In recent decades, authenticity has become an American obsession. It animates thirty years' worth of reality TV programming and fuels the explosive virality of one hot social media app after another. It characterizes Donald Trump's willful disregard for political correctness (and proofreading) and inspires multinational corporations to stake activist claims in ways that few "woke" brands ever dared before. It buttresses a multibillion-dollar influencer industry of everyday folks shilling their friends with #spon-con and burnishes the street cred of rock stars and rappers alike. But, ironically, authenticity's not actually real: it's as fabricated as it is ubiquitous. In The Authenticity Industries, journalist and scholar Michael Serazio combines eye-opening reporting and lively prose to take readers behind the scenes with those who make "reality"—and the ways it tries to influence us. Drawing upon dozens of rare interviews with campaign consultants, advertising executives, tech company leadership, and entertainment industry gatekeepers, the book slyly investigates the professionals and practices that make people, products, and platforms seem "authentic" in today's media, culture, and politics. The result is a spotlight on the power of authenticity in today's media-saturated world and the strategies to satisfy this widespread yearning. In theory, authenticity might represent the central moral framework of our time: allaying anxieties about self and society, culture and commerce, and technology and humanity. It infects and informs our ideals of celebrity, aesthetics, privacy, nostalgia, and populism. And Serazio reveals how these pretenses are crafted, backstage, for audiences, consumers, and voters.

Many people experience some degree of job dissatisfaction. But figuring out whether they should change themselves — or change jobs — isn't easy. Drawing on her business background, training as a social worker, and years as an executive coach, Maggie Craddock outlines a therapeutic process that carefully separates what the reader wants and needs from the often-frustrating demands of family and work. The author believes that identifying authentic career goals and strategies requires a careful examination of one's inner life. She clearly outlines the four-stage process — beginning with the Awareness Stage and ending with the Integration Stage — and includes exercises, examples, and inspirational quotes. Craddock gently guides the reader through the process, illustrating each stage with real-life examples, including stories from Fortune 500 CEOs and professional women returning to the workforce after having children. Ultimately a very hopeful book, The Authentic Career is a welcome companion on anyone’s career path.

Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, , course: Department of English, language: English, abstract: The objective of the present paper is to investigate problems concerned with the teaching of productive skills in Business English classes. Productive skills refer to speaking and writing. Business English is a branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This research project aims to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of the Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion (ENCG) students about the productive skills in the ESP course, as well as to figure out whether the ENCG students are fully aware of the significance of productive skills in their prospective professional communication. This paper strives to answer the following questions: What are the general features which appear to characterize the teaching of oral skills in the ESP course? Does writing in the ESP course enable students to become good English business writers? And to what extent do speaking and writing prepare ESP students for professional communication?