The Trust Factor: How Communication Wins Any Audience
When you speak, does your audience trust that you are the expert?
How do you know for sure?
How do you know what they say behind your back?
Fact: trust isn’t automatic or based on your status—it’s built through clear communication.
Effective communication strategies help you establish credibility and build meaningful relationships with your audience.
But here is the kicker... con artists use the exact communication techniques that build meaningful relationships! In fact; I know several people who I like talking to, but they are con artists (in my opinion). They will straight up 'mislead you' using the same techniques as the most trustworthy person in your life.
Good and evil operate under the same principles. That's what I love about communication. It's a superpower that you decide how you use.
So how do you build trust through communication?
Here are 5 key principles. We'll start with the obvious and move to the less obvious:
1. Be Clear, Not Clever
OBVIOUSLY!
Are you sounding impressive with big words and industry jargon? That always backfires. Confusion kills trust.
Example: A financial advisor tells a client, “We’ll optimize your asset allocation to maximize yield differentials.” Translation?
I know it sounds too simple in your mind as a financial advisor, but what did you mean by the above statement? How about, “We’ll help you invest wisely to make more money.”
Clarity makes people feel informed rather than lost.
Let's flip the script and say you are talking to other financial advisors, well, now you can talk "industry talk!"
My wife used to work in the finance office of the automotive industry. Our neighbour was a sales manager, and whenever they got together, I just let them talk. I couldn’t even begin to understand some of the lingo they threw around, but here’s what I did notice—when my wife spoke to me about her work, she used much simpler language. And guess what? She was consistently in the top 1% in net sales for multiple major automotive brands.
The problem?
Many people—like one of my cousins—don’t adjust their communication style. And that’s exactly why my family calls him hard to talk to. Now, if you asked him, he’d say, “I don’t do small talk.”
But that’s not true. He talks to me, my dad, and my mom—and we do 'small talk.'
Here’s the big takeaway for speakers: Stop putting yourself in a box with labels like “I’m an introvert” or “I don’t do small talk.” I hear this all the time, and it’s incredibly limiting. Pay attention to what you say about yourself because it shapes how you connect with others. Either finish your negative statement with a positive or just let it pass in your mind.
Pro Tip: Speak to your audience as they want to be spoken to. That means asking questions as you go through your presentation. When dealing with speakers, sometimes I'll be presenting to experienced speakers and sometimes it'll be absolute beginners... I use the same presentation but I adapt it accordingly to the audience. That way even the most seasoned speakers have to trust that I know what I'm talking about.
I don't find out before speaking to the audience how much experience they have... I do it during my presentation.
2. How Storytelling Builds Trust and Connection
I've written blogs on this topic.
Data informs, stories transform. People will forget what you say, but they’ll remember how you... (can you finish the sentence?)
Here are my 5 tips for storytelling:
- stick to the story highlights: If you don't have a hook, punchline, or impact at least every 45 seconds during your stories then you will lose your audience. Unless it's something so gripping the audience can't let go.
- Use descriptive punchlines: you didn't run 5 blocks to get to work. You burnt the rubber off your soles to avoid getting lit up by the boss!
- Use $10 phrases: read above, 'run 5 blocks' is a $1 phrase; 'burnt the rubber off your soles' is a $10 phrase that makes people laugh.
- Put the listener into the story: you could say, "Can you imagine," or "What would you do?" or, "You're me, you have to make a decision..."
- Use a freaking awesome structure: I have a $7 workshop replay giving you a structure for telling short stories that have massive impact: [Check it out here]
3. How to Speak with Confidence and Gain Audience Trust
Quick Fix:
Eliminate weak language like "I think" or "maybe."
Instead, say, “I believe” or “Here’s what I know.”
Speaking with confidence enhances your credibility and helps gain the audience's trust.
Pro tip: Avoid telling the audience you're nervous or putting yourself down right out of the gate. That backfires, especially if you don't sound nervous. Negativity at the start lessens your credibility on stage (unless you have an outstanding feature that you know everyone is wondering about; address that).
