Remember the first time you got the urge to play your air guitar?

That’s body language — a genuine outer expression of an inner impression.

And it comes from the heart and soul based on authentic feelings.

Guitarists in particular and music fans in general note that playing the air guitar first took root in America in 1969 when authentic feelings flowed on stage at Woodstock.

At least that’s how Smithsonian magazine’s April White captures the vibrations and rhythm of the first air guitar performance on a public stage.

“Joe Cocker could feel the music channeling through his body as he began his final number on the Woodstock stage.

“With one hand the singer mimed the song’s opening piano notes, and then as the drums kicked in, Cocker lifted his left arm and swung his right in front of his body in perfect time with the dramatic first chords of his hit:

With a Little Help From My Friends. There in front of hundreds of thousands Joe Cocker was playing the air guitar.”

Authentic gestures — like Joe Cocker ‘s impressive and expressive 51-second air-guitar playing — project a sense of integrity and sincerity.

Authenticity like that earns trust and credibility from an even more engaged audience.

And authenticity like that stirs greater memorability and mobility from an even more motivated audience to act on your message.

Indeed your body speaks long before you do.

To help you develop even more authentic body language in general and presentation skills in particular, consider purchasing a copy of SPEAKING Like a Leader, a 298-page book now available on Amazon.com.

SPEAKING Like a Leader is part of the Leadership Mints Series that also includes a book on creativity —THINKING Like a Leader , a 284-page book filled with 77 Leadership Mints and a 300-page book on empathy filled with 77 more Leadership Mints-LOVING Like a Leader.

All three books in The Leadership Mints Series are designed for busy leaders seeking to refresh their feeling for leading in 5-minutes or less — the average reading of a Leadership Mint.

What ‘s a Leadership Mint?

Consumed like a breath mint — quick and on-the-go — a Leadership Mint is a short story that energizes leadership behaviors and personalizes leadership principles so they are more easily remembered, more readily acted upon and more fully applied.