How to Position Yourself as an Authority Without Sounding Arrogant

Use The 3-Story Framework

I see the same thing with experts who write online.

Especially in the more specialized fields such as engineering, law, tech, health, science, etc.

It’s a bunch of numbers, math equations, code, and some crazy doohickey that no one outside of them has ever heard of before. They write as if they’re speaking to another expert within their field instead of pool of internet-users who want to connect to them.

And the more times they use those fancy numbers or doohickeys in their writing, the more disconnected people feel to them. It feels as if they’re a tech lead speaking down on a bunch of have-nots.

Let’s get this out of the way first…

Your expert buddies are online, but they’re 1/10,000,000 people who post on social media frequently.

Most of the time, it will be folks who don’t have the same specialization as you.

“So, Khadejah, how am I supposed to be authentic while also talking about subjects within my field?”

Use the 3-story framework.

Experienced Writers Struggle With Relatability Too

Before we get into the 3-story framework, I want to apologize to every expert on behalf of all writers.

We’re supposed to set the example of what good online writing looks like. But I’ve realized during my 5+ tenure as an online writer that relatability and authenticity are much harder to show than people think.

If we’re unauthentic as writers, how the hell do we expect experts (who are new to sharing their expertise on social media) to follow suit? I struggled with this myself my first year as an online writer. Heck, my very first article I published was either a review of an anime show called Tokyo Ghoul or seasonless tips about how to study in college.

Bleh.

Plus, tons of my early articles also read like I was an arrogant asshole who talked down to my audience.

I learned over the years that elite relatability to prevent yourself from sounding like an arrogant asshole requires elite storytelling.

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The 3-Story Framework Will Automatically Increase Your Relatability & Authenticity

The 3-Story Framework is simple.

Write down on a piece of paper or on your Notes app, 3 personal stories that define who you are over the years. Write one story that has impacted you in your field of work and another that has impacted you as a person. The last one can be either-or.

Again, these aren’t just random stories that happened to you on your trip to Puerto Rico where you got a cup of coffee and a monster jumped out at you (though it does sound cool). You want 3 transformational stories that make you who you are today. Think of a story that has impacted you so much that without it, you don’t know where you’d be.

Here are my 3 stories:

1. I wrote and published an article every single day on Medium for a year—This kickstarted my writing career

2. I learned what true self-awareness looks like when I went on a trip to Paris and London in college—This was my first time out of the country

3. I got laid off from my content specialist job—This forced me to go all-in on my writing career

The 3rd story can change from time to time. Sometimes I switch it from a story about my personal life to a story about my career or vice versa. The point is you want to have a good mix of both with your first 2 stories so the 3rd can be a toss-up.

These 3 stories define who I am today.

So much so that I talk about them ALL THE TIME in whatever I write. It can be a long-form article or a short-form post.

I talk about these stories all the time because they are are so many lessons I’ve learned from them AND they help position myself as a living breathing human who’s had hard times in life to get to where I am now knowledge-wise.

It’s crucial you do the same thing as an expert.

I promise you, your audience will NOT care if you write about the same 3 stories over and over again.

This is the internet and people can forget thing so fast. Plus, if you’ve learned tons of lessons from those stories, they’ll never go out of style. You can talk about different lessons you’ve learned without sounding stale.

The 3-Story Framework also helps set yourself up as an authority AND an authentic brand within your field.

The more you talk about those stories, the more people will remember you for those stories.

That’s when you really take off.