In this inaugural episode of the "Speaking Truths" mini‑series on the This Moved Me podcast, host Sally Koering Zimney introduces a two‑week program designed to help speakers break through common myths that block authentic, impactful communication. Drawing on two decades of coaching CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders, Sally explains that the first speaking truth is that speaking plus authenticity equals connection – the core purpose of any talk. She critiques the prevalent focus on polished, memorized delivery, arguing that over‑polish creates audience disengagement (e.g., phone‑checking). Instead, she urges speakers to view authenticity as a process of peeling away layers of practiced polish to reveal what truly feels like "you," which in turn fosters genuine connection with listeners. Sally offers reflective questions for listeners to examine their speaking goals, core beliefs, methods for facilitating connection, comfort with the term "authenticity," and the fears they must overcome. The episode ends with a teaser for the next truth ("perfection kills connection") and a preview of an upcoming interview.
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Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world. With me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney. Together with some fabulous guests, we will have a casual conversation about the art of public speaking, because a good talk can move the world, and it'll be fun. Yeah, I would think making alien cows meaningful. That's not a small task. I love your giggle. Wow. Oh my gosh, so waiting for everybody to figure out the alphabet. Hey Movers, it's Sally, and today we start a series that I'm calling the Speaking Truths. And why did I have to sing that? I don't know. It's like, it's a thing I'm doing today. I'm just Singing, all of the things. So speaking truths, that's kind of a big phrase. I think that's a big phrase. But these have organically developed in my work as I've worked with speakers over the last two decades. Things that keep coming up again and again that I keep needing to remind my speakers of so that they can bust through some of these myths. And what I realized is the antidotes to those myths are really essential. And so I have an email course all about these speaking truths. And essentially what I'm gonna share with you over the next 2 weeks of these mini Moved Mísed, walking you through these speaking truths to help all of us like bust through some of these ideas that might be holding us back in terms of our real power as speakers. So one of the things I think that I do well is really empower people to own their voice and to step out there and to do this incredibly important work because I believe, I believe in the power that we have as speakers. I'm inspired by it and I'm just so grateful to be a part of it, truly. And so I have developed this this series that, that I hope will help. And it was really, like I said, inspired over, gosh, the last two decades of seeing these incredibly capable, brilliant people struggle with really owning their power as a speaker. Harvard-educated CEOs who struggle to speak with emotion, for fear of not being taken seriously. Entrepreneurs who, gosh, are using the playbook of somebody else and they've lost their unique voice or don't believe in it or question it. To business and nonprofit community leaders who have never thought of themselves as speakers, have not really embraced that idea even though their mission continues to bring them out in front of people, out quote unquote on stage. Whatever that might mean to you. We need to use our voices to move this world, but it doesn't make it easy and it doesn't make it feel less risky. So these speaking truths, I hope, can be the antidote to some of the things that keep us in— that get in the way and keep us from doing the really incredible work that we need to be doing. So today is about the speaking truth number 1, which is this: speaking plus authenticity equals connection. And the point of speaking is connection. So I'm sure you guys have heard me talk about this to some extent or another, but we've all— I think we've seen those speakers, and I know I have been the speaker, and I'm guessing many of you have too, where we focus on the wrong things. We focus on becoming really polished. We're aiming for perfection. We want to get memorized. And what that ends up looking like to the audience is, is disconnection. They're, they're in on some kind of autopilot, but a really, really good autopilot, but on some kind of autopilot. And that is when the audience pulls out their phones, right? Because they know that there's nothing really happening here in this room, in this Certainly isn't about me, but those kinds of talks are frequent because they're easier. They are just easier than pulling off a really connected, authentic talk. They ask very little of the speaker and even less of the audience. And honestly, I think audiences want more. It may seem that they are totally fine being passive listeners, but I think we can do better than that. So the goal when we speak is first and foremost connection. It's not to impress or to wow people or to sell or, I don't know, fill in the blank because it could be so many other things. Ultimately, the point is to connect with the audience because through an authentic connection, all the other things are possible., and it is, I think, our calling. If you want to be an influential leader, then that is what we've got to be going for. So how do we do that? How do we create that incredibly precious and magical connection? Well, we start with authenticity, and that starts from the moment you're creating this work, really holding that as a bar, asking yourself that, that sort of gut feeling that says, yes, oh, this is, this is me, this is me, and you just reject all the things that don't feel that way. Um, and but it is a process. It's about digging beneath the layers of polish that we have spent decades practicing putting on, and we have practiced our way into what we think is who we are. But man, uh, that's actually, um, not And I think we all know that, but it's hard. We think that we are creating credibility when we put our most polished version of ourselves out there, but instead we need to think of this as a peeling away. And we don't do this just because it can be really liberating and it can feel really good to be like, "That was so me and I loved it and the audience loved it!" But we do it because it serves your audience better. And if our focus can be on authenticity and connection, man, there's some really powerful things that can happen there. It can run against all of our fears and our most basic of instincts, but the truth is this: what is authentically you is what connects. So some questions for you to think about. What is your goal when you speak? What is the belief that you hold so strongly in this talk that you are willing to risk to move others? And what do you do? How do you facilitate connection in your talks? How comfortable when I say the word authenticity over and over again? Hmm. Does that make you squirm? Is that one of those words you're like, over it? Heard it so many times, and yet there is something there for us to wrestle with. And what fears are you overcoming? Because we are all overcoming them. Everybody. I don't care how experienced you are. We are all— we all come face to face with ourselves when we're speaking, and we are challenging ourselves to be real and connect. So That is your speaking truth for today. Go for it. I am cheering you on. Authenticity plus speaking, speaking plus authenticity equals connection, and the point is to connect. All right, that's it for me. Next up, speaking truth number 2: perfection kills connection. Heyo! I love that one. All right, my friends, see you next time. Okay, movers, looking ahead. I've got a really awesome interview coming up with a man named Jan Schultink, and Jan is the creator— that's not true anymore. Wrong. Wrong.
