Knowing your audience and establishing credibility

Knowing your audience and credibility can be two things that highly influence each other. Let's talk about credibility first. What is credibility? According to Merriam Webster dictionary, credibility is defined as the quality of being believed or accepted as true, real, or honest. As a presenter, you will want to establish credibility so that your audience can take you seriously and see you as a reliable source of information. This can be established in many different ways, but I'm going to discuss how credibility can be established through sharing a personal experience or story.

Let me tell you how credibility was established in one of my most recent presentations. My colleague and I presented in front of the principals in the Iron County School District for the Cedar City Water Conservancy District. As a 21 year-old student, it was extremely nerve-wracking to stand in front of twenty-five or so important officials. Even as a child, everyone at one point of time must have been a bit afraid to be in a room with a principal; now I was standing in front of at least twenty-five. To establish credibility with these education officials, my supervisor, Sage Platt, started the presentation with something like this:

"Jessica's family is originally from Cambodia. They were in the middle of a war and each member separated from each other as they stayed in different refuge camps. After being sponsored to come to America, her family now lives here in Utah. Her mother did not attend college and her father cannot speak English fluently. Jessica is now a 1st generation student who knows the importance of education."

Sage was able to establish credibility for me because she knew my audience. This opening statement resonated strongly with these principals because they work in the education field; they take pride and joy in education.

Research who your audience is and share a personal story to establish credibility.