Do You Have to Be an Expert or Authority to Build an Audience?
Yesterday I received some feedback that my writing was too authoritative. The main reason given was that I blog about such a variety of topics that I can’t be an expert on all of them. Therefore, I should write less authoritative and instead write with more qualifiers.
This got me to thinking of two questions:
- Is there a difference between an expert and authority?
- Do you have to be either an expert or authority to build an audience?
An expert is someone who has done research, has the credentials to prove that they have done the research, and has experience working in the field of research. An authority is similar, but an authority has the power to influence, something an expert may or may not have.
An authority didn’t necessarily earn this power to influence through research and credentials. An authority earned their power to influence through work. The root word in authority is author. So it wouldn’t surprise you that authorities have a documented body of work in their area of influence.
So this answers question 1. Yes, there is a difference between experts and authorities. Now for question 2 on audience building.
First off, it goes without saying that being an expert can’t hurt. Being an expert provides a clear benefit. People trust research, especially research backed by credentials and trust is a key ingredient to building an audience.
However, I know several prominent authors / bloggers / podcasters / personalities who have large audiences that trust them, and they don’t have research backed by their credentials. The only thing they have to back them is their life experience and the body of work they produce. By the mere fact that they have large audiences who trust them, they have influence.
Does that then make them an authority? I would say yes. You might not think so, but the people who trust them do and that’s what matters.
On the other hand, there are plenty of experts who publish books that are collecting dust. These experts have no audience, and therefore no influence.
But there in lies the conundrum. If having an audience that you can influence makes you an authority, then you can’t be an authority until you build an audience. If becoming an expert is not the key to unlocking your influence, then what is?
You can’t build an audience if you don’t have confidence in the education provided by your life experiences. You can’t build an audience if you appear unsure of yourself and what you believe in when you speak or write.
Influential speakers and writers didn’t get that way by not speaking with authority when they had an audience of 1. They didn’t speak with less confidence when their audience was tiny and then grow into an authoritative voice once their audience grew large.
So to answer question 2, I would say no. You don’t have to be an expert and you don’t have to be an authority to build an audience. You just have to be confident and consistent.