about — and what you need viewers to get from it — or you don’t.
If you’re a manager, this means that authenticity begins with the way you manage the way your teams prepare. Because the quality of what you get on the air will be the direct result of the quality of the work your people do off the air. There are no shortcuts. Again, there are not shortcuts to authenticity.
You can't perform the kind of authenticity viewers value. You can't fake it. You have to prepare for it.
