When it comes to convincing people of our abilities, competence is the most crucial factor but what is competence and how can we display it?
Competence is the combination of skills and knowledge that a person has and their ability to perform a task successfully.

Studies show that coming across as competent is the most important factor when it comes to having a successful career in any field.

How do we determine if someone is good at what they do and are we really able to determine that?

Most of us would think that they could. The truth is that it is very difficult to do.
If I ask most people out there if their dentist was good at his job, 99% would say that he is. How do you determine if he is?
He might be friendly and you don’t walk out of there with pain but does that really prove his competence?

The truth is that determining someone’s actual competence is really tough. What matters is the perceived competence.
Which basically means the picture that we have of a certain person and the assumption that they are good at what they do.

How can we come across as competent to people around us?

What is it that many do wrong?

Most people believe that if they’re good at something it will show.

The problem is that this is not true in most cases.
The competition out there is large and is getting larger by the day. Being good at your job is important but what studies have shown is, that it is not the most important thing if you want to be successful.

Essential is how people perceive you and how confident they are that you know what you’re doing.

The difference between actual competence and perceived competence can be huge. Just because you’re very good at something doesn’t mean that you come across as if you do and vice versa.

Simply excelling at a particular field isn’t enough if you want to be successful.
There are more people in high positions who have no idea what they are talking about than people with amazing knowledge. Why is that?

People need to know that you’re good and they’ll only know that you are if you tell them.

Let's dive into ways to improve our perceived competence.

How to do it

1. Take away fear

2. Language

3. Confidence

4. Forecast a positive result

How to execute

Take away fear:
People don’t choose what they like best. They choose what they fear least.
That is the reason we go to Mc Donalds if we are in a foreign country or the reason a politician gets elected again even though they have done a terrible job.
People are afraid of making a mistake, so choosing what you already know seems like a safe bet.

The good news is you can use that human trait to your advantage. If you want to be perceived as competent you simply have to take away the other person’s fear of making a mistake by choosing you.
You do that by giving them confidence in your expertise.
Simple things like saying: “I’ve been doing this for a long time”, “Don’t worry we will make it work” or “You won’t make a mistake by choosing me” will do the job.

It might sound simple but it works.

Language:
We all know those people who talk like they invented a certain field.
Usually they use technical terms that they heard a few times and mix those in a sentence.

Unfortunately, most people will think they are experts in a certain field.
That is a trait most politicians have in common. They know how to talk and they have an understanding of knowing how to come across as smart.

Most of the time, the only thing they are doing is using fancy words that they picked up somewhere.
It doesn’t mean that they know what they’re talking about but it always fascinates me how this trick works on most people.

Confidence:
We talked about the importance of taking away fear before.
I want to give you an example that will show how important confidence is.

Let’s say you have an accident and break your leg. After being picked up by an ambulance you end up in the hospital where you’re being examined by a doctor and the doctor says: “You were really unlucky today. Not only have you broken your leg, you also have the bad luck that I'm working today.
I never wanted to become a doctor you know. I always wanted to be a musician but I wasn't good enough. I don't know much about broken bones, but we'll manage somehow. Please don’t expect wonders.”

Are you going to think “Oh wow what an humble doctor, I can’t wait to be examined by him.”?
No of course not, you’ll be scared and will probably refuse the examination.
If he would have said that it is all going to be fine and that he has done that 1000 times your gut feeling would have been way better.

This example shows that giving people confidence by showing confidence is the way to do it.

Forecast a positive result:
Do you know how Microsoft became successful?

Bill Gates went to IBM and promised to build them the best operating system in the world. Back then computers were at the very beginning and private households didn't have one. The funny thing is, Gates didn't even have an operating system at the time. He managed to find someone who built one for him for just a few thousand dollars, after getting the order from IBM.
The conclusion is, we always hire the person who promises us great things because humans aim for success. We always want to be confronted with positive things and fast results!
If Bill Gates would have said maybe he could somehow find a way to build an operating system, he would have never gotten the job and Microsoft wouldn’t be where it is today.

In conclusion

It doesn't matter if you’re good at what you do in the first place. If you want to be successful people have to think that you are competent.

I’m not saying be all show and no go but the most successful people in the world know how to present themselves.
They have a great understanding of showing others how good they are and that there is no one better than them.
If you pair that with actual competence you’ll be at the top at one point.

Thank you for reading.