The second question is how can we make our presentation more convincing? And trust, of course, is one of the most fundamental problems with communications. Maybe even the most fundamental problem with communications. And if you don't believe in the messenger, you won't believe the message. So if the audience doesn't trust you, there's no point of talking. And it is true that when we make our presentation interesting and easy to understand, the audience trusts us more. But actually the reverse is also true. If you start with building trust, it leads to understanding, which makes it so much easier to sustain interest on the part of the audience. Because, you see, when trust is low, you have to be very precise in what you say, and you will still be misunderstood. And when trust is high, you can be vague sometimes, but people will make an effort and figure out what you mean. And this is how, in cross-cultural communication, people describe difference between American and Japanese attitude towards communication. Americans get straight to business, and then they draft their contracts with very precise language. And if something goes wrong, they go to court. And the Japanese, they communicate differently. They spend hours building trust, discussing their family lives with each other. And when trust is high, they solve their problems out of court, mostly as friends, because friends don't usually take each other to court. So trust solves this problem, too. So there's a problem that we often take trust for granted. And we underinvest in communicating our trustworthiness. And research shows that if we try to send strong and clear signs of trust to our audience, it attracts other trusters. So we might as well try to influence that thing. And I have a formula for trust. It is a formula, not the formula. And there are three things in it, character, motivation, competency. I am not the expert on trust, specifically. But I've spent weeks researching the subject, and this is what I came to. Character is more about your general reputation. I am known as a trustworthy person. And motivation and competency are about a specific situation. Do you want to help me in this situation, and are you able to help me in this particular situation? So let's begin with character. Are you a trustworthy person? And I think most of us would say yes. But how do other people know that? And I don't if it's good news or bad news for you, but people mostly deduce your trustworthiness from your appearance. So dress for success, or for trust. Perhaps the most famous research on this subject comes from Nalini Ambody. Thirty seconds to assess, sometimes even ten, to assess likability, honesty and competence. You have to understand that this is a piece of research which was done on students and professors. Students were evaluating professors, so things might be sometimes different in other settings. But it's a good thing to remember. People use those snap judgments, first impressions, to assess your honesty, so look like a trustworthy person. A rule of thumb, of course, would be to dress slightly better than your audience. So if you're dressed extremely sloppy, you are either a billionaire or not. Mark Zuckerberg is known for wearing the same t-shirt everyday, including presentations. But I don't know if that would work for you. But apart from the looks, is there any way you can influence the audience? Is there any way you can make them trust you more? How about Simon Sinek's advice, start with why. Maybe you can start with a statement of your values and purpose, and sort of sell your trustworthiness this way. Well, there's a very sensible book on authenticity by Pine and Gilmore. And in this book, they have three axioms of authenticity. And authenticity is nearly the same as trustworthiness. And axiom number one, if you are authentic, you don't have to say you're authentic. Just be authentic, right, it makes total sense. If you say you're authentic, you'd better be authentic. And axiom number three, it's a lot easier to be authentic if you don't say you are authentic. So their advice is don't say you're authentic, right. And I say, don't say that you're authentic, but you can imply it. You can tell a story, which has sort of your authenticity built in. It's a story about a hard choice that you have to make about some situation that you are in. A story which is relevant to the topic that you're going to talk about, and which is relatable. Yes, I know at this moment in time, it's a bit of cliche. Lots and lots of people fund their presentations with stories, so you may need to work on your delivery. It does require a lot work and sometimes rehearsals. But I think it does make total sense. It does make sense to share your vulnerabilities with the audience because trust is something people reciprocate. You trust people with your, maybe, intimate details and they trust you back. So my advice is go ahead and share vulnerabilities. I don't know if you've seen this talk at TED. It's a talk by Brene Brown, who is an academic researcher on subjects of vulnerability and trust. And, once again, it's a very sensible talk. And she mostly encourages you to share vulnerabilities with people, and this is my advice, too. I know what some of you are thinking. We all hate those presentations which start with I'm really nervous. And you know why we hate this? Because this is not relevant. Okay, you're nervous, so what? Does that relate to your topic in any way. And if you say that you're really nervous because the topic is very important, this is a very different story. Yes, you are vulnerable, but then you want something from the audience. You are talking not about yourself, but rather about them, or about the thing that unites you with your audience. So go ahead and share vulnerabilities. But make sure these are mutual vulnerabilities, these are mutual insecurities. Let me give you a quick example from my experience. A couple of years ago, KPMG, it's a huge consulting and auditing company, invited me to do a lecture for them at their office. And, well, it's a big company, and I have this feeling like am I good enough for them? So I started with a story. And I told them how 20 years ago, I wanted to work for them. I wanted, actually, to work for all those big four consulting companies. And I personally brought them my resume because there was no e-mail back then, and regular mail was slow and unreliable. And they didn't call me back [LAUGH]. This is where I get laughter from the audience. But then I tell them that other companies did call me back. And I eventually got a job offer from Deloitte, which is their major competitor, so it's not like I'm a total loser. But 20 years later this is my revenge, a three hour long lecture on typefaces. Another burst of laughter. And I felt like the situation clicked, problem solved. They've accepted me as one of their kind. He's a consultant, too, he's like us. And he has a sense of humor, so it's going to be okay. So take your audience for a ride. Classical storytelling, a hero with a weakness, a problem and a girl, does require lots and lots of preparation.
