Your personality, "trained out of you"

As a person moves through the learning cycle towards unconscious competence there will be that 'gap' between natural / mechanical flow.

As a presentation skills trainer this is not uncommon as clients begin to learn the techniques, then over a period of time become more fluid as they develop their personal style.

I'm in a position where people can tell if a person has been on a Mr Presenter training. This is a compiment yet my intention is not to create 'clones' (however unconscious modelling will occur) but to allow people to think about using the techniques and implement them and define their personal delivery style.

Personality, IMHO, gets taken away/reduces as you learn, embed, utilise tools/techniques/information. Only after time will the personality (IN THAT CONTEXT) shine through as the skills embed at an unconscious level.

It is also important to try to interview employees for these types of personality traits as well. The old adage is true: "Hire slow, fire fast." Because interviewees are going to be prepped, polished, and ready for the typical set of interview questions, I like to get them "out of their element" and place them in an environment in which there is a more likely chance that you will see their true colors (positive and negative). Invite them to lunch and see how their interact with other individuals that come along. Prep the other individuals to discuss more social topics rather than the business at hand. If your interview process is a day long or even multiple days, invite them to social events in the evening with your team (i.e., sporting event, cultural event, etc.) so that, again, you can potentially see them with their "game face" off. I have even constructed activities for candidates related to the work of the open position. Prep them ahead of time for the activity. This way you can see if they properly prepare for the activity and then observe how they carry it out and if they are a right fit for the position.