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Welcome to Your Achievement Ezine
Issue 246 - February 2, 2006

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The Criticality of Credibility by Tony Jeary

Dictionary.com defines Credibility as the quality of being believable or trustworthy, or the quality, capability, or power to elicit belief. In the presentation world, Credibility walks hand in hand with Rapport, but is a distinct quality. People will assign you their own rating relative to your power to elicit belief based on a wide range of inputs that include, but are not limited to, what you say at the front of the room on a given day. Some of the unspoken "test questions" include:

1. Does he know what he's talking about? (Understanding of the subject matter, accuracy of facts, understanding of the situation, etc.)

2. Can I take what she says at face value? (Truthfulness, candor, absence of hidden agendas, etc.)

3. Can I trust his recommendations? (Solid logic, consideration of all critical factors, feasibility and practicality, etc.)

We headlined this article "The Criticality of Credibility" simply because your presentation won't get anything done if you don't have Credibility. People may listened politely and even give you a warm (but disingenuous) "good job!" at the end of your pitch, but will NOT do what you've asked if you aren't believable. You will have wasted your time and theirs, and won't have a happy ending.

As with Rapport, work on building your Credibility starts with homework to understand your audience. With a good idea of the participants' backgrounds and issues about the topics you'll be covering, you can identify what needs to go in your "credentials" package for the event at hand.

Here are 8 specific suggestions on what information you may want to convey to build your credibility and how to go about it:

1. Set up your "Authority". Early on, explain why you have the right to talk to them on the topic by highlighting relevant elements of your background:

a. If it's a technical topic and you were trained as an engineer, say so.

b. If you've been working in the field for the last 2 years, say so.

c. If you've studied the subject in depth and interviewed experts, say so.

d. If you don't have direct but do have parallel experience, say something like: "when I was working in (this other field), I had considerable experience in (the topic) that I believe applies here..."

e. If you can arrange to use a Host Introduction (See Volume 2) to present your "credentials package", you get a bonus in the trust transference from the person handling the introduction.


2. Demonstrate Understanding. Prove that you know what you're talking about by:

a. Quickly recapping the preparation you've done for the session.

b. Using the audience's language. Learn and use the terms your audience knows to facilitate understanding and demonstrate that you took time to prepare. Be careful with acronyms and jargon - the terms can help move you along if all have a shared understanding of the meanings, but can cause you a credibility loss if you're perceived as "speaking in buzzwords".

c. Acknowledge that there may be people in the room that know more than you do about some aspects of the matter at hand, but that your study gives you a good grasp of what needs to be done.


3. Establish Facts Both Verbally and Visually: Identify the source of the information you are using (e.g. "the sales report for the month just ended shows..."; "the data from the field test conducted in Pittsburgh last month indicates..."; "the recent research survey of XXX customers in the Southwest concludes..." Your visual aids should clearly identify the origin of data used in charts and graphs.

4. Defuse Candor Issues: Clear statements of your objectives and desired outcomes can help a lot to avoid questions about hidden agendas. Even some humor (e.g. "of course, your view on this may depend on whether you're buying or selling...") can position you as being honest about your point of view, as can emphasis on finding "win/win" solutions that are compatible with the needs of all stakeholders.

5. Tell the truth. This one is pretty simple. Your audience will never really trust you if they catch you in a lie. Avoid the temptation to pretend to know the answer to a question and fake it. It's better say "I don't know" and find the answer from the group or commit to research the issue after the session.

6. Be yourself. Trying to be someone you're not is almost as bad as telling a lie. It's also a lot more work. You can, however, take up a temporary role to illustrate your understanding of the views of others by using introductory phrases such as:

a. "If I was the parent of a teenage girl, I might be thinking...."

b. "An engineer I spoke to the other day said that we ought to consider..."

c. If we were walking in the shoes of the customer, we might..."


7. Doing what you say you will do. If you say you're starting at 8:30 a.m. then start at 8:30 a.m. If you promise frequent breaks, allow for frequent breaks. If you say you're going to take all questions, do so. If you say you're going to get people out the door by 3:30PM, make it happen.

8. Speak with conviction and enthusiasm. Say it like you mean it, and your audience will believe in your words. If you sound tentative, people will book you as "squishy" and question your commitment on the matter. Eye contact is extremely important.

Establishing solid credibility improves your chances of success in several ways:

a. It works to solve two key tensions (Audience vs. Presenter and Audience vs. Material)

b. It allows the group to listen to what you have to say without having to spend time wondering who you are or where you got your information

c. It sets a "trust" level that will allow people to seriously consider and then act on your recommendations.

d. It builds your reputation for future presentations and everything!


Action Plan:

a. Do your homework before your next presentation - study the topic, get the facts, vet your logic with experts, etc.

b. Know your audience - define a "credentials package" that will set you up as an appropriate authority. If possible arrange for a strong Host Introduction.

c. Rehearse with real people, and ask them to give you candid feedback on things you do and say that impact your credibility.



