When was the last time you had a good business talk with your peers? It could have been before an important client meeting or sales call, but I bet it was something more recent. Most business leaders tend to be somewhat reluctant to share their companies’ inner workings with other people. Perhaps it’s because we don’t like having our business secrets shared with others. But the truth is that the more you share with others, the easier it will be for you to build trust.

There’s a straightforward reason why that’s important. Trust is one of the most difficult things to earn in business. You earn it by working hard and providing value to your customers. When you share your ideas, goals, and overall thoughts about your business with others, they can better understand your motivations and commitment. They can see what direction you’re heading and why.

So when you share with another person your ideas and thoughts on how to improve your business, it’s very likely they’ll be able to use them. You can start by telling them a bit about your business. Then share some news about your company. You can explain the recent news or development that has happened within the company, or you can talk about the recent improvement that has taken place within the business.

Let’s say, for example, that you just completed a major improvement project at your plant. The news was positive. The workers were thrilled. But did anyone ask how they could help? Not a single person came up to share their excitement with me. That’s because they didn’t realize that I had read the news.

But if I’d told you that I was responsible for that major improvement, you might have been interested. Because I’ve read the news in business magazines and on the internet, I know that things happen in newsworthy companies. If I shared with you the news that we just completed a major improvement to our plant, even if you didn’t ask, you may have been interested in knowing more about what we did.

You have to be careful when you use news in business talk. News is a good thing, but you don’t want to make it sound like you’re the only one taking advantage of the news. You don’t want to sound like the guy who sold the last horse race at the local track. Instead, share the news that is relevant to your business partners. Share news that other people will be interested in as well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that business talk doesn’t need to be a flood of words. You don’t need to have an entire article to share. In fact, you don’t even need to have that much. If you can share three or four sentences about your business partners’ news that is of interest, you’ll do great. And if you can share those sentences without coming off as a salesman, you’ve done enough business talk for one day.

There are many ways to share the news. But the important thing is not to talk so much about the news that you lose the important points of the story in the process. Business talk is all about adding value to the relationship between you and your partner. If you can do that without being negative, you’ve done a lot for your company.

Look for stories that your company can relate to, but avoid news that seems too far out. Avoid even looking up that news in the local newspaper. This will make you look ignorant and out of touch with reality. Do a search on Google news on the relevant news stories. If it’s local news, you’ll probably find several relevant links in the news stories.

When you share the news with others, make sure that you give them fair and accurate information. Otherwise, they might pass it along as their own, and your name will be damaged in the process. Remember, this is business, not charity. If you say something that could damage your reputation, you shouldn’t say it. Be honest and share only when you have 100% verified facts.

Don’t overdo business talk. Keep it professional and focused on what’s really important. It will pay off for you in the end.