Like it or not, your audience, not you, decides on your credibility as speaker. Credibility is characterized as a speaker’s competence (knowledge of his/her subject matter) and character (trustworthiness and goodwill towards his/her audience). A speaker’s credibility can be a moving target as it can vary from audience to audience, and it can even change within one speech. Speech
experts have identified three types of credibility: initial credibility – the credibility the speaker has before the speech begins; derived credibility – the credibility the speaker gains during the speech; and terminal credibility – the credibility of the speaker after the speech. How can a speaker gain and maintain credibility with an audience? 1. Find common ground. What experiences and values could you share with your audience? Building on shared and common experiences bolsters
credibility as well as unifies an audience towards a common goal. 2. Reveal your qualifications. Do you have personal experience or research that gives you specific insight on your topic? Let your audience know your background and qualifications to demonstrate your leadership on your topic. Oftentimes, your signature story will establish your competence. 3. Be prepared. You may be well known in a particular field or industry. But if you are not prepared, not organized,
not practiced, or not punctual, you will not be perceived as competent, and your credibility will suffer. 4. Be ethical. Audiences can sense when speakers are insincere and don’t have their best interest at heart. Be honest with your words, cite your sources, and have integrity with your intentions. 5. Be authentic. Let your emotions and personality come through during your presentation. Audiences want to connect with you, so don’t hold back the real “you” when
presenting. Let your enthusiasm for your topic show. Building and maintaining your credibility is crucial to getting your message heard. Ultimately, it’s up to your audience to decide if you carry enough credibility for them to listen. Share the post "5 Ways to Enhance Your Credibility as a Speaker" Reader InteractionsApril 11, 2018 - Gini Beqiri Persuasive speaking is a skill that you can apply regularly throughout your life, whether you are selling a product or being interviewed. 2,300 years ago, Aristotle determined the components needed for persuasive speaking. They are referred to as the three pillars of persuasion - ethos, pathos and logos. In this article, we discuss how to use the three pillars for public speaking. What are ethos, pathos and logos?Ethos, pathos and logos are modes of persuasion used to convince and appeal to an audience. You need these qualities for your audience to accept your messages.
Ethos - The Ethical AppealEthos is Greek for "character" and "ethic" is derived from ethos. Ethos consists of convincing your audience that you have good character and you are credible therefore your words can be trusted. Ethos must be established from the start of your talk or the audience will not accept what you say. In fact, ethos is often established before your presentation, for example, you may be the CEO of the company you're presenting to so you're already perceived as a specialist. Why is ethos important?
Characteristics of ethosThere are four main characteristics of ethos:
1. Trustworthiness and respectThe audience are more likely to be respect you and think that what you're saying is true if they perceive you as trustworthy. This judgement is formed using factors such as:
2. Similarity to the audienceListeners are more likely to be convinced by someone they can relate to. For example, you may share:
If you do not share traits with your audience you can choose to adjust your:
But don't do too much as your listeners will seen you as not being genuine. Tony Robbins, a well known authority in the life coaching space, giving a TED Talk on ‘Why we do what we do’. 3. AuthorityIf the audience perceive that you are an expert they are more likely to be persuaded by what you say. Remember that every presenter has authority because they are the speaker. For example:
4. Expertise and reputationExpertise is your knowledge of the subject. Reputation is what your audience knows about your knowledge of the subject. Reputation depends on:
Build Career Skills OnlineFast-track your career with award-winning courses and realistic practice. Start a Free Trial Merging the four characteristics of ethosNot all of characteristics have to be present to develop high ethos, for example, a university lecturer speaking to her students is most likely perceived as trustworthy as the lecturer is known to provide correct information, she has authority over the 18-21 year olds due to her job title and her age. But she's not similar to her students because of this. She has been working in this area for 30 years and at the university for 5 years (expertise) and has contributed largely to the area through a number of studies and subsequent papers (reputation). This is enough ethos for the audience to be persuaded by what she says. Another person, such as a manager addressing her employees may have a different combination of these traits but still have enough ethos. It's hard to achieve complete ethos, especially considering that having authority often reduces similarity. Improve ethosAuthority and reputation are usually predetermined before your presentation so it's difficult to change the audience's mind about this. But it's easier to change people's perception about how trustworthy and how alike you are during the presentation. Improve ethos day to day:
Improve ethos before a speech:
Telling personal stories during a presentation is a great way to increase ethos. Increase ethos during a speech:
Improve ethos after the presentation
Pathos - The Emotional AppealPathos is Greek for suffering and experience. Empathy, sympathy and pathetic are derived from pathos. Pathos is to persuade by appealing to the audience's emotions. As the speaker, you want the audience to feel the same emotions you feel about something, you want to emotionally connect with them and influence them. If you have low pathos the audience is likely to try to find flaws in your arguments. Why is pathos important?Emotions are motivators so the audience is more likely to be persuaded and act on your requests by using pathos. Pathos is more likely to increase the chances of your audience:
Example of pathos during a speech Girls Who Code Founder Reshma Saujani explains how one of her students created an algorithm to detect false positives in breast cancer testing after her dad was diagnosed with cancer. Watch the full video here: Why We Need Women in Tech Improving pathos
Build Career Skills OnlineFast-track your career with award-winning courses and realistic practice. Start a Free Trial Logos - The Logical AppealThe word “logic” is derived from logos. Logos is to appeal to logic by relying on the audience's intelligence and offering evidence in support of your argument. Logos also develops ethos because the information makes you look knowledgeable. Ask the following questions to decide if you have achieved logos:
Why is logos important?Essentially, logical arguments that make sense are not easily dismissed. Improving logos
Be comprehensive
Engage the audience by asking them questions during your speech to increase logos. Be logical
The audience are using both types of reasoning as you speak, so their beliefs may interfere with them accepting your conclusions. Overcome these by building your argument on the audience's widely held beliefs - commonplaces. For example, a company's main value and therefore commonplace may be "Compassion makes us the best company". Use the audience's commonplace like a fact and apply it to a new situation. So if you want to encourage your staff to join a committee, use their commonplace, for example, rather than your belief say: "This committee needs considerate and kind-hearted people." Be specific
There is uncertainty over which pillar is the most important - Aristotle thought that logos was vital but when used by itself it lacks impact. So ensure that you treat all three pillars with equal importance to succeed in persuading your audience. What kind of credibility do you have with the audience before you begin your speech?Initial credibility is the audience's perception of the speaker before the speech begins. 2. Derived credibility is produced by everything a speaker says and does during the speech.
Why is it important to establish your credibility at the beginning of your speech?Why is it important to establish your credibility at the beginning of your speech? It is important to establish credibility at the beginning of your speech, so that your audience knows how and why you are qualified to speak on a topic.
What is the aspect of credibility that's determined by a speaker's knowledge and experience?Ethos refers to the credibility of a speaker and is composed of three dimensions: competence, trustworthiness, and dynamism. Speakers develop ethos by being prepared, citing credible research, presenting information in a nonmanipulative way, and using engaging delivery techniques.
What role does credibility play in the audience's perception of the speaker?By establishing credibility in the speech, the audience will understand that the speaker has integrity, they are competent, they are relationally sensitive, they have sound judgment, and it also makes the speaker more likeable.
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