Tony Jeary - Mr. Presentation™ - has conducted hundreds of training events worldwide for a variety of clients including Daimler Chrysler, New York Life and Texaco. He is the author of 7 books on the subject of presentation, including Inspire Any Audience and Speaking From the Top. For more information about Tony and/or to order his Newest Release, Communication Mastery 8 CDs plus a workbook, scroll down to #4 below or go to http://tonyjeary.yoursuccessstore.com or call 877-929-0439.

 

"The only thing that separates any one of us from excellence is fear, and the opposite of fear is faith. I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for, perfection is God's business." Michael J. Fox

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2. Your Achievement Quotes

MOTIVATION/INSPIRATION

"Real motivation is that drive from within: You know where you are going because you have a compelling image inside, not a travel poster on the wall." -- Denis Waitley

"The clearer you are about the consequences of your actions and the more intensely you desire to enjoy the consequences that your behaviors may lead to, the more motivated you will be." -- Brian Tracy

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing that's why we recommend it daily." -- Zig Ziglar

"Instinct is untaught ability." -- Alexander Bain
 

NETWORKING

"Network continually -- 85 percent of all jobs are filled through contacts and personal references." -- Brian Tracy

"It's not who you know. It's how well you maintain your Rolodex(R)." -- Patricia Fripp

"Make a list of 200 prestigious, influential, and powerful people with whom you want to work, play, grow and do business." -- Mark Victor Hansen

"Networking is simply the cultivating of mutually beneficial, give and take, win-win relationships. It works best, however, when emphasizing the 'give' part." -- Bob Burg
 

OPPORTUNITIES

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful." -- Denis Waitley

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Sir Winston Churchill

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell

"Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them." -- Colton
 

"Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends."  Brian Tracy

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"Happiness includes chiefly the idea of satisfaction after full honest effort. No one can possibly be satisfied and no one can be happy who feels that in some paramount affairs he failed to take up the challenge of life."  Arnold Bennett

3. Your Achievement Tips -

Conquer Doubt by Vic Johnson (excerpted from Day by Day with James Allen)

"Thoughts of doubt and fear can never accomplish anything. They always lead to failure." - As A Man Thinketh

There is significant economic evidence that the Great Depression might have been avoided but for the "panic" that swept over the country (and the world) after the 1929 stock market crash. What should have been no more than a deep recession altered our world forever because of the prevailing "thoughts of doubt and fear."

So great were the thought of fear that President Roosevelt felt compelled to deliver a speech about it. By the way, FDR's speech with his now famous, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," was suggested to him by Napoleon Hill, author of the classic, Think and Grow Rich.

If the thoughts of many can bring such great tragedy to our world, is it any wonder that our personal thoughts can do so much damage to our "individual world." When we spend inordinate amounts of time fearing some thing or event in the future, many times that which we fear comes upon us. When it does, we wring our hands in despair and wonder why it had to happen to us, when in reality, we are responsible for our troubles.

Bob Proctor says that the process begins first with a thought of doubt, which causes an emotion of fear, which manifests itself physically as anxiety. Anxiety robs us of our power, our energy and our purpose. Severe anxiety can even undermine our health. And it's all brought on by a thought of doubt.

I have found three things that help me conquer doubt. First, change your mind about the doubt, and keep it changed. If you have a doubt about whether you're going to have enough money to make it to the end of the month, change your mind about it. Whenever the doubt creeps in, affirm to yourself that "I always find a way to have enough of what I need." I love what Emmet Fox says about this, "If you will change your mind concerning anything and absolutely keep it changed, that thing must and will change too. It is the keeping up of the change in thought that is difficult. It calls for vigilance and determination."

The second thing that overcomes fear and doubt is action. "Do the thing you fear and fear will disappear" is more than a nice rhyming aphorism. It's some simple wisdom that always works!

And the third and most important thing to overcoming doubt and fear is Faith. Fear and Faith are directly opposite views of the future and they cannot co-exist. My Faith is in a Creator who has given me dominion over all things. Your Faith may be elsewhere, but know this: Faith and fear cannot be present at the same time.

And that's worth thinking about.

Vic Johnson


This article is excerpted from Vic Johnson's book, Day by Day with James Allen. "Day by Day with James Allen" gives you a bite-sized, daily helping of James Allen's self-help classic, As A Man Thinketh, along with the insights and experiences of himself and others. Some days bring comfort, some bring hope and inspiration, and still others bring a call to action. But every day brings the ageless wisdom that has helped so many understand that as we think in our hearts, so we become. Book includes complete text of As A Man Thinketh. To order go to Vic Johnson's Products or call 877-929-0439.

 

"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction." Charles Kendall Adams

4. Bulletproof Communication for the Unexpected...  

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