4. Listen More Than You Speak
How many times has somebody said to you that you have two ears and one mouth, that's so you can listen twice as much as you speak!
Let me tell you a story. I have a speaking business mentor who drives me up the wall. Yes, he has some good material and I got fair value out of his course; but, I also got in during his beta phase. If I had to spend the 15k he's planning on charging now... well, you don't see a glowing recommendation here, do you?
Anyway, the problem is that he is an ego-speaker. All I hear during his presentations is, "I am so smart. I know everything. You are dumb. You know nothing." He purposefully sets the audience up with questions he knows they will get wrong so he looks like the expert.
Here is the crazy part, he has 50 people in the Zoom room and 25% of the people praise him because they don't know any better, because they allow themselves to feel dumb about this subject. They put him on a pedestal. 25% of us talk behind his back, and the rest don't turn on the camera.
Is my mentor's approach, right? Is ego speaking a good thing? I don't have that answer but it's not my style and I think it's bad for business... my mentor has good material but he is not optimizing his audience, and that's why there are 50 people in the room rather than 500-- my two bits.
The Best Way To Get Real Feedback is to get anonymous feedback. I remember doing training and everybody told me they loved what we did. At the end of the training I had them complete anonymous feedback forms, and the first time I only got a 73% overall rating!!!!
But wait, everybody told me they loved it? I was shocked, but I took some of the feedback seriously and the next rating was 87%. Today, it is much higher. This is why I tell speakers never to trust what the audience says to their face.
5. Be Consistent in Your Messaging
Consistency matters—but it’s not just about your message; it’s about your brand.
I have a friend who is a niche speaker. His message is rock solid, his online presence is polished, and his book and past clients make him credible—but his business isn’t booming. So, is messaging the issue? Or is it something different?
People tell my friend it's his messaging but I'm not sure I buy into that.
People will tell you to pick one message and go all in. And sure, that works for some—Tony Robbins is tied to overcoming fear, and my friend, The Goalie Mindset Guy is, well, all about goalie mindset. But does that mean you should just copy their approach?
Not necessarily. Your personal brand carries more weight than any single message. When people talk about The Goalie Mindset Guy, they don’t just say, “Oh, he’s about goalies.” They say, “He’s super positive!” Tony Robbins? People don’t just associate him with fear—they think of his energy, his presence.
The takeaway? People won’t just remember what you say; they’ll remember how you make them feel.
Your brand is how you show up. It’s more than just a picture of you on a white sand beach—without context, that doesn’t build trust. That’s just another vacation pic. But if you caption it: "I’ve spent years exploring hidden travel gems so you don’t have to. Here’s how to experience luxury on a backpacker’s budget."—now you’re not just posting, you’re positioning yourself as a travel expert.
Now, since every travel expert can post a picture, you can stand out by creating videos, or for speakers, when you do a presentation you chop it up into 45-second clips to post on socials. I just started doing this for my company and we are picking up new leads daily.
The best part is that speaking isn’t just about making people feel good—it’s about making them think, act, and believe. Everything you post is you saying something, get strategic with what you say, align it with an industry you want to be known in, and boom... you have a brand.
If you are a speaker then you need to have a video of you speaking. Go book some podcasts and chop those into 30 to 45-second stories. You don't even need a stage.
That way when you reach out to get gigs and people start searching for you they get to see and hear your style.
Final Thought: Trust Is Earned Through Clarity
Clear communication isn’t just about being understood—it’s about being trusted.
When your words are simple, your message is consistent, and you genuinely connect with your audience, you become someone people believe in.
If you want to master trust-building communication, I’ve got something for you—join the waitlist for my Magnetic Message Blueprint mini-course. It’s packed with communication tips for speakers to help you communicate with confidence, clarity, and impact.
[Click here to join the waitlist!]
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