After seeing the Nike commercial of Tiger Woods several times I started thinking about the impact on you- the audience and what that means for your presentations. The pundits loved the ad. They thought it was a piece of brilliant advertising. I did not! Am I alone in this opinion? Here's how that ad impacted me. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NTRvlrP2NU]
I thought it was manipulative, contrived,and downright creepy to hear the voice of Earl Woods from the grave. It was manipulative and contrived because Tiger became a willing actor in the ad. He stood in front of the camera and made a remorseful face. It wasn't authentic. It also seemed humiliating. Once again, we don't see the real person; just an image of what Nike thinks Tiger needs to project. Nike wants to keep his endorsement without alienating the public. So they used his father to chastise him as if to say, Nike doesn't approve of his behavior. People see through this.
What was more effective for me was the Jimmy Kimmel spoof of the ad. It made me laugh out loud and it delivered the same message- Tiger's behavior was not okay.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA1RubbZphg]
When speakers act instead of relating;when presenters speak from a script instead of from their hearts, they lose their authenticity. And that's when they lose their audience. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it and go on. If you're not perfect, so what? When we try to "get over" on our audience we're insulting them. People see through phoniness.
Be real, Be sincere, Be you.