AUTHORITY. They say you either have it, or you don’t. As though authority is something genetic like height or eye colour. It isn’t.

If you want to be more authoritative, or have more credibility, you can. Authority is something you DO. It becomes something that you have when other people respond to you.

Authority is one of the six principles identified by Dr Robert Cialdini in his groundbreaking book Influence: Science and Practice. If you haven’t read it yet, do!

WHAT IS AUTHORITY?

Let's leave aside the dictionary definitions. Let's also ignore the authority that comes from job titles.

Although there is an undoubted authority advantage to having a beefier title - especially on your email signatures. It's the easiest and quickest authority boost. Just don't be silly about it!

At the most basic level, having authority means being taken seriously.

People with authority have their suggestions listened to. Their opinions matter. Their recommendations lead to action.

To a salesperson, credibility and authority are almost synonymous.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

For someone in a sales role, all that is obviously invaluable. Except that, in sales, you actually can put a value on it.

Two people can sell the same product, to the same random prospect list, and have the same proposition. But one can outsell the other two-to-one. The difference is authority or credibility.

It is that important.

Authority changes the way that people perceive you, whether you have direct power or authority over them or not.

Have you ever seen someone get an unexpected call from someone important? They almost always pop up on their feet. Unconsciously showing respect to the more senior person.

When we speak to someone in authority, it is common for someone’s vocabulary and manner of speech to change, even to the extent of putting on their ‘telephone voice’!

Authority changes the way people behave toward the person that has it.

Consciously or not.

Let's get right down to it. Authority is about status. Real or perceived. That is why the job title is a simple shortcut.

But authority also comes from behaviour and presentation. In a nutshell, if you act as if you have authority, people will treat you as authoritative.

How does someone with authority act? How do they speak? Do that, and people will respond to what they see and hear.

I know the pushback - "Oh, Stephen, people aren't that shallow and superficial". No, they are far more superficial and shallow! Most people are profound in their superficiality.

Because most of our behaviour is unconscious, conditioned and hardwired. We don't decide how to respond to how someone speaks, we just do.

HOW DO YOU GET IT?

There are several elements, but I am going to focus on the three most important. Body language, vocal quality, dress.

BODY LANGUAGE

I am not going to take a lot of space describing confident body language. You know what it looks like.

Chin up. Sustained (but not creepy) eye contact. Shoulders down and back (the easiest way to achieve that is to pull your elbows together behind your back). Walking with purpose. The speed is less important than always looking like you are on your way to do something important

It's very easy to make those changes. And to do them fast. The more you reinforce them, the more they become natural and innate.

YOUR VOICE

Vocal qualities take more thought and practice.

The first vocal element is inflection and intonation. People who are uncertain end with an up-note to their sentences, even when they are making a statement. So everything sounds uncertain and like a question.

People who are authoritative end their sentences with a downward inflection. Even when they are asking a question.

The second element is projection. If you listen to an actor like Anthony Hopkins, he projects. Even when he whispers, it has gravitas. Judi Dench, the same. Trained actors or opera singers do not feel their voice in their nose, throat, or even their chest. They project from their bellies.

Best investment I ever made? £15 for a short series of night classes in Manchester called 'Use your voice". An out of work opera singer teaching vocal projection. I then learned precisely the same lessons from Dr Richard Bandler and Paul McKenna ten years later when I studied NLP and hypnosis.

The third element is pitch. It is very hard to sound authoritative while you sound like Mickey Mouse on helium. Lower pitched voices carry more weight.

Now before you start objecting that this isn't fair, fair or not it is true. And it is what we have to work with.

I was brought up with a relatively high voice and nasal Manchester twang (think the Gallagher brothers from Oasis). With work, I changed that dramatically.

This is NOT about accent. It is about how you use your voice, no matter what your accent is.

The last vocal element is silence. Stop speaking when you have finished a sentence. Being comfortable holding a silence is the ultimate authority move.

DRESS

Lastly, dress. I know, I know, it shouldn't matter. But it does.

The rule is simple. If you are so powerful that you can do anything you like (Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey in their $1,500 T shirts), go for it.

Otherwise, always be one step more formal than the person you're trying to influence.

Back in the days when everyone was suited and booted at all times, that used to be more challenging.

Now, it just means putting some thought into your wardrobe.

It matters.

HOW DO YOU LOSE IT?

Do the opposite of everything I just mentioned!

Shamble into the meeting with a slouch. Don’t make eye contact.

Make everything sound like a question and speak in a high-pitched whine.

Do all of that while looking like you covered yourself in honey, ran through the wardrobe and wore what stuck.

And then complain about people not taking you seriously!

FINAL THOUGHT

Authority starts inside you. In making the specific and conscious choice to control how you present yourself.

You choose to project that version of you into the world, instead of just ‘doing what feels comfortable’.

If the old version of you has been delivering the results and respect you want, stick with it.

Otherwise, it’s in your hands to present a different version of you. It’s still you, just presented more consciously and deliberately.

Bring that new version of you along, consistently.

​It then becomes real when other people respond to the way you present yourself, and what you do.