Getting media training back in the headlines with the new term “Authenticity.”
After surviving Storm Claudia (umbrellas lost, bins and fences airborne, poor dogs traumatised), it feels like the perfect time to talk about another unpredictable force of nature: Authenticity in global and Irish politics.
Last week we were media training a group of politicians and yes, before you ask, they survived that too!
But something interesting happened.
For the first time in a long time, the word dominating the room wasn’t message discipline, framing, or staying on script. It was “Authenticity.”
And as the dust settles on the inauguration of Ireland’s new President, Catherine Connolly, it’s clear something has shifted not just politically, but culturally and emotionally.
People didn’t just elect a president. They elected a type of leadership. Honest over rehearsed,real over polished. human over manufactured.
I know some of her campaign was very hard to watch but it worked as it was real. The public believed she meant what she said. Her campaign wasn’t slick and wasn’t PR perfection.
And now many political strategists, commentators, and candidates are whispering because saying it aloud might break tradition.
I believe authenticity the new superpower in politics?
If you need further proof, look to New York. Zohran Mamdani a Muslim, socialist, unapologetic reformer won the mayoralty of the world’s most capitalist city, beating Andrew Cuomo by nine points. No softening of edges. No chasing approval.
No costume change depending on audience. Just simple conviction and the voters loved it and rewarded it.
You cannot factcheck sincerity. And oddly enough, authenticity once dismissed as naive is now the sharpest competitive advantage in politics and public life.
So the next time a politician asks me for “the perfect answer” during a media training session, I always say. “Tell the truth. It’s trending.”
