LinkedIn·Tuesday, 18 August 2026·8d ago
Normal is a setting on my dryer. And I think that applies to personal branding too. There’s this strange idea that being #authentic online…
Clo Willaerts
Corporate Trainer & Keynote Speaker | Digital Marketing Strategy, Leadership Development | 25+ years guiding marketing executives through exponential tech change
Normal is a setting on my dryer.
And I think that applies to personal branding too.
There’s this strange idea that being #authentic online means showing up exactly as you are all the time.
I don’t think that’s true.
If you’re posting on LinkedIn, you’re on a public stage. Of course it’s a performance.
That doesn’t mean you’re pretending to be someone you’re not. It means you’re choosing which version of yourself gets the microphone today.
My LinkedIn voice is very much “teacher and trainer.”
I explain things. I have opinions. I occasionally sound like I’ve been appointed by the United Nations to explain how everyone should be doing things.
That’s genuinely me.
But it’s not all of me.
People who know me in real life know there are plenty of other versions. I have weird quirks. I swear a lot. I can be sarcastic, irreverent and, on occasion, probably best described as socially inadvisable.
Those parts are real too.
They just don’t necessarily belong on LinkedIn.
Because what works on one stage doesn’t necessarily work on another.
You wouldn’t behave exactly the same way at a job interview, at a wedding, at a dinner with your closest friends and while arguing with a stranger on the internet about whether a hot dog is a sandwich (it is).
That doesn’t make any of those versions fake.
It makes you a person with range.
So yes, I think personal branding involves performance.
But the goal isn’t to invent a character.
It’s to figure out which real part of you works on this particular stage, for this particular audience, and turn that part up to eleven.
So please don’t use #authenticity as an excuse to post every unfiltered thought that wanders through your head. In my case, some of those thoughts definitely need adult supervision.
♥ 5💬 1
View on LinkedIn Cross-referenced
Related on the wire
Most “clever” branding is just bad copywriting wearing a black Issey Miyake turtleneck and thinking it’s Steve Jobs. I keep seeing brands…
If you script only one thing, script the intro. Never wing your introduction. Look at Marques Brownlee. “Hey, what’s up guys? MKBHD here”…
Not every single mention on social media needs an instant response from you. One of the most useful rules of engagement is also one of the…
A few things caught my eye this week that I think are worth watching if you’re making decisions about marketing, technology, or where to…
Content maken. Tof hé. Tot je beseft hoeveel tijd het kost om elke week weer iets te bedenken, schrijven, ontwerpen, filmen en publiceren.…
Every time you speak on stage or post on LinkedIn, ask yourself this one quesiton: If people remember only one thing, what do I want it to…