5 Sure-Fire Tips To Build Trust With Your Audience

Trust forms the backbone of effective and influential public speaking. Your audience is more likely to be convinced by you if you are someone they trust. The more they trust you, the more they will tend to believe what you are telling them is true.
The opposite is also true. If the audience do not trust you, then no matter how knowledgeable you are, and no matter how best your intentions might be, the audience will perceive what your speech with great skepticism.
Successful public speakers go all out to build trust with the audience, sometimes even before the speech!
Here are 5 quick-fire tips to build trust:
Tip 1: Be honest and ethical
Be known for having a strong moral character, a person who does what he says. Never cut corners, or over-promise but under-deliver. It is always better to under-promise, but over-deliver!
Tip 2: Use testimonials to build trusts
Testimonials are useful communication tools that you can use to prove to your potential clients that previous clients have tried, tested and validated your products/services/solutions. Use it to demonstrate that since previous clients have found the product effective, future and potential clients can likewise expect the same predictable results!
Use testimonials to buttress the promise or key value proposition that your products/services/solutions claim to be able to deliver. Of course, testimonials used must be truthful and authentic, for any fake testimonials might be discovered!
Tip 3: Use citations
Cite materials and claims from relevant and trustworthy sources to buttress your claims. Cite factual reports, scientific reports, or case studies that are respected and credible. If these sources are trustworthy, then the audience will likely increase their trust on what you are presenting.
Tip 4: Use quotes
Quote a saying from a famous person (whom the audience trusts) to support your points. Quotes are effective rhetorical devices that can be used to convey words of wisdom, as inspirational materials, or even to evoke emotions!
Tip 5: Borrow trust from a person whom your audience trusts
This works best when you are presenting to an audience who have only heard you for the first time, and in situations when you have yet to establish total credibility in the eyes of the audience.
For example, if you are an intern presenting a new marketing proposal to your company, you can quote what your boss have said with regards to the proposal, "I have spoken to Mr. Johnson, our boss, and he agreed that this proposal is highly feasible and worthwhile for the merits it will bring us."
If people trust the judgment and moral character of your boss, then you have just borrowed that trust!
Of course, whatever you said must be truthful and honest. Never make up these claims or misrepresent these claims in any way.
Conclusion
These tips can be used in isolation or in tandem to build trust among your audience. Start working on at least one or two of these tips, and supercharge your influence as a result!

Kwan Hong helps professionals, business executives and youths gain rapid mastery in communication skills, personal peak performance and career growth. He has delivered impactful workshops and facilitated seminars in public speaking, communication skills, leadership, personal peak performance, entrepreneurship and business development. He has synthesized knowledge from 8 Degrees and Diplomas, from over 100 certifications and from 1000 books to bring his clients the best tips, tricks and techniques for personal success.
Till date, 105,700 participants from over 100 organizations and events have benefited from his speaking engagements.
Reach out to him at http://www.TanKwanHong.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/tankwanhong.