6 Things You Can Do To Get People To Listen To You

By Janet Anthony on September 5, 2016 - Fact checked by Dumb Little Man

by Janet Anthony September 5, 2016

Catching people’s attention and making them listen to you can be a tough job, particularly if they don’t see you as an expert in their areas of concern. In case you’re wondering how you can make them recognize your expertise, here are six things you can do.

Table of Contents

1. Listen First
2. Engage Your Audience Immediately
3. Know Your Stuff
4. Start Developing Your Reputation
5. Create a Website/Blog/Social Media Platform of your Own
6. Understand the Correlation Between Like and Respect

1. Listen First

Before you can make people listen to you, you have to pay close attention to them first. Even if you know more than they do, it’s best to keep quiet and wait for the other person to finish his speech.

As you sit quietly, it’s essential to build on your presence. Sit straight and focus on the person speaking. It’s also important that you maintain eye contact to make the other person feel that you’re paying close attention to what he’s saying.

Even if you are just sitting, you have to make other people feel your presence.

2. Engage Your Audience Immediately

Whether you are speaking to a small group or a large audience, you should make it a point to begin your talk with something of extreme interest. You can provide some amazing data or statistics or quote a revered expert in the field.

The first words that will come out of your mouth can greatly affect the impression you create to your audience. If you are able to catch their attention right from the start, there’s a good chance you can keep them engaged throughout your speech.

3. Know Your Stuff

As an expert, your audience will believe everything you say. Because of this, it’s critical that you only provide factual information to your listeners. It can also help if you can provide supporting data and documents to back up your claims. Aside from building credibility, using research, logic and analysis in your presentation can make your talks more understandable, too.

4. Start Developing Your Reputation

Given the huge amount of content on the web and the sheer numbers of blogs out there, you will easily be able to find people who have the same area of expertise as you. Building a connection and reaching out to these people can help you develop your reputation more.

You can study and read their posts. You can also do your own research and establish your own writing style before you start submitting your work and name to their sites. It’s helpful if you can plan ahead and set specific goals, too.

Decide on the number of posts you can write within a certain period and plan your work schedule based on that time frame. Since rejections should be expected from time to time, you need to make sure your articles are of top quality before submitting them. Here are some tips to ensure your posts get published:

• Write a catchy title.
• Start with a “bang.”
• Use short sentences and break long paragraphs
• Cite experts and link to your sources
• Invite readers to comment on and share your post
• Use casual writing style

5. Create a Website/Blog/Social Media Platform of your Own

One of the best ways to promote yourself is to have your own brand. Creating your own website or blog can give you more chances of reaching out to people to share your expertise in your field. In maintaining your site, it’s best if you can keep it updated with current information. People are likely to follow experts that can keep them up to date.

6. Understand the Correlation Between Like and Respect

Much like teachers who work hard to earn the respect of their students, you should also learn how to establish a relationship with your audience. Before these people can listen to you, they must first like you. Once you’ve established a good relationship with them, they’ll be more than willing to pay attention to what you have to say.

No matter how knowledgeable you are, do not establish yourself as a self-righteous authority who has all of the answers. Instead, you should express genuine interest in establishing good relationships first. This is especially important in a work environment that is based on teamwork. In short, people listen to people they like.