Chapter 5
Establishing Your Credibility
In This Chapter
Proving your prowess
Building on your personal connections
Demonstrating your trustworthiness
Sharing and soliciting opinions
Establishing your credibility is the cornerstone of persuasion. When you present an audience with a new idea, for instance, their first response is to determine whether you’re credible. What you’re suggesting may be risky for them in terms of time and resources, and they may be reluctant to take on board what you’re asking of them.
Nobel-Prize-winning peace activist and Burmese opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi, former CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour and former South African President Nelson Mandela are credible individuals. They live their values by displaying trustworthiness and consistency. They are accountable for their actions and they can be depended on to follow through on their beliefs.
Credible people are trustworthy. You can count on them doing what they say they’re going to do. You can believe what they tell you. Credible people do their homework and come to the table prepared, informed ...
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