How to improve your credibility in business
There are four essential components to being believable. These are:
Care and concern is the most important and represents 50% of your believability. Enthusiasm and the focus of your message make up the vast majority of the remainder of your credibility. Your actual knowledge is only worth 10% of your believability. Psychological research shows time and time again that it is not what you know, but the way that you communicate what you do know that contributes most to your believability and trustworthiness. We explore each of these elements in the following pages plus provide details of the research that has led to the development of The Credibility Pyramid.
At the peak of the pyramid is the point you are trying to get across, credibly. Beneath that point lies several layers of material that will enable that point to stand up to scrutiny. At the base of the pyramid is a secure foundation (in this model – knowledge) that allows everything else to work efficiently. Without the right knowledge your credibility will be exposed – no matter how good you are at focus, enthusiasm and care. These elements are about style – and if you only present style, you will be found out as a sham as before long your lack of any substance will become apparent. So, you need to balance knowledge and style appropriately to ensure your message is conveyed.
The concepts behind The Credibility Pyramid will help anyone who has to communicate – so that’s all of us really! However the ideas contained on these pages should be of particular value to:
Business presenters, Public speakers, Teachers, Trainers, Managers, Consultants, Leaders, Sales staff
