Last week, we tackled confidence… from why yours might disappear if thrust into piloting a jet, to why smart people doubt themselves while others think they can take on a bear, as well as how imagining success can work like practice. In short: confidence is weird, BS, yet necessary, can be fatal, but at least we can trick our brains into having it.

Distinct, yet closely related is Credibility. If a cocky teenager in basketball shorts tells us they are a dentist, the confidence is there, but the credibility is not. If the same age young man walks up wearing a brown suit, slightly hunched, carrying a chess set and clock, and tells you they are a ranked chess master, you more likely believe them. It’s not age, experience, or any other single factor which determines your credibility.

That’s because credibility isn’t something you have which others find. It is something you project. It’s your personal sense of power and authority over a subject. The chess master above had the right tools for the job, and a “look” which felt right, before making their confident declaration.

We aren’t playing chess here. (That’s not to say recruiting is easy; if anything, we’re trying to make two chess players, whom we barely know, hug.) Yet, understanding credibility is a projection, can you project that as a recruiter? Here’s the credibility shortcuts:

Our voice is tool number one. You can hear their credibility (or lack of) in others during each call, and they in you. I try to consider the other person a friend I’m helping. This keeps my voice in a relaxed, warm and credible tone. Practice

Knowing when and how to be professional. An attorney who walks into court with papers sticking out of her briefcase and addresses the judge with an exasperated “Bro” has lost credibility.  

Demonstrate industry knowledge. When others hear from us the right jargon, we believe them. that credibility is specific. The chess player I described didn’t fit your mental image of a good football player, while a newscaster appears as an expert while sharing work others have done via teleprompter. (Meaning you don’t have to be an expert, just curate well.)

Hand in hand with knowledge, is high expectations. If a dentist says, “show up at 2:30, or whenever, I’ve got lots of openings,” their low expectations of you kill their credibility before I even mentioned medical expertise. Keep your expectations of others high, lower stinks of desperation.

To sum up: credibility is an aura we are projecting through practice, presence, professionalism, industry information, expectations, and even attire. In no example in this article did I tell you the skill level of the persons described while painting each as more or less credible. So, if confidence is bull, credibility is how well others believe your BS.

Without credibility, without our people believing we are professional authorities in a field, we shouldn’t expect our scripts to have any impact. Nor should we want them too. If a loved one was seeing a non-credible dentist, I bet you would be worried.

With credibility, they can feel safe working with you. I bet you want that. Be mindful of the array of ways you need to put on a show for others, and practice for them. And for your wallet.

The other thing I didn’t mention describing these people was their likeability, because it’s not needed for credibility. Charisma is next week, because it does still play into script success.