In your speaking business, one of the key areas you must be focusing on is your credibility. Without it, you won’t be trusted and you’ll find you’re a) not getting gigs, and b) not making sales from stage
Why is it important to have good credibility?
To become that “sought after person” who people are queuing up to work with, you need to be credible in the eyes of your audience and event promoters who are looking to book the best speakers for their gigs.
First and foremost, that means you need to be trustworthy. You need to have a story to tell, have a reputation behind you and be credible.
What should you focus on to build your credibility?
Your story
Look back through your life… anything you’ve done in the past that has contributed to you being the expert in your topic, becomes a very good reason why people should listen to you.
Make a list: what activities or experiences from your background can add to your credibility today?
Results
Another thing that adds to your credibility is results – anything you’ve achieved personally or professionally.
My credibility is based around how I made over $1.25 million in my first 12 months as a professional speaker. That has credibility and it makes people sit up and take notice of what I have to say!
We call this your “hook”. It instantly captures people’s attention and imagination and gets them excited about you!
Profitability
Another very important factor is your profitability. This is especially true if you’re doing multi-speaker events, where you’re sharing profit etc with the host. Promoters want to know that you can actually make sales.
Being able to show you can sell from stage will add to your credibility. Make sure you always track and record your results from gigs… conversion rates and amounts. Having strong profitability will get promoters’ attention.
Integrity and authenticity
Always focus on forging and maintaining good relationships with any promoter you have worked with. It’s really vital that people can trust you.
Credibility is all about establishing and maintaining trust.
Testimonial
Another really quick and easy way to get credibility is through the use of testimonials. If you can get a good testimonial from a high profile person, that will go a long way to establishing your credibility and positioning you as the expert.
Media endorsements
You can also build credibility through 3rd party endorsement from the media. So if you’ve ever been featured in newspapers and magazines, you can use these endorsements to add to your credibility.Students’ success stories
If you’re a trainer who educates people, then the success stories of your students is the best thing that you can use to promote your own credibility.
What one thing can you do this week to start building your credibility? How about spending some time pulling your testimonials together?
The sooner you start building your credibility, the sooner you’ll find more and more promoters and audiences will want to work with you!
There’s absolutely no need for you to be slaving away like a mouse caught on a treadmill, looking busy but getting nowhere fast . . . whilst trying to get results as a speaker or in your business.
That’s insanity! All you need to do is make sure you’re working smarter not harder!
