How I write with authority and confidence

UPDATED APRIL 2, 2025

Writing with authority is a skill

The most successful businesses write with authority. They write like they mean it and they’re confident in what they’re putting out there.

Truth is, writing with authority and confidence is something every business should be doing — or aspiring to do.

When you write with authority, people take notice and believe what you say. And when you’re confident in what you’re writing, your target audience will have confidence in you.

Authoritative writing is clear and definite

The opposite of writing with authority and confidence is being vague and non-committal.

Your writing might be fuzzy on the facts, sketchy on the specifics, or dubious on the details.

Or just generally woolly, like our friend, the sheep, here. Baa.

Sheep's-face-looking-down-into-camera — ^{Image by Skitterphoto from Pexels}

Understanding these weaknesses in your writing — and taking steps to add verification — will make the copy stronger and more compelling for your readers.

An example of vague communication

Take a look at this paragraph:

According to research, quite a lot of people shop frequently. This is more or less the same as it was a few years ago. Nowadays more people tend to shop online, perhaps because it’s more convenient. Nevertheless, several high street stores are still reporting increased sales at prime times.

There’s not one tangible piece of information here. The copy is full of vague, meaningless waffle. It’s imprecise, indefinite and unclear — and that doesn’t inspire trust.

The problem with vague communications

Vague communications are difficult to pin down. Like trying to nail jelly to a wall or shovel sand with a sieve. Often they’re not definitive or conclusive and they only leave your audience with more questions.

Ultimately, they don’t inspire confidence or help build your authority — and that is a problem.

So, as a copy and content writer, how do you I do it?

How I write with authority and confidence

I work from hard cold facts

I can’t expect your audience to believe what you’re saying if I don’t believe it myself. So when I’m writing for your business, I do my research and find hard evidence to back up any claims I’m making.

It’s impossible to be vague when I’m working with tangible, irrefutable facts and figures from credible sources.

When I’m referring to research findings, I’ll say where they came from and provide a link if I’m publishing online.

I write with specificity

Being specific means everyone should understand the message in the same way.

To achieve this, I:

Avoid making broad generalisations without evidence
Specify exactly what I mean and avoid vague words, like stuff, things and etc
Include specific descriptions and details that help the audience to imagine and visualise what I’m talking about
Use specific and relevant adjectives rather than words like nice, which could refer to anything
Provide specific examples to illustrate the points I’m making.

I write with precision

Being precise means I cut the waffle, stick to the facts and stay on point.

To achieve this, I:

Cite quantifiable data that makes clear and conclusive points
Use proper numbers and percentages rather than imprecise quantities, like plenty, a bit, a lot and a few
Use simple language and straightforward sentence structures
Am clear and succinct, making only one or two points in each sentence.

I’m explicit

I state your message clearly and with no ambiguity, by:

Being direct and upfront — laying my cards on the table
Making your message crystal clear with no room for misunderstanding
Saying exactly what I mean, so I don’t leave your audience with questions
Expressing myself plainly and openly with no implied or underlying message.

I’m relevant

I make sure all the information I’m including is relevant to the subject and supports the points I’m making.

I stay on topic, I don’t waste words on waffle and I avoid going off on tangents or including extraneous and unnecessary details.

I use the most current information

To make you an authority, I draw from the latest research, facts and figures available.

Unless the information I’m using is historic and unchangeable, I:

Look for research undertaken in the last year
Dismiss anything that’s more than 3 years’ old
Recommend you keep date-sensitive content current by updating it annually.

I’m positive and definite

I avoid filler words — like very, really, rather, quite, fairly, somewhat, relatively and slightly — because your copy will sound much more authoritative and confident without them
If I’m selling a scenario to a customer, rather than saying if you buy, I’ll say when you buy, which is much stronger
Wherever possible, I replace weak words, like could, may, might and should with will or do, which are positive and confident.

Note: It’s not always possible to use will or do, as we can’t always make that guarantee. For example, some outcomes are dependent on criteria beyond our control.