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No matter where you look in the media, some expert is touting some sort of cure or some sort of advice for whatever ails you. From the current financial crises to that hormone therapy for cancer, it seems everyone has something to say and something to share with the world. However, just because someone deems themselves to be an expert, does that mean you should automatically trust them? Before you start following just anyone's advice, you need to keep the following ideas in mind.

What is Their Background?

When you hear a piece of advice from an expert, the first thing you will want to do is to check to see what kind of training and experience they have. Obviously, you will be better able to trust medical advice from a doctor than you might from a priest, for example. Check to see what kind of training they have had as well as what kind of hands on experience they have gained. You can generally find this sort of information on their website or in the article itself. But if you're interested in finding out more, it will help if you look up their biography elsewhere – Wikipedia can be a good starting point, though it's not always entirely reliable. Check to see that their training also matches up with their expert skills. For example, many people can call themselves doctors, but they might not be medical doctors. PhD and MD are simply not the same thing.

What is their Reputation?

This is going to be trickier to assess as an expert's reputation isn't necessarily listed on their resume. But what you can do is to search for reviews of their work online. Of course, you need to keep in mind that some people like to write reviews just to find flaws, so read more than one review to make sure you get a balanced idea of what others think of this expert as well. You can also determine their reputation by the associations with which they are affiliated. In addition, any other affiliations will also help to show you how they are regarded by others. Another thing to watch out for – if they're promoting a product, you need to check to make sure that product is reliable. What is the reputation of the product? That too can give you an idea as to the reliability of the expert. If they're backing a poor product, what does that say about their expertise?

Do Their Ideas Make Sense?

While they might be the expert, you also have a part to play in this process. You need to think about what they are proposing and try to determine whether or not it seems realistic to you. You might be able to find weaknesses in their ideas that just don't sit right with you. It also helps to ask friends and family to see what their opinions are – further getting that balanced opinion from a number of sources and resources. When you are reading or listening to what they say, ask yourself what the possible flaws are and then see if those flaws are addressed in the expert's explanations. Just because someone professes themselves to be an expert doesn't mean you need to take their advice. Keeping a sharp eye out for those who might mean to trick you or to mislead you might just save your health, your money, or your life.