Should you be more authentic on LinkedIn?

Right now, just about everyone is screaming about how to be more authentic on social media. “Be real, be human, be you,” they say. But honestly, what does that even mean? And furthermore, is it right for you and your business - especially on LinkedIn?

With this age of AI, ChatGPT and all the bots coming to take our jobs and steal our thought processes as we used to know them, being authentic (and human) is more important than ever. I’m sure you may have gotten to the point where you can sniff out an AI-generated post or comment from a mile away. They all have that bot quality about them that didn’t used to be a part of our everyday language.

And LinkedIn is no exception. AI is rampant. So now, more than ever, it’s vital to be as human (read: YOU) as you can be in your posts to get your audience to know, like and trust you.

I’m not just telling you this, I’m speaking from experience.

Back in 2015, I told stories on Instagram about my donut business since before storytelling was cool. While everyone else was hollering about their latest and greatest sale, I was telling stories about my customers (both B2B and B2C) and why they were so awesome.

This not only helped me stand out in a sea of “buy one, get 50% off one,” promotions, but also resulted in one thing I never really expected: Connection with my followers.

And the more stories I shared, the deeper the connection. It caused a ripple effect, too. When they saw the stories, they wanted stories of their own. So they started taking photos of my donuts: with themselves, their kids, or in a fancy influencer way, and sharing them with me.

Then I would reshare their photos to my feed or Stories, and boom. Before I knew it, I no longer had to market my business. All I had to do was share. It became the holy grail of marketing: treat your followers like you care (which of course you do since you wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for them!) and they’ll do your marketing for you.

It worked on Instagram. And if you’re wondering, storytelling works on LinkedIn too.

That’s because people are craving authenticity now. While most posts are about job searching, finding jobs or executives sharing how “thrilled” they were to attend the latest industry conference, not many are sharing stories.

Why is that? I think it’s for a couple of reasons:

1. People don’t want to stand out (they’re afraid to be vulnerable)

2. They don’t know how to tell stories

Both are valid and neither is wrong. While you’ve been successful running an entire company, you might not be comfy with sharing personal stuff on the internet. And this isn’t your fault. The whole “storytelling” thing has been blown way out of proportion.

Some people say storytelling is about sharing deep, dark secrets you’d only share with your therapist. But it’s not true. Storytelling is about sharing stories about you and your business and saying the same thing a million different ways.

That’s what I did in my donut business and my clients to do, too. It can be as simple as your day to day, wrapped up in a story that’s interesting and draws people in.

For instance, let’s say you want to talk about how you got a new customer as a founder. Instead of saying, “I’m thrilled to announce our company is now partnering with XYZ company,” (boring, snooze) wrap it in a story. Meaning, how did you start the partnership? What were the steps you took to get there, and what happened along the way?

For example, you could say,

"As an introvert, the minute I get on the plane is my chance to relax and not talk to anyone. I usually slide into my seat, put on my headphones and enjoy the silence. But this time was different. Suzie sat next to me, she seemed kind and interested in striking up a conversation. So I took my headphones off and introduced myself. Turns out, she’s the CEO of XYZ company. The very company we’ve been dying to partner with! What are the chances of that?! We hit it off so well, we chatted over sushi about a possible partnership. Sometimes the Universe works in mysterious ways, you just have to be open enough to pay attention and listen.”

See how that works? You just took a mundane announcement and made it personal. The beauty of it is, not many are doing this. But you can. You can tell the kinds of stories that:

1. Allow people to get to know you on a more personal level.

2. Build community by getting people interested in what you have to say.

3. Bring opportunities to you because you are being open, authentic and honest.

Because when you bring people into your world, they feel like they know you. Which leads to them to like, know, trust and buy from you. And that’s what storytelling on LinkedIn is all about.

Want to find the stories your audience remembers? Start with a Weird Session.