Want audiences to think you're knowledgeable and credible? People listen to experts! Here's how to boost your credibility in your next presentation.

If you're well known to an audience in terms of your expertise, you have a head start on success. You have what is called "perceived credibility". In other words, you're a known quantity.

But what if that's not the case? How do you establish your credibility in the moment, without sounding like you're bragging or depending upon old credentials? Below are four tips on boosting an audience's trust and confidence in you while you're speaking.

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Tip 1: Introduce Yourself the Right Way

You may want to be a friendly and accessible presenter, and that's a good quality to have. But your greeting to an audience of strangers can be too casual. You need to put your professionalism on display before you (metaphorically) go out for a beer with these folks.

Many speakers chip away at their own credibility right at the beginning. "Hi, I'm Susan [Jeff] [Maya]" they say, then launch into the presentation. If you do this, your listeners are legitimately asking themselves some questions (when they should be listening to your first main point). Let's paraphrase those questions this way: "Where's the rest of you?"

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To be viewed as a credible speaker with enough expertise and experience, you need, at a minimum, to provide your full name, along with your job title. "Good morning, everyone. My name is [YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME]. I'm the Chief Propulsion Systems Engineer in the United Nation's new UNiversal Space Program." Now, I feel like we're ready to blast off. 

Tip 2: Show That You're In Control

Here's where platform skills come into their own. Experience teaches us that beginners struggle with any new skill, while old pros make it all seem easy. To have confidence in you, we need to see that you have confidence in yourself. You show us that that's the case by the way you handle yourself in your presentation.

And that comes down to control. You should own your speech and show that you're in command. To do so, get better at these performance specifics: (1) pace, (2) body language, (3) vocal dynamics, and (4) how you respond to challenges and pushback. 

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So, in order: (1) Remind yourself to slow down. You may not be a fast speaker, but adrenaline and nerves speed everybody up. New information takes time to be absorbed by listeners. Let us see that you're delivering this talk at your own speed. (2) Your body is vital to speaking dynamically. Without physical expression of your content, you're short-changing your audience in terms of meaning and impact. In virtual meetings, eye contact becomes the vital body language tool—which means looking right at the webcam. (3) Your voice is another tool of meaning and intention. A varied and interesting voice also helps us tune in! (4) How you deal with difficult audience members and challenges tells us a lot about who you are. We want poise and professionalism in a speaker. Stay above the fray, responding with grace and kindness. 

One sure path to credibility is by looking confident. You'll find 50 ways to look, feel,  and act confident in my book, Fearless Speaking. Find it here on Amazon, or click on the tiger.

Tip 3: Use Evidence . . . Lots of Evidence

Hey, we know that you're a wonderful person. But why should we believe you rather than someone else?

Well, one reason is because you back up what you're saying with evidence! Evidence can take many forms, and you'll have more credibility in our minds if you mix it up: data, visual evidence, stories, case studies, demonstrations, etc. If you're in the sciences or engineering, you're already strongly tuned into the need for empirical data. 

But remember that you also need to connect with audiences emotionally. Neuroscience tells us that every decision has an emotional component, viz., people who have damage to the limbic system or emotional center of the brain have difficulty making decisions. If you want buy-in, you need to advocate for your case, not just state it blandly. Here's where body language and vocal skills come in once again, as they are both great pathways for eliciting emotional responses.

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Tip 4: Up Your Game by Speaking Metaphorically

Now let's take you to the next level concerning your goals. Your job isn't to present information, it's to move listeners. The more memorable you are, the more likely it is that that will happen. And one way to achieve memorability is by telling stories and speaking metaphorically.

Audiences fed data will process that information in their prefrontal cortexes, their "thinking brains." But when you use stories, comparisons, metaphors, and visual imagery to describe something, you light up other areas in your listeners' brains. For instance, visuals are processed in the occipital lobe, and physical activity and motor control is handled in the cerebellum. If what you're saying kicks off an emotional response in listeners, the temporal lobe which controls memory will switch on. Mirror neurons in our brains make us experience vicariously what someone else is describing or showing us physically. That someone needs to be you.

Audiences will find you credible if they share in the experiences you are describing. That's also a key to all top-level public speaking, by the way: the more you tap into your audience's personal responses, the more you will reach them on an individual basis. How much easier it is then for listeners to believe in you!  

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Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching and corporate group training worldwide. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller How to Give a Speech. His second book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as “One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time.” For nine consecutive years, he was ranked by Global Gurus as one of The World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals, and he has been named as one of America's Top 5 Speech Coaches. His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually offers techniques for developing virtual presence. He is also the author of Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His latest book is The Confidence Book: 75 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety, Let Go of Your Fears, Change Your Negative Thinking, and Perform At Your Professional Best. He is also the creator of The Dr. William Scarlet supernatural thrillers. Contact Gary here.

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