To build trust you must prepare yourself by doing these three things…

1. Evaluate your audience's risk. What does your audience risk if they accept your proposal? Think about the worst thing that could happen to an audience that accepts your plan, then think about how you can reassure them that this will not happen

2. Anticipate the “trust level”. Do you know your audience? How well do they know you? If you are facing a roomful of strangers, you had better work on trust building more diligently.

3. Plan to build moments of trust. Trust is established one step at a time through a series of small incidents (moments of trust) where two people find or share common values, interests, experiences, successes, or feelings. Trust results from the cumulative effect of these moments of trust, established over time.

In a presentation, you don't have the luxury of time on your hands, so your audience will need to experience several of these small moments of trust to see and believe what you are sharing with them. Here are some guidelines that may help…

People trust what is familiar: Find a way for your audience to understand what you are proposing in the context of something with which they are already familiar and comfortable

People trust what they understand: Clarify any "fuzzy" points about your product or service. Draw these points out by asking questions to be sure your audience understands

People trust what seems objective: Tell the story from both sides – include, for example competitive statistics

People trust what is proven: Keep statistics handy to prove the major points of your presentation

The bottom line is, when you establish trust, you build relationships. When you build relationships, you open the door to making sales