Regardless of what I was doing as an adult, my “close ratio” was always well over 80%. As a remodeler, and semiretired remodeler, it went up to 90% +. I attribute that sales success to “personality” first. I say that because I’ve learned that one’s appearance and what comes out of his/her mouth during the first few minutes, determines if the audience has his/her attention, will listen, or turn you off. And let’s face it, regardless of our position, we are all sales people first, whether it’s selling ourselves, and idea, a product, or service.

So for me, personality is first, followed by credibility, which is the result of “expertise.” “Visibility” becomes an opportunity, given permission, to demonstrate one’s personality and credibility.

And as Mr. Garrett states, once personality, expertise, and visibility are combined properly, authority is the natural result. How that authority is used is another discussion

Excellent discussion because it brings the importance of the contents to mind.

Regardless of what I was doing as an adult, my “close ratio” was always well over 80%. As a remodeler, and semiretired remodeler, it went up to 90% +. I attribute that sales success to “personality” first. I say that because I’ve learned that one’s appearance and what comes out of his/her mouth during the first few minutes, determines if the audience has his/her attention, will listen, or turn you off. And let’s face it, regardless of our position, we are all sales people first, whether it’s selling ourselves, and idea, a product, or service.

So for me, personality is first, followed by credibility, which is the result of “expertise.” “Visibility” becomes an opportunity, given permission, to demonstrate one’s personality and credibility.

And as Mr. Garrett states, once personality, expertise, and visibility are combined properly, authority is the natural result. How that authority is used is another discussion

Excellent discussion because it brings the importance of the contents to mind.

Neverless, it is a good question. Consider Yaro Stark or Darren Rowse, both well respective names in the problogger field but do I even care to visit them anymore. Not really. I actually have broaden my horizon and found so much more information than the “leading experts” who seems to be claimed as an authority on blogging have provided.

I think Authority is just another term for saying you have an ego.

Neverless, it is a good question. Consider Yaro Stark or Darren Rowse, both well respective names in the problogger field but do I even care to visit them anymore. Not really. I actually have broaden my horizon and found so much more information than the “leading experts” who seems to be claimed as an authority on blogging have provided.

I think Authority is just another term for saying you have an ego.

@Galba – Thanks

@Galba – Thanks

Yours is a fair comment.

Yours is a fair comment.

@maneesh – Yes, it is often the case that talented young people can be overlooked because the perception is they have insufficient experience. The thing to do is to gain and demonstrate experience up to the level of your expertise I guess.

@Advice Network – We seem to live in a tabloid culture now. Often it is the loudest amongst us who get noticed rather than those with the best ideas!

@Erica – Authenticity is definitely a good trait, because as you say, regardless of technology, it is the connections we make with people that have the deepest impact. Much as there will always be people who twist your words or misrepresent, I think if you speak from the heart then most people will respond to that.

@NathanaelB – Practical experience tends to trump theoretical knowledge, I always recommend anyone following an academic route to make sure they gain as much genuine hands on experience as possible to match what they are learning.

@George – Indeed, I guess it comes down to the source of their confidence? In most cases we can tell when someone is sure, or if they are faking. I used to have a boss that would repeat verbatim what I had said at previous meetings on similar topics, the only problem came when he had to expand on the anecdotes he would bluster. My Dad taught me that people leak details when they talk, they either leak the truth or leak that they are faking, and we can usually tell which given time

@alan – Absolutely, especially your last point of respecting your audience. In many cases there will be people in your audience that know so much that could help everyone involved it is so worth listening. It’s a shame when people close off to the comments or ignore feedback, we can all learn from each other.

@Aurelius – Oh yes, networking means actually growing with your network and staying connected. It’s so easy to think that it’s just collecting addresses

@Christine – I agree, while there are people who will talk about stuff without having a clue, I think most of us like to be sure first

@NathanaelB – Yeah, you can still write about something you don’t know and not be a fraud. I think it is good when people are honest that they are not fully confident but say “I am learning this and this is what I understand” and are open to feedback

@Galba – I guess with your pilot example there is also external verification as well as external respect. They are either qualified or not. Most cases though we have to base on instinct, for example there is no government accredited blogger qualification

@maneesh – Yes, it is often the case that talented young people can be overlooked because the perception is they have insufficient experience. The thing to do is to gain and demonstrate experience up to the level of your expertise I guess.

@Advice Network – We seem to live in a tabloid culture now. Often it is the loudest amongst us who get noticed rather than those with the best ideas!

@Erica – Authenticity is definitely a good trait, because as you say, regardless of technology, it is the connections we make with people that have the deepest impact. Much as there will always be people who twist your words or misrepresent, I think if you speak from the heart then most people will respond to that.

@NathanaelB – Practical experience tends to trump theoretical knowledge, I always recommend anyone following an academic route to make sure they gain as much genuine hands on experience as possible to match what they are learning.

@George – Indeed, I guess it comes down to the source of their confidence? In most cases we can tell when someone is sure, or if they are faking. I used to have a boss that would repeat verbatim what I had said at previous meetings on similar topics, the only problem came when he had to expand on the anecdotes he would bluster. My Dad taught me that people leak details when they talk, they either leak the truth or leak that they are faking, and we can usually tell which given time

@alan – Absolutely, especially your last point of respecting your audience. In many cases there will be people in your audience that know so much that could help everyone involved it is so worth listening. It’s a shame when people close off to the comments or ignore feedback, we can all learn from each other.

@Aurelius – Oh yes, networking means actually growing with your network and staying connected. It’s so easy to think that it’s just collecting addresses

@Christine – I agree, while there are people who will talk about stuff without having a clue, I think most of us like to be sure first

@NathanaelB – Yeah, you can still write about something you don’t know and not be a fraud. I think it is good when people are honest that they are not fully confident but say “I am learning this and this is what I understand” and are open to feedback

@Galba – I guess with your pilot example there is also external verification as well as external respect. They are either qualified or not. Most cases though we have to base on instinct, for example there is no government accredited blogger qualification

Christine and George’s comments suggest that expertise has both an external aspect (being respected by others as an expert) and an internal aspect (knowing that you have a body of knowledge). The internal aspect is more than simply being confident. Self knowledge has to be rooted in facts. I for one would never allow a super confident person who had never flown a plane before to take me for a flight .

Christine and George’s comments suggest that expertise has both an external aspect (being respected by others as an expert) and an internal aspect (knowing that you have a body of knowledge). The internal aspect is more than simply being confident. Self knowledge has to be rooted in facts. I for one would never allow a super confident person who had never flown a plane before to take me for a flight .