Mixed messages

As government ministers tell us there is no need to panic, queues develop at filling stations in Scotland. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7367488.stm

In fairness there is a particular problem for politicians in the matter of trust but for anyone speaking to an audience trust is vital. Work too obviously to persuade the audience to trust you and many will respond by digging in their heels and looking for the catch.

In business as in the rest of life trust is earned, so the public speaker must take care to speak honestly not attempting to use sleight of hand. After all we will generally be speaking to people we wish to preserve a relationship with; colleagues, customers, bankers, board members.

If we have a name for telling it like it is, even when that does not appear to be for our short-term advantage, we can expect a better response when we advise, ‘don’t panic’.
Techniques for building trust tend to concentrate on eye contact and appropriate body language and for good reason, we respond on a sub conscious level to these prompts and these responses help us decide who we are going to trust.

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MG