Credibility in Action: Three Ways to Showcase Your Expertise Effectively

Credibility is a valuable currency in both our professional and personal lives. Representing your expertise and experience, credibility affords the opportunity for you to be heard, respected, and influential.

Short of carrying your resume around, though, how do you showcase your credibility without seeming arrogant or disingenuous? Through actions. And I have three—demonstrating, questioning, and synthesizing—for you to try.

Before we dive in, though, let’s briefly cover two “types” of credibility I’ve distinguished through working with students at Stanford GSB and various coaching clients.

• Career/College Credibility is what you might itemize in your LinkedIn profile, such as your education and experience with various jobs and internships. This kind of credibility comes from your associations with certain institutions and people via connections and acquired knowledge and experience.
• Costco Credibility involves highlighting what you did to arrive at your accomplishments. See, Costco shows customers that their products are valuable through free samples and product demonstrations. You can similarly relay your credibility by, for example, detailing previous successes and results, testimonials, or case studies. Ground your credibility in reality.

Seeing, as the saying goes, is believing. So, when it comes to credibility, think “show” rather than “tell.” Combining and refining how you showcase your Career/College and Costco Credibility will maximize the likelihood that others will have confidence in you and your work—and you’ll provide the clearest “proof” of your credibility when you can show it in action.

Here’s how.

1. Effective Storytelling

Imagine you’re a junior team member meeting a client for the first time. You want to use your introduction as an opportunity to establish credibility. A “telling” approach in this scenario would rely heavily on itemizing elements from your Career/College Credibility and might sound like this:

“Hi, I’m Micah, and I’m happy to be here.  Prior to my two years at this company, I interned at the consulting company AAA and earned an MBA from Stanford GSB. I hold certificates in program management and design thinking.”

Conversely, “showing” reveals your credibility through story and testimonial. You might instead say:

“Hi, I’m Micah, and I’m excited to be part of my third transformation team. Much like my last project, I see an opportunity to leverage AI project management tools to develop creative strategies and assess our progress. Last time, our client said she loved how efficient and creative our implementation was, and she recommended us to another division to execute a similar approach.”

In this scenario, “showing” lets the client immediately see and connect with your expertise and how it might benefit their team.

2. Intentional Questioning

Intentional questions are another way to show your credibility. The quality and insightfulness of your questions display your level of understanding.

Consider an interview for a training job, for example. When asked if you have any questions for your interviewer, you might inquire how much time developers dedicate to documenting their products before courses are offered. This question demonstrates your detailed knowledge of what makes for successful training programs.

3. Insightful Synthesizing

Let’s say you’re an investor interested in working with in-demand founders who have mentioned that trust is a significant criterion when selecting their investment group. You might highlight that you believe their new business is a platform that offers value and the foundation for an ecosystem of customers, partners, and suppliers to connect more deeply. Based on this insight, the founders are impressed with your ability to look deeper into their business and provide a unique perspective based on your experience.

You should also work to identify and communicate any subtle connections that might be of value. Revealing these connections allows you to display your nuanced and sophisticated understanding of your topic—an understanding that perhaps only you have.

Establishing credibility is critical for successful relationships in both professional and personal contexts. By focusing on demonstrating your expertise through compelling stories, insightful questions, and thoughtful synthesis, you can effectively convey your value to others without resorting to mere self-promotion.

Remember, it's not just about where you’ve studied or worked, who you know, or what you've accomplished—it's about how you can illustrate your skills and knowledge in a way that resonates. I hope these strategies will help you build trust and influence and pave the way for greater opportunities and connections.

Join Matt Abrahams every Tuesday to hear more expert-backed strategies for better communication and leadership on Think Fast Talk Smart, the Podcast: