Years ago, I met with the chief marketing officer of a publicly traded technology company. I asked him his opinion about SMEs. “You’ve observed a lot of SMEs in front of clients,” I said. “What is it that makes some SMEs great?”

“Confidence!” He answered instantly.

“That’s it?” I responded.

“Yep, that’s it. Confidence! Hands down! When it comes to client engagement, nothing else comes close.”

“You seem rather confident about that,” I responded.

“I am!” He then added, “When I meet with clients, I would much rather have a moderately skilled SME with me who brims with confidence than a top-skilled engineer who demonstrates doubt or hesitation. Yep, confidence, hands down.”

People trust confidence. They don’t trust fear, doubt, weakness, or uncertainty. Confidence, of course, is belief in yourself. It is the byproduct of knowledge, skill, and most importantly, attitude. People can sense if SMEs believe in themselves. They can feel it. Confidence, or lack thereof, is obvious even before an SME speaks. Confidence is visible in their gait, their posture, their head movement, and their eye contact. Confident people are patient and composed. They are not easily off ended or slighted. Great SMEs are confident SMEs.

Yep, confidence, hands down.