How To Establish Credibility and Reduce Resistance in Presentations

Present your most persuasive speech or presentation ever with these ten principles

Photo by Jennifer Bonauer on Unsplash

It doesn’t matter who you are speaking to. Whether to a group of a thousand, a radio or television audience, or one person in the privacy of your office, much depends on your ability to come across in a credible and honest fashion. Good intentions are not enough. Many the honest, open speaker has created an impression of shiftiness and dishonesty due to a lack of understanding about how to structure content, and how to use language and speaking style to come across in a credible manner. In this column, taken from notes from our “Dealing With Hostile Groups” seminar, we provide some tips for you.

What Does Credibility Mean?

You will be perceived as credible when you:

• appear relatively unbiased
• appear similar to the audience
• communicate in ways the audience understands
• demonstrate understanding of the audience’s opinions
• do not sound defensive or aggressive
• do not over react to criticism

Specific Tips