Mastering confident communication: Strategies for communicating with influence & credibility

The most successful, effective individuals are intentional with how they approach each interaction. Intentional communication fosters clarity, efficiency, and stronger relationships in the workplace. When you communicate with purpose, you minimize misunderstandings, and ensure that your messages are clear, concise, and aligned with your goals. This intentionality saves time, reduces frustration, and enhances collaboration, as team members are more likely to stay on the same page. Thoughtful communication also demonstrates respect for colleagues’ time and attention, building trust and promoting a positive, professional environment where everyone feels valued and understood.

Yet many professionals struggle to effectively communicate; whether in writing, in a meeting, or giving a presentation. If you want to increase your influence and impact, enhancing your communication skills will position you as a confident and competent leader in your organization.

Every interaction is an opportunity to increase trust, collaboration, and teamwork. So how do you communicate with confidence, credibility, authority, and composure?

• Be clear in your communication: Avoid vague language that is confusing. Part of having positive presence and credibility is providing information in a way that others can follow. When communicating instructions, your ideas, expectations, or giving feedback, use clear language. Avoid vague language such as:
  • ASAP
  • Soon
  • When you get a chance
  • We should
  • Try

People thrive on clarity. They want to know what you expect so they can deliver.

• Avoid qualifiers: Women in particular often use qualifiers to soften a message. Examples are, “just”, “sorry”, “kind of”, “I could be wrong”, “Does that make sense?”, “Maybe we could try this approach…”, “I don’t know if this will work, but…” These words and phrases can send the message that you are second guessing yourself and don’t portray confidence.
• Be direct: It’s possible to be respectful and direct at the same time. Don’t soften the message—ask for exactly what you need. For example, if you are asking an employee to complete a task you could say, “I know you are working on another project right now. This report needs to be sent out by 12 noon today. Can you table that other project and make this a priority this morning?” In this example, you are being clear, and also respectful. Many managers avoid clear language because they fear coming off as too bossy. Yet vague language causes more problems and misunderstandings.
• Be concise and to the point: The clearer your message, the better the person is able to give you what you need. Know your audience. Some colleagues will want more details and some colleagues appreciate brevity. I find most executives prefer concise information that gets to the point. Certainly, you want to be prepared for deeper questions. And you will be more influential if you state your recommendation clearly and concisely without all the extra details that often aren’t necessary.
• Start with your recommendation: State what you are asking for or recommending up front, and then support it with the necessary information. For example, “I’m recommending X, here’s why…”
• Don’t bury the lede: This concept from journalism refers to not putting the most important information too far down in the article. The most important information typically comes first and the supporting details after. Don’t bury your request in a lot of information. Be clear up front about what you are asking for.
• Invite others into the conversation: Be mindful in meetings of colleagues who may have a valuable perspective and who aren’t speaking up. At times, individuals who identify as introverts may feel it’s challenging to join the conversation if everyone is talking and there is little space to speak up. Invite others to share their ideas and perspectives.
• Speak up in meetings. Research shows that people who speak up in meetings are more likely to be seen as leaders. Meetings are one the best places to create credibility. Yet when most professionals are uncomfortable, they default to taking notes. Don’t hide behind note taking. Make eye contact, show engagement, and speak up to share your opinions and ideas respectfully.

I recently listened to a podcast with Vanessa Van Edwards, who is an expert on charisma and communication. Vanessa shares research from Yale University that cites charisma is one of the most important ingredients for success. It accounts for 82% of how people evaluate you. Charisma has nothing to do with extroversion or introversion. The great news is that charisma can be learned.

There are social signals that we send that influence how people evaluate us. The key is to be intentional about these signals. The most important elements are Warmth and Competence.

• Sometimes, very smart, competent achievers under signal warmth (and they are perceived as cold).
• Sometimes highly warm people are focused on being liked and will over signal warmth cues. If you are highly warm in the workplace, your desire to be liked can get in the way of your need to be respected.

A way that you can increase your influence is to focus on balancing warmth and competence signals. This podcast episode is fascinating, and shares many examples and strategies for increasing charisma, influence, and confidence.

Whether you are a professional, manager, or CEO, how you communicate has a huge impact on not only your influence with others, but your success in your position. Pausing to be intentional in your verbal and written communication can dramatically increase your influence and credibility in your work and personal life.