Communication and Your Career
(Rapa)
How to Establish Credibility in a Speech or
Presentation
Your credibility as a speaker is so critical that if
you don’t have it — if the audience doesn’t find
you credible — you might as well stop speaking.
Credibility, like beauty, is in the eye of the
beholder. For any number of reasons,
consciously and unconsciously, people decide
whether and how much they trust you. They
often make snap judgments based on first
impressions, which they then seek to confirm or
to revise (mostly to confirm) after further
experience.
Your credibility depends on three factors.
1. Your Personal Credibility
Are you reliable, honest, sincere? Are you a
person of your word? Are you, in a word,
trustworthy? (Trustworthiness and likability
are not the same thing, but they are often
linked in people’s minds. If they don’t like
you, they’ll find reasons to distrust you. If
they like you, they’ll tend to trust you.)
2. Your Expertise
Do you know what you’re talking about? Do
you have the requisite experience,
knowledge, and insight? Do you present
yourself and your ideas credibly?
3. Your Audience’s Judgment
Their values, their likes and dislikes, their
knowledge and experience, their prejudices
are what ultimately determine your
credibility to them. What makes you
credible to one audience may make you
incredible to another.
To establish your credibility when you’re giving
a speech…
 Trust your audience. Like your audience.
Respect your audience.
You may not agree with them. You may
want to change how they think, feel, or act.
But if you don’t care about them and their
well-being, you shouldn’t speak to them.
 Want what’s best for your audience.
Think of your speech or presentation as a
way of benefiting them. Show them how
your idea–your initiative, proposal, project,
product, service–will help them solve a
problem of theirs or help them achieve a
goal that matters to them.
 Align with their values.
Even if you want or, especially, if you want
your audience to change their values, begin
by identifying with them. Show people how
the changes you want them to make — the
new values you want them to adopt —
affirm, refine, or advance the values they
already hold. (You can simply tell them
they’re wrong, of course, and that their
values are all screwed up. Doing so may
give you a pleasing sense of righteousness,
but it will do little — nothing — to advance
your cause.)
 Use evidence that they find credible.
Facts and figures, respected authorities,
charts and graphs, anecdotes and personal
testimonials — they all convey differing
degrees of credibility to differing audiences.
Evidence that is conclusive to one audience
may be dubious to another.
 Be the embodiment of your message.
You are the message. Everything about you
(your character, knowledge, experience,
values) and how you present yourself (your
voice, your gestures, your facial expressions)
will reinforce your credibility if and only if
they are in alignment with what you’re
saying.
Another good way to establish or increase your
credibility when speaking is to build rapport
with your audience or to increase your
confidence while speaking.
Communication and Your Career
(Bautista)
Skills and Competencies Needed for Successful
Speech Making
Public speaking skills are valuable both in
your personal life and in your career. Even if
you don't regularly engage in public
speaking, developing skills in this area will
increase your confidence
Below are some key skills held by good public
speakers
1. Stage Presence
Good public speakers appear
 confident
 friendly
 enthusiastic
 energetic
Confidence comes from choosing a topic you
like and researching it well.
Friendliness can be conveyed simply by smiling
at your audience.
Enthusiasm and energy will naturally follow
when you enjoy your topic and are well
prepared.
If you feel that your stage presence is lacking,
view clips of speakers whom you admire. Aim to
imitate their style. Then, "fake it until you make
it." In other words, act confident until
you feel confident.
2. Voice Control
Your voice is the most important tool you will
use as a public speaker. Improve the quality of
your voice through diaphragmatic breathing;
breathing from your diaphragm instead of your
chest. This is how professional singers breathe.
It is what helps to make their voices sound
fabulous and enables them to hold notes long
after most people would be out of breath.
Doing so also reduces feelings of breathlessness
caused by speech anxiety. This type of
breathing will allow you to better control the
following aspects of your voice:
 tone (quality)
 pitch (high or low)
 volume of your voice
A quick tip to implement diaphragmatic
breathing is to lie down on the floor and place
one hand on your abdomen. As you breath, try
to make your stomach rise. Count to 10 as you
inhale and fill your stomach, then count to 10
again as you exhale. Try to remember to breath
from your diaphragm as you speak in public.
3. Body Language
Consider your body language and the message
that it conveys.
 Practice standing with a relaxed upright
posture.
 Place your hands at your sides or
clasped in front of you, unless you are
making a gesture to emphasize a point.
 Become aware of your facial
expressions as well; they should match
the message you are delivering. If
you're giving an upbeat speech, try to
have a relaxed and joyful look on your
face.
4. Delivery
When it comes to public speaking, delivery is
everything. Even if you have a great voice and
good body language, your message will get lost
if the audience can't easily follow what you say.
Below are some tips for developing good
delivery skills.
 Speak slowly and deliberately. Here's a
tip: it will probably seem too slow for
you.
Communication and Your Career
 Pause between ideas to give the you know it is time to address issues
audience time to digest what you are with your public speaking.
saying.
 Carefully articulate and pronounce
your words. A mumbling public speaker
is hard to understand.
 Avoid filler sounds like "Um" and
"ah." It detracts from what you are
saying and is distracting to the audience.
 Vary the pitch and volume of your
voice to add interest. Speaking in a
monotone is a surefire way to lose the
interest of your listeners. Listen to
podcasts of upbeat public speakers and
try to imitate how they talk. One good
example is Paula Pant of the Afford
Anything podcast.

5. Audience Relations

Good public speakers are in tune with their

audience. Public speaking is more than standing
in front of a group and talking.

 Acknowledge your audience right

away and begin talking as soon as all
eyes are on you. This helps to make you
seem more like a "real" person and
keeps a conversational tone.
 If you need to set up
equipment, converse with your
audience at the same time to keep their
attention.
 Make eye contact and watch for
communication from the audience.
Smiles and nodding are good; fidgeting
or confused looks may mean that you
need to adjust what you are doing.
However, if you live with social anxiety,
be careful not to focus too much on
negative faces. It could be that they are
just having a bad day, and their facial
expressions have nothing to do with
what you are saying. A good rule of
thumb is to find a friendly face at the
start of your talk. If that person seems
to be confused or bored, that is when
Communication and Your Career
Overcoming Speech Anxiety
Being a Principled Speaker