How to Build Credibility with an Audience By Pat Bennett credibility n. The quality of something capable of being believed or relied upon or that is worthy of confidence. See also veracity. (Webster’sNewWorldCollege Dictionary). Based on Aristotle’s concept of ethos, speaker credibility can be defined as “the extent to which the audience believes you and your message.” In other words, speaker credibility comes from your audience, and is based on their perceptions of you. Your credibility as a speaker is so critical that if you don’t have it — if the audience doesn’t find you credible — you might as well stop speaking. “Credibility, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. For any number of reasons, consciously and unconsciously, people decide whether and how much they trust you. They often make snap judgments based on first impressions, which they then seek to confirm or to revise (mostly to confirm) after further experience.”
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