Building credibility into your writing
It's a whole thing
Think about the things that make you credible. Not the soft skills like “I’m a hard worker” and “I’m easy to get along with,” etc, but things that establish external credibility like titles, degrees, publication credits, awards and so on. Make a list of as many as you can think of.
Now, divide your list into two columns:
Column one is the stuff you’re really proud of and are proud to talk about to others. (i.e., “I worked my tail off and am really proud I earned that award!)
Column two is the stuff you’re proud of but that you sometimes feel self-conscious when discussing with others. (i.e., “I went to Oxford.” Which usually comes out like, “Oh, um, I went to school abroad, or whatever, I guess.”)
Now, sit with column two. Why do you feel self-conscious about those things? Sure, it might be because they are big, fancy things and people might think you’re bragging or completely full of shit, but I invite you to make a conscious shift: what if those things were more like keys than mic-drops? Keys that unlocked doors to other publications, to funding, to agents, to faculty positions, etc? After all, they are accurate things, and things you ostensibly worked your butt off to achieve, so practice ways to mention them neutrally, knowing you deserve to have accomplished fancy things, difficult things, and big things. You’re only stating facts, and facts that you deserve to have be true and known about you.
But the next part of this is where you can build credibility into your writing. Practice writing variations of this sentence with everything from your columns above (but especially the column two list): “As blank who blank and has blank…” and write why what you have to say is important. it’s like this:
(This is a variation of one I’ve actually used in a persuasive piece before… )As a journalist who has worked in newsrooms and experienced misogynistic threats firsthand, I know firsthand why tech giants must take safety more seriously.
Other examples might look like:
“As a woman of color with a Ph.D., I have spend my entire career confronting unconscious bias in higher ed and it’s time academic institutions take real action and stop with DEI platitudes that lead nowhere.”
“As the author of ‘[name of your book about economics],’ I urge you to consider that we are focusing on economic indicators that reinforce poverty…”
“As a six-time soccer champion, I’ve seen again and again the positive impact sports can play in a young person’s life in terms of building confidence and problem-solving skills.”
You get the idea. Plug these sentences into anything you write that is persuasive, and it helps answer the question, “why should we listen to you?” Because you do know and you know something others need to understand as well as you understand it.