How do you establish authority and trust when persuading online or remotely?

LinkedIn is a great way to showcase your expertise, not only in the narrative sections, but also in your Education and optional sections. There are optional sections for Patents, Honors and Awards, Publications, Licenses and Certifications, and Courses, all of which validate your expertise. Recommendations are the ultimate social proof, and endorsement of skills are useful in validating your expertise as well.

Don’t just “talk about their pain.” That’s not enough here. Not if you want to build trust from a distance. Instead, show that you understand their situation better than they do AND solve it better than anyone else. Help your audience understand their situation from a new lens that: → Points to possibility → Exposes solutions they’ve overlooked → Doesn’t sound/feel like everything else they’ve come across NOT the lens of Brene Brown, Tony Robbins, or [insert name of the popular guru in your space]. Your intended audience has already read their books, tried their stuff, and maybe it helped and maybe it didn’t — but they're always on the lookout for something new. Be that something new → quickly cement the relationship.

While many online forms of social proof, like reviews and ratings, are essential they have also become table stakes making it harder for you to stand out with this technique. To go further, try to find ways that not only show social proof but with an emphasis of seeing the proof from people like them. For example, a case study from the same industry is much more powerful than something from another industry.

Rather than "authority", I have those in my classes to function along the lines of "power" - not "power over" but rather, "power to". More often than not, authority is something either someone else or something else (government/organization) has bestowed upon an individual temporarily - whether thirty days or thirty years. And in this day and age, respect for authority has gone the way of the buffalo. Power to, on the other hand, is a capability that the individual possesses. It is not granted. It is developed. It doesn't require a badge or a title. In gaining compliance, the individual having power to, knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it.

Context will help you identify where your understanding of messaging is surface-level at best. "Rules" of branding that you once felt were gospel, won't hold up amid the evolution of the channels you’ll reach across: Formulas lose. Deviations win. Painstaking consistency and perfection now erode trust, but unvarnished presence builds it. Collaborative conversation tramples top-down “thought leadership.” It's less about your PR-approved vision statement, more about your vibe overall. ↑ All of this (if you’re willing) actually makes going deeper with your message EASIER. Want to persuade online? Show up → observe → experience yourself from new angles → share your insights from there.

To establish authority and trust in a non face-to-face interaction requires the same as a face-to-face one - "active listening". This will allow you to ask powerful questions making the communication meaningful. When people feel like they have a voice, opinion, or approach that matters you are more likely to build trust. So the next time you communicate through digital platforms pay attention to the tone, words, and responses you receive and adjust your communication style and responses to meet your audience's needs. Make sure you are not multi-tasking when you are communicating so you can give your audience your full attention. Emotional intelligence is welcome in any environment where communication takes place so don't be shy!