Be careful, you are the expert

Creative Commons: https://www.flickr.com/photos/maile/1745480/

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We are all the expert of somebody. It mean that we know more on a subject than someone else, or we are perceived as someone who knows more, even if it’s not always the case.

As a blogger, a teacher, a speaker, a put-your-own-title-here, we share our knowledge, but we also share our thoughts. We share it in a blog post, on Twitter, on the front of a crowd, in a meeting with our co-workers, at the coffee shop to a stranger…… we share our knowledge and our opinions all the time. Because people see us as an expert, we need to be careful. We need to be careful as for some people what we say is the truth, the only truth.

This truth can sometimes be beneficial, sometimes not. You may lose credibility with some statements that are erroneous. I read a lot of things online that weren’t true. We want to give the informations quickly, so we don’t take the time to make some research. In that situation, instead of saying something as a fact, say it as an opinion.

I also heard a lot of false things from speakers. In the front of a crowd, we don’t want to look like someone who don’t know is subject, and we say something that makes sense and that we think was right. Let me tell you something: you will lose credibility by doing this. There is nothing wrong about saying, “I don’t know, but I’ll look at it and get back to you as soon as possible”. With this simple technic, you will keep your credibility, learn something knew and create a good relationship with people.

At the end, it’s just a matter of being careful. Careful on what we say, careful on what we share, as an expert. Are you an expert? Are you perceived as an expert? Do you think we need to be careful with what we say online or offline? Share your thoughts.