“You’re allowed to be here,” she said, after watching me slip quietly around the community hall where a coroner’s inquest was underway. I’d known this woman only briefly, so I must have looked pretty timid for her to point this out.

This was a heavy proceeding, and I was a stranger, a reporter from out of town. I believed deeply that the story mattered and that media should be present. But my body language didn’t convey my own conviction. Over time, I’d learn that playing small in storytelling doesn’t serve anyone, even when your hesitation flows from a sense of respect.

If you tell stories for an organization or community, you’ve probably felt this quiet hesitation. You want your work to sound informed, but not forceful. Confident, but not careless. Visible, but not overbearing. That uncertainty isn’t a flaw. It’s a signal that you understand the need for balanced narratives in effective communication.

Aware, of Self and Surroundings

Authority in storytelling comes from a place of awareness, both of yourself and of your surroundings. In complex, professional spaces, awareness means knowing your subject, understanding your relationship to it, and recognizing who else is in the room. That also means knowing any controversy, tension between players, and how your message is going to land.

Another day at work, I sat in a government hearing on hunting quotas. Among a room full of hunters, scientists and policy staff, the most memorable voice belonged to a senior woman who had lost a relative to a polar bear. Her presence was commanding—not because she spoke loudly—because she carried the weight of lived experience. Knowing who she was though, was essential to telling the story in that room that day.

Authority Follows

When you are story-aware at work, you position yourself as a reliable narrator who can articulate nuance and make meaningful connections between your information, data and real people.

That storytelling might look like pitching your nonprofit to funders, positioning your business as the solution to an industry-wide dilemma, or briefing your company’s board so its members feel confident in a project’s progress.

Awareness leads naturally into authority within these spaces where you communicate. When you shape your message from a place of awareness, three things happen:

1. Your communication becomes more credible.

People trust you because your work reflects the full picture, not just your role in it. You demonstrate depth, accuracy, and care.

2. Your authority feels steady, not performative.

You don’t need jargon or theatrics. A calm control of your environment invites trust rather than repelling it. You’ve done the work: you know the facts, understand the players, and can explain the story without scrambling.

3. Your storytelling acts as a service, not a spotlight.

Your reader or listener becomes the main character. You are a guide, orienting your audience in the story. Whether that story is a briefing note, a newsletter or a webinar, your job is to lead people to understanding and action.

Final Word

The next time you prepare a presentation, draft a report, or step into a difficult conversation, remember this: authoritative communication doesn’t demand attention, it earns it. When you’re aware of your story, you’re in command of the narrative, and your audience benefits from that authority.

Years after that inquest, as a political staffer then, I found myself encouraging a visitor in our legislative assembly who felt out of place in the formal environment. I told him what I’d once needed to hear: “It’s your government. You’re allowed to be here.”