7 Ways to Demonstrate Your Expertise (Without Bragging)

The real way to stand out (no stupid claims required)

Listen to the deep dive:

I’m the “most person” in real life.

Most quiet in meetings. Most likely to let others talk. Most awkward when someone says: “Tell me about yourself.”

But online?

It felt like I was surrounded by a parade of pounding-my-chest bros:

• Screenshots of “amazing” testimonials.

• “Look what I did!” posts everywhere.

• Perfectly framed wins. Before-after pictures.

I’d scroll, half-impressed, half-turned-off, and wonder: Is that what I need to do to be taken seriously? Flash my success like a neon sign?

Turns out, there’s another way.

Giving your readers a strong reason why they should listen to you is important. But proving your expertise without sounding like a pompous jerk is tricky.

Over the past decade of creating content, I’ve learned a thing or two about showcasing expertise without coming off as a braggart.

Here are 7 ways to do it that actually work:

1. Give your boring tutorials the finger

When I started out, I was just vomiting solutions.

“Do this, do that, here’s a 10-step process.” People said they loved the value. But when it came to buying courses, they bought the stuff from my competitors. Talk about a kick in the testicles.

After years of struggle, I understood that creating content is not just about dry information.

It’s about:

• sharing stories

• showcasing your personality

• and most importantly… talking about your audience’s problems.

I don’t remember in which copywriting book I read this first, but here’s the idea: If you can articulate your audience’s problems better than they can describe them themselves, they’ll automatically assume you have the solution.

So before you start preaching solutions, get intimately familiar with your audience’s problems. Spend time in their online communities. Read their comments. Have real conversations.

Then, create content around that. You can hint at the solution. But make your content problem-driven. This is what’s going to make people care above any other credentials you can slap in their faces.

One of the best and easiest ways to actually nail your market is to use ChatGPT and use it as your market research assistant. ChatGPT has been trained on millions of data points. I’ve created a free cheat sheet with a prompt I use all the time.

Click here to snag it (free)

2. Share your failures

Social media is full of bullsh!t.

I’m tired of getting summoned by Mister and Missus Perfect. I look for real people with real flaws.

Flaws make you relatable. Perfection makes you look like a deepfake.

And you know what? Nothing proves expertise quite like admitting you screwed up. Real experts have tried (and failed). A lot. And they’ve learned from those failures.

I’ve launched a dozen courses that bombed harder than a dad joke at a teenager’s party.

But I learned valuable lessons about:

• Pricing

• Launching

• Audience building

• And how to craft a solid offer.

Now I share those lessons with my audience.

Don’t be afraid to talk about your missteps. It makes you relatable and shows you’ve been in the trenches.

3. Focus on doing this

I’ve learned this from Ben Settle.

Ben is famous for writing daily copywriting emails. I even had the privilege to interview Ben on my podcast.

One thing I learned from Ben is that daily content positions you as a leader in your industry. It allows you to go deep. And when I say deep, I mean really deep. As an example, I write DAILY emails about monetizing your knowledge with online content.

When you talk about something daily, people will automatically assume you’re an expert. No screenshot or before/after pic required.

Nothing proves expertise better than going deep. And the best way to do it is to publish daily content on the internet. (More on that, later.)

4. Document your process

Humans are curious by nature.

So instead of just dry-teaching, take them on a journey. Don’t just share the end result. Take people behind the scenes. Show them your process.

That’s why “building in public” is so powerful.

I do this all the time with my content creation. I’ll share screenshots of my drafts, talk about my outlining process, and even show my messy thoughts when brainstorming.

It proves that you actually know what you’re talking about, not just parroting someone else’s ideas.

5. Back up your knowledge

The internet is full of empty claims.

And nothing screams “I don’t really know what I’m talking about” louder than making bold claims without backing them up.

If you’re sharing data or quoting someone, cite your sources. It shows you’ve done your homework and aren’t just pulling facts out of thin air.

Just don’t go overboard. You’re not writing an academic paper. A simple link or mention of where you got the info is usually enough.

I love digging up old copywriting knowledge buried in books nobody reads because they’re too busy following Alex Hormozi’s latest brain fart on X.

6. Do this “one thing”

When I first started creating content daily, I was scared.

• Will I run out of ideas after a week?

• Will I be able to sustain this in the long haul?

• And what if I started boring my audience to death?

But committing to do something consistently pushes you to explore your expertise from every possible angle. It’s like turning a diamond in the light - each day, you show a different facet.

At some points, you might be thinking “Crap, I’ve said everything there is to say about this!” But then I pushed myself to find a new angle. And another. And another.

Before I knew it, I was diving into areas I wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t committed to showing up every day.

And consistency does three powerful things:

1. It forces you to go deeper into your subject matter than you ever thought possible.

2. It showcases your expertise from multiple angles, giving a 360-degree view of your knowledge.

3. It builds trust with your audience. They come to rely on your insights.

And consistency compounds.

Each piece of content builds on the last. Your audience doesn’t just see one demonstration of your expertise; they see dozens, hundreds, even thousands over time.

It’s not always easy. Some days, you’ll feel like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. But push through. Those challenging days often lead to your most insightful content.

Do this long enough, and you won’t have to tell people you’re an expert. They’ll be telling you.

Let’s finish here

Proving your expertise doesn’t have to mean bragging about your accomplishments or waving your credentials in people’s faces.

It’s about consistently providing value, being transparent about your journey (failures and all), and genuinely helping your audience.

Do that, and you won’t have to tell people you’re an expert. They’ll already know.