2. Share your personal experiences because real-world experiences show that you really know your stuff.

3. Present in a composed and competent way.

4. Communicate a clear, organized message.

5. Be likable and relatable.

6. Show your goodwill to your listeners.

Hey there, Alex Lyon here. Everything on this channel is here for your professional development, especially your professional development as a leader, and public speaking is a huge part of that, so let’s look at six ways that you can come across as a more credible speaker, and I would like to know in that comment section below the video, which one do you think would help you the most? So number one.

Your expertise. You want to communicate your credentials, your education, your job title. Now I’m not saying that you should use the word expert to describe yourself. That’s a big word and I don’t think you should be the one saying it, but you should include information that helps establish that you are qualified to speak on the particular subject you’re speaking about, and you could weave your background into the introduction of your remarks to help people get to know you, and if somebody’s introducing you, then I always think it’s a great idea to give them a card or some bullet points so they can talk a little bit about your background, and in that way help you build up your credibility a bit, and please, when you’re talking about your credentials, never stretch the truth.

Don’t exaggerate or spin your qualifications to make yourself sound better than you are. That whole idea of fake it ’til you make it. That’s not applying to your expertise. In fact, if you’re not an expert or at least a specialist or an authority on a topic, then you definitely don’t want to say you are because it will crush your credibility, people will see right through it, but you should mention some highlights from your background so that people know that you are qualified to speak on that topic, and another clear sign of your expertise is the solid research and evidence and supporting materials that you’ll use in your presentation, so you want to use high quality sources and then cite your sources clearly because if you share good, quality evidence, then you will build your credibility as a speaker on that topic.

Number two is your experience. Share a little bit about your personal and professional experience on that topic. Now education and job title are one thing, like we mentioned, but I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about on-the-job, life experience.

The results that you have gotten. You want to be a living example of your message as much as possible, so if you’re talking about dog training in your presentation, then talk about your actual experience training dogs or at least training your own dog.

You want to give people that result. If you’re talking about diet and nutrition, then share about your real-world experience losing 40 pounds by changing your diet and nutrition. It’s hard to argue with results, with real life experience, it really builds your credibility more than any other way.

Number three is your composure and your confidence. So work on coming across as confident and composed. So, first of all, how you dress matters. Appearance matters a little bit. It’s not the most important thing, but you want to dress the part.

You want to be at least as well dressed as your audience or slightly higher, that’s the rule of thumb. So standing and presenting in front of a live audience is still a bit of a special event these days, and you want to communicate that by the way you dress.

You also want to express your message with a balance of passion about your subject, but also a quiet and comfortable confidence in yourself, so you’re excited about the ideas, but you are comfortable with who you are.

So what does that composure and confidence look like? Well, you want to speak two times the volume of your normal speaking voice. That outdoor voice shows confidence. Number two. Stand tall with good posture.

Number three. Use natural gestures to emphasize your ideas. Number four. Make direct eye contact. Those are the top four. Now you may not feel particularly confident and composed, but if you practice this way beforehand, you’ll at least look and sound more confident and composed when you deliver your message.

Number four. You want to demonstrate your competence as a speaker. So this is related to delivery, like we just mentioned, but this is more about your message. You don’t want to be searching for words when you’re speaking.

Your message should be prepared and well practiced. So behind the scenes, beforehand, you want to get to a place where your key idea and your main points are really clear and organized and easy to follow, and in my experience, most of these improvements get worked out when you’re practicing and revising, you don’t want to just wing it.

A lot of people do this and it doesn’t work. Create an outline. Practice it out loud, in private. Make revisions and repeat this process until you have that clear, concise sound, so you’re not searching for words and trying to figure out where you’re headed next.

This behind the scenes preparation will help you come across as much more credible when you actually stand to deliver your message. Number five. Be likable. Let people get to know you. That’s the easiest way.

Be a relatable person. Don’t hide behind your job title and only present yourself as a 100% professional person, like a robot. People today love authenticity, so if you’re normally a humorous person, weave a little humor into your presentation.

If you have some hobbies that relate, talk a little bit about your hobbies, weave that in. Let who you are come through and that will make people like you and that will build your credibility, and number six.

You want to show your goodwill. Show that you care about your audience. Everything you do, do it for the benefit of the audience, so get your heart in the right place. Don’t speak to get applause. Don’t speak to get something.

Speak to share what you know for their benefit. Use your communication, in other words, to be a giver. Speak to add value to the listeners lives because you care about people, and here’s the trick, here’s how it helps your credibility.

When your audience sees that you are on their side, they will get on your side, and so that will really help boost your credibility. So question of the day. Which of these tips on your credibility help you the most? I would love to hear your comments in the section below the video, and I want to mention a free PDF resource that I have created for you.

It’s on Speaking Tips That Will Instantly Make You A More Confident Speaker and I’ll put a link to that in the description below the video, so feel free to check that out. So thanks, God Bless and I will see you soon.