Easy Gravitas Tips for Earning Trust

Oh, my heavens! Last week, the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer results were startlingly bad. Something is going dreadfully wrong and I think we are missing the elusive obvious.

Edelman summarised the findings with the word ‘Grievances’, the solution for which was to ‘Read the room’. However, Edelman does not suggest the bleeding obvious to address the problem, which is to get out and engage.

The Ancient Romans knew that in achieving Gravitas – the manner of trust and respect – ‘being seen’ was critical, and within that, the skills of ‘delivery’  and the ‘frameworks’ for success were the major tools of a Leader. We haven’t changed as humans, but we think we have. We think we can talk virtually and ignore opportunities to engage. To our detriment, say I.

The Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that 68% of those surveyed do not trust business leaders, which is a movement of 8 points up from last year (that’s the wrong direction, team!). And if you think that is a concern, then note that, within that, people think leaders are actively trying to deceive them.

While the report urges business, government, media and NGOs to work together to address the root causes to enable trust, growth and prosperity, I can tell you for nothing there are human considerations they have to take into consideration. I see it. I know it and I make the changes for people with massively positive outcomes. Just ask them.

Over the last three working days, I have worked with the most wonderful women in the Chief Executive Women’s Executive Leaders Program. They tell me it is life-changing. Why? The challenge is that we are so bereft of the skills of handling difficulty that we avoid confrontation, and, at last, we address the issue of face-to-face interaction and managing what they called ‘kryptonite’ situations effectively with the process.

Clearly the frameworks are really important and I share various frameworks which apply as the emotion changes. In addition, some of the recurring physical habits I find chronic are the tight arms on the body, gestures that snap in and fists that are clenched and tight. Do you see the incongruence, when someone is asking for questions while their arms in front of your body and the fists jammed tight against the ribs. It does not work. In fact, it builds mistrust.

So here are some immediately actionable tips.

TRUST TIPS

Body

1. Keep the front of your body open. Do not cross your arms in front of you.
2. Keep your elbows wide off your body. Do not jam your elbows tight into your body (it is an indicator of the fact you are holding your breath).
3. Keep your hands open. Do not clench the fists.

Voice

1. Let the voice flow with no breaks in the sound. In other words, do not break the flow of breath mid-sentence.
2. Have a downward inflection at the end of sentences. Avoid upward inflection like the plague.
3. Breathe, so that you do not speak in a way that is perceived as too fast. Garbling words without musical flow is distressing for the listener.

Frameworks

1. Have a message. Everyone wants to know what they need to do, think, or buy as a consequence of your being in front of them.
2. Work in patterns of three (3). People only remember three. More is a waste of your energy.
3. Use a logical flow that avoids rambling. Psychological frameworks exist. Use them.

Let me know your thoughts.