The more I think about what’s happening online right now, the more convinced I become that we’re witnessing a huge shift in the way people connect.
The pendulum is really swinging back the other way.
The digital era opened up opportunities that had never existed before. Much like the dot-com boom, it paved the way for a generation of entrepreneurs to build businesses from their laptops, reach audiences around the world and create lives that simply wouldn’t have been possible twenty years earlier.
Alongside that came social media, funnels, personal brands and countless ways to market ourselves online. We learnt how to scale our businesses digitally and, in many ways, it was an incredible time to be building something.
But somewhere along the way, many of us – and I definitely include myself in this – started becoming our online personas.
Edited ones. The rough edges disappeared, the stories became lessons and the humour gave way to professionalism. Without really noticing, we stopped communicating quite as naturally as we once had.
And then, in what feels like the blink of an eye, the age of artificial intelligence arrived.
I’ve never known technology move this quickly.
In the space of just a couple of years, the digital world has become almost unrecognisable. AI can write articles, generate images, create videos, clone voices and hold conversations that, at times, are remarkably convincing.
I use AI every day. I think it’s one of the most exciting technologies we’ll see in our lifetime.
But I also think it’s changing us. For the first time, we’re regularly asking ourselves questions we never used to ask.
Was that written by a person? Is that image real? Did they actually say that? Am I even talking to the person I think I’m talking to?
As human beings, we’ve spent thousands of years developing an extraordinary ability to recognise when something doesn’t quite feel right. Evolution gave us instincts that helped us survive. They stopped us eating dangerous berries. They helped us spot threats before we consciously understood what we were looking at.
Psychologists call one version of this the uncanny valley; that strange feeling we experience when something looks almost human, but not quite.
I wonder if we’re beginning to experience a digital version of that. Something deep inside us is searching for evidence that there is a real human being on the other side.
I think that’s why the pendulum is beginning to swing back.
And I think we’re standing on the edge of what I’m calling The Human Renaissance.
A recognition that as technology becomes more capable, our humanity becomes more valuable. Over the past few weeks, my Thinking Out Loud experiment has unintentionally become a test of that theory.
I’ve been trying to communicate more like the person my friends know.
Speaking naturally, telling stories and leaving in the odd “um” and “err”.
Talking about things that genuinely interest me, whether that’s communication, books, music or aliens.
The first thing I noticed was that people who had been in my world for years suddenly started getting back in touch.
People I’d somehow drifted away from began commenting on my videos, sending messages and joining the conversation again.
It made me realise that connection doesn’t come through words alone. People need to feel you.
The second thing that happened was that new people started arriving.
My videos began reaching people who had never followed me before. My LinkedIn articles travelled further than I expected. Conversations started with complete strangers.
Ironically, the more human I became, the wider my reach became too.
And then the opportunities started arriving.
New clients. A speaking invitation! Introductions to people I’ve admired for a long time.
I don’t know where those conversations will lead, but I can’t ignore the timing.
The more visible I’ve become as myself, the more opportunities seem to have found me.
It has made me think that perhaps visibility is about being recognised as someone real.
If I’m right, then being human pays dividends helps people connect with and remember you. It helps people trust you.
And trust has always opened doors.
So if you’ve been waiting until you’ve got the better microphone, the perfect script or a beautifully mapped-out content strategy, I’d love to encourage you to do the opposite.
Strip it all back.
Tell the story you’ve been thinking about all day. Share the observation that made you stop in your tracks.
And leave the little stumble in. Let people hear you laugh.
Because I have a feeling this next era will belong to the people who are unmistakably, unapologetically human.
Follow my Thinking Out Loud series over on Instagram @helenpackham
Need help being more human with your visibility and words? Shoot me an email hello@helenpackham.com.
Much love
Helen
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