How to be seen as an Authority

Let’s admit it; one goal every time you communicate is (or should be) to be perceived as someone who knows what they are talking about and is worth listening to.

There are many ways of doing this. Some are more effective than others. Donald Trump confidently says what he wants people to believe and leans on his confidence and charisma to convey his message. That is surprisingly effective.
Up to the point when people realise that his message doesn’t make sense.
-This is not the approach I will be recommending.

Unsurprisingly, I recommend preparation as a key component of being seen as an authority in your communications. But preparation alone is not going to cut it. Preparation can only get you so far, and then you must execute strategically.

Education Rather than Opinion

If knowledge is power, then educating someone is effectively empowering them. How do you feel when someone empowers you? -Pretty good, right?

How much respect do you have for someone who taught you something you feel is important? We all have those favourite teachers, mentors or authors who have taught us some important lessons that we hold great respect for.

This is what you should be looking to do when you are sharing your message.

Someone who gives their opinion is a critic. Or perhaps, at best, an influencer. Someone who educates is an authority. If you have an opinion, by all means, share it, but educate your audience on how you came to that opinion or conclusion.

This doesn’t mean you force others to share your opinion. You can highlight areas on your side that are weak or that are strong on the other side.

Regardless, it would be best to share the journey you took to reach that opinion, what factors you considered and why you concluded as you did. Immediately by sharing and educating your audience on this mental journey, you are elevated from a critic or influencer to an authority.
-Whether people agree with you or not!

A Simple Formula for Authority

Everyone wants a simple formula. And I generally keep away from those, but I did come across a great little formula recently. I must credit Colin Theriot and his Cult of Copy newsletter for this.

Colin writes:

If you want to be seen as competent or a genius, don’t just give your opinion. Follow this simple format:

1. Point out the bad options and explain why they are bad options.

2. Offer solutions, and explain why they are better than the bad options.

3. Add qualifiers and steps to take dependent on the results experienced from executing the recommended solutions.

As you can see, this fits in with my overall philosophy of educating and empowering your audience already mentioned.

Let’s look at the psychology of this formula

First, you identify the problem, then name all the poor options to resolve the problem. This puts you in your audience’s mind because many may be considering these options. You are with them on this journey.

By explaining why these are not the ideal options, you are educating your audience. As previously stated, by educating people on something, you effectively act as an authority and empower the audience.

Also, it is important to state that you aim any criticism at the option rather than at the people who have considered or taken it. -Stay on-side with your audience, don’t alienate them.

When you are ready to advance a better solution or option, you need to continue the education. It isn’t enough to say this is what you should do. You must explain why this is a better solution. And if you have more than one solution, then you must explain why one solution might be better in a given situation.

The point is that if you do this right, you are making your audience smarter. If they feel like they could repeat this argument with someone else, they feel empowered and know they have you to thank for this.

Then describe the process that may follow taking the option. Describe the possible setbacks and how to deal with them. Point out the areas that need attention or care. Don’t shy away from faults or issues. Lean into them and educate them on how to deal with them effectively.

Also, add the steps to take when various results or reactions occur from the solution you have recommended. You are often seen as a genius when you accurately predict what will happen.

By doing this, you come across as honest and more trustworthy than those who ignore the weaknesses in their solutions and hope you don’t notice.

The Ultimate Power Move

Why does this work? -Because educating people empowers them and positions you as an authority.

I didn’t write that just to repeat myself but rather to introduce another important technique that was included above but which you may have skimmed over.

The power move: Surface and answer the WHY?

When I was training people professionally, I learned the power of ‘Why’ to help people retain information and add to my credibility and authority as a trainer. Too often, we would be given training materials to train someone on a new system, product, or campaign with no mention of the “Why”.

In those cases, or when I developed training, I explored why this product or system was necessary. Why it might matter to the audience, I was training. Why I am spending my time and energy training this information?

Without the ‘why’, you are missing a huge piece of the puzzle and will not get the buy-in you want.

In filmmaking, one of the fundamental questions you must address for the audience is, “Why should I care?” Because if you fail to address that effectively, your film will be a flop.

There are a number of ways to address this.

In certain pitches or talks, you can be explicit in explaining why. In films or stories, this is not really an option, and instead, you show them why through narrative and emotion.

The more ways you explore to surface and address the WHY, the more colours you have in your palette to create your masterpiece. The more effectively you can educate your audience, sway their opinion and cement your position as a trusted authority.

So there you have it. Some basic but effective guidelines to follow whenever you want to bolster your credibility:

1. Be prepared

2. Empower your audience by educating them

3. Surface and address the WHY

4. Explore the bad options and educate why they are bad

5. Introduce your solution and educate why this solution is better

Snippets is a section where I take some interesting text I have come across in the previous week and comment on it.

This week’s Snippet is an oldie but has stuck in my mind for decades, so I think it is worth presenting.

Brian Tracy, in his excellent book Advanced Selling Strategies, shares the metaphor of the Winning Edge Concept.

One of the most important principles ever discovered in the field of human performance is called the winning edge concept. This concept states that “small differences in ability can translate into enormous differences in results.” This means that if you become a little bit better in certain critical areas of selling, this slight improvement can translate into a substantial increase in your sales results. You may be on the verge of a major breakthrough in your sales career at this very moment just by learning and practising one small thing that is new and different from what you have done before.

If a racehorse comes in first, even by a nose, it wins ten times the prize money of the horse that comes in second. Does this mean that the horse that wins by a nose is ten times faster than the horse that comes in second? Of course not! Is the horse that wins by a nose twice as fast, 50 per cent faster or even 10 per cent faster? The horse wins only a nose faster, translating into ten times the prize money.

By the same token, the salesperson who gets the sale for himself and his company gets 100 per cent of the business and 100 per cent of the commission. Does this mean that his product is 100 per cent better than the competition's or 100 per cent cheaper? Of course not! His product may not even be as good and may cost more than the competitor's, but the top salesman gets the sale nonetheless. In most cases, the person who gets the sale is not much better than the person who loses the sale. He or she merely has the winning edge, but that’s all it takes to get 100 per cent of the business.

This is a powerful metaphor because it creates a vivid image, and yet is easily applied to the situation being discussed. It creates a new paradigm.

How can you use this?

Whenever you identify a paradigm or perspective that most people are lacking, try to find a common situation that can illustrate or model the paradigm you are trying to create. Brian’s use of questions first in the illustrative example and then repeated in the context that he wants to use the concept is a powerful way to reinforce and contextualise the concept, which you should model.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

I came across this quote this week while reading Mehdi Hasan’s book Win Every Argument.

It is such a good quote that it doesn’t need much in terms of unpacking! In fact, it seems incredibly obvious and common sense that any further explanation would be redundant. So instead, let’s quickly look at why this obvious, common-sense advice is so often ignored.

Too often, a speaker or author is wrapped up in their point of view, what is important about it and why. How it works and how best to explain the importance to others. All of this is both understandable and necessary.

What is often forgotten is that the author or speaker has already taken a journey that has led to this realisation. The audience is potentially so far behind that simply presenting the facts will have no impact. So to really impact your audience, you need to have a clear vision of where the audience is now and where you want to take them on your journey together.

These things are addressed in the first steps of my Pitching Pyramid framework and is where all our TEDx speakers started out on their speaking journey.

When you internalise this journey metaphor for your talk, you will be more likely to keep your audience in mind at the beginning of the process.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

I am working on my book for Founders to help them Master their Pitch.

Recreationally:

I am learning Latin dance: Rhumba & Salsa. (A total beginner)

What I am reading:

Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan

What I am watching:

Andor (A Star Wars TV series)