Thousands of people each year attempt to make the jump from speaking for free at Toastmasters, church, and other organizations to a career as a Professional Speaker. Some speakers gain instant credibility through celebrity. Others are retiring from the corporate world and bring their successes and failures with them to the stage. Still more leap to speaking through survival: from disease, accidents, and natural disasters. Instant credibility will take them only so far, however.

Others take a longer path. They have a love of speaking, for influencing and inspiring audiences, and are determined to make a living from their internal passion. Their credibility is built over time, and with great effort, and they put it on the line with every appearance.

For speakers, each aspect of credibility is to be closely guarded and continually built upon. This series of articles will focus on 15 facets of credibility that must exist for all speakers to succeed over the long run.