The ability to build rapport and trust is a critical success skill in leadership. This is obvious if you are an author or speaker, but it is necessary even if you aren’t.

If you are going to be successful in influencing others—even if it’s just to buy your point of view—you must become proficient at building trust.

Last week, I participated in a panel discussion at NMX on “The Formula for Creating a Top Ranked Podcast in the Business Category of iTunes.” Cliff Ravenscraft, Dan Miller, and Ray Edwards were my co-panelists. I was asked to speak on the trust part of the formula.

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I shared five ways you can build more rapport and trust, regardless of your role or context.

Show empathy.

Be generous.

Tell the truth.

Honor your word.

Be transparent.

When you do these things, you build trust. Trust is the lubricant that makes it possible for you to influence others.

Listener Questions

An anonymous female caller asked, “I have a difficult time following through on my intentions. How can I change this?”

Shirley Showalter asked “How do I move beyond my core audience to find a larger one?

Wendy asked, “I added the word ‘blog’ to my domain name because my name was already taken. Is that going to be a problem down the line?”

Episode Resources

In this episode I mentioned several resources, including:

Book: Love Is the Killer App by Tim Sanders

Course: How to Create Your Best Year Ever

Membership: Platform University

Software: Bartender for Mac

Show Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here, courtesy of Ginger Schell, a professional transcriptionist, who handles all my transcription needs.

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