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The subject the interviewee is talking about conditions the level of perceived authenticity. This leads to the paradox that the subjects the audience is most interested in authenticity are the least likely to come across as such: e.g. the EVP will ever come across authentic when talking about current trade negotiations, unless he is talking about irrelevant stuff around them.

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Hi Ralph - I don't think that's necessarily the case. Authenticity isn't about telling the audience everything (including the confidential details of trade agreements). It's about making sure what you DO say is true and personal!

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Tom Moylan

Sure, only whether it is true and truly personal rather than made-up depends on the trust you managed to establish. That is particularly hard with politicians and policy makers, who speak about a subject they are likely to have a predominant interest in beyond authenticity. I would not exclude such subjects. I only think that true authenticity needs to be perceived as such to become an effective means of rhetoric and that is harder on a subject the public is least likely to trust you on. Very interesting collection of principles. Thx

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