What Does Vulnerability Have To Do With Trust?

Vulnerability is uncomfortable! Is it really necessary?

It’s scary to put yourself out there and share your mistakes and imperfections. If you’re vulnerable with others, you face the risk of being rejected or judged or criticized, or gossiped about.

But showing vulnerability and letting your audience know that you aren’t perfect will make you more relatable and help them connect with your message.

It will make them trust you more.

And trust is the most important quality people are looking for as they seek a connection from watching your videos.

Being authentic — presenting your audience with the real you — is an important lesson for your company or your YouTube presence. Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss wrote about the importance of presenting your true self for a 2020 Harvard Business Review article, “Everything Starts with Trust.”

People tend to trust you when they believe they are interacting with the real you (authenticity), when they have faith in your judgment and competence (logic), and when they feel that you care about them (empathy). When trust is lost, it can almost always be traced back to a breakdown in one of these three drivers.

Your goal with your YouTube episodes is to talk to the viewer as though you are speaking directly to a close friend. You are having a conversation and starting a dialogue, and you want that exchange to carry from YouTube into something deeper.

In order for a viewer to want to follow your lead and visit your website or subscribe to your services, it’s crucial that they believe that you are being honest with them. Being yourself, flaws and all.

By learning about someone else’s struggles and the adversity they faced and overcame, it can help others who are facing a similar situation. Share mistakes that you’ve made that relate to what you’re teaching. Let the viewer know that you’re not perfect because then they’ll be able to better relate to you.

Those personal reveals don’t need to be heavy and scarring and traumatic. It’s still important to maintain some level of your personal self. If you are talking about becoming financially secure, you could begin by talking about a time when you weren’t financially secure, and what it took you to make that shift. Or if the topic is real estate, your story could involve the lessons you learned when buying your first property.

Every lesson presents an opportunity to share a level of vulnerability. Be yourself — humble, proud, self-effacing, honest — and your audience will love you for it.

You’re Welcome!

Nate