Make Others Trust You By Spilling Coffee All Over Yourself

“Highly competent people can make themselves appear more approachable by committing a pratfall. A small blunder makes them seem a little vulnerable, and this vulnerability makes them seem approachable and warm. The effectiveness of this strategy debunks the common assumption that trust is something that can only be built slowly over time. By making yourself vulnerable, it’s possible to build trust in less time than it takes to mop up a spilled latte.”

Royal Ballet Principal Bryony Brind, 55

“[She] made world headlines in 1982 when, aged just 22, she was picked out of the Royal Ballet’s junior ranks by Rudolf Nureyev to become his partner at Covent Garden. … But in the pressure of public glare her career faded in less than a decade. She then acquired a new celebrity when she stepped out (platonically) with Prince Michael of Kent and became the romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland’s daughter-in-law.”