The Illusion of Transparency: Why Audiences Don’t See It All

When you stand up to speak in front of people, do you have the sense that the audience can see right through you?

We often feel that people can see how nervous we are.
We think they can see inside us and see our weaknesses and will therefore judge us poorly.

We think that the audience knows all our darkest thoughts and before long we set up our own feedback loop - we try to compensate and cover up and then we think the compensation is noticeable -and thus we get into an awful loop!

Researchers at Cornell University call this the "illusion transparency". The research showed that when people discover that it's only an illusion, when they become aware of that misperception, it really helps them to get a sense of perspective on what's happening and to feel much more relaxed.  

So remember, you're solid, not transparent. and audiences can't see your inner turmoil. They want to connect to the authentic person in front of them.