Communicating without Authority

Anyone with limited authority who seeks to enhance their communication effectiveness. Business, technical and support professionals, team leads, coordinators, supervisors and junior to mid-level managers in particular will benefit from attending.

• Develop a more constructive mindset and behaviours when you are working from a position of limited authority
• Become more efficient and effective when planning and delivering your message upwards or laterally
• Acquire a new toolkit of skills for informing and persuading others assertively and diplomatically
• Explore internal and external communication obstacles and apply methods to overcome them 
• Engage others quickly and with maximum impact
• Acquire buy-in and support from individuals and groups at all levels
• Enhance your power, credibility and confidence when addressing others, despite your lack of authority

Day One

Module 1: Communicating Upwards with Confidence

• Identify your self-defeating obstacles when communicating upwards 
• Tips for motivating people with more authority to give you their respect and commitment
• Strategies for crafting messages with impact when communicating upwards 
• Practice a real-life conversation and create an action plan for communicating upwards more effectively

Self-directed resources:

• Self-assessment: your style when communicating upwards

Module 2: Communicating Laterally with Assertiveness and Tact 

• Strategies for becoming more assertive when communicating laterally
• How to convey sensitive messages with empathy and tact
• Practice planning, crafting and delivering messages that balance assertiveness with diplomacy 

Self-directed resources:

• Evaluate your assertiveness when communicating laterally; tips for improvement
• Guidelines for how to be more diplomatic 

Day Two

Module 3:  Communicating Clearly to Inform 

• What is and is not relevant when informing others—guidelines for informing with impact 
• The WSN Technique for communicating to inform with clarity and tact 
• Create an action plan for crafting and delivering impactful informative messages
• Practice a real-life conversation informing someone you have no authority over 

Self-directed resources:

• Checklist: how effective are you at informing others?
• Planning template and examples for communicating to inform

Module 4: Communicating Persuasively to Influence 

• Essential components of an effective message to persuade when you do not have authority
• Strengthen your message’s persuasion appeal with the ROBA technique 
• Craft and deliver a persuasive message using ROBA in a real-life conversation 
• Create an action plan for communicating more persuasively 

Self-directed resources:

• Planning template for crafting and delivering a persuasive conversation without authority 
• Assessing your persuasion power: guidelines for success

For financial assistance opportunities, please refer to Financial Assistance, Scholarships and Team Rates .