You may not know it, but you are an expert. So am I. So are most people you meet.

I was thinking about this when I was reading this piece by Amy Stewart on The Self Appointed Expert. I especially liked her templated approach:

And this is exactly the template for becoming an expert in anything:

• Do the thing
• Read about the thing
• Take classes about the thing
• Talk to people / hang out with people who know about the thing
• Be a member of the organizations that promote the thing
• Go to the events / conventions / festivals etc about the thing
• Write or draw or photograph or record the thing
• Repeat

I think this is an excellent template. I would add that this likely won’t make you THE expert on a topic, but it will make you AN expert on a topic. Likewise, you don’t have to be an expert on something on a large scale: you can have a narrow range of expertise but you are still an expert.

If you are communicating with others about a topic in your area of expertise, I would go recommend you use an approach some of the writers at The Wirecutter use. At the end of some of their assessments they will have:

• Why you should trust us. In this section, they will outline how they did their research and anything else they did to become and expert or demonstrate expertise.
• How we picked. Here they show the qualities they looked for in picking the best item.
• How we tested. Basically how they made sure the items being reviewed had these qualities.

Even if you don’t agree with their picks, it may be because you value certain qualities different than they do. And if you can’t do that, perhaps you have opinions on a topic but you aren’t necessarily an expert.

It’s good to be an expert in things, even if it is for something arcane. Even if someone stops you and asks for directions, they are assuming you have enough expertise of the area to tell them where to go.

Go check out Amy’s piece for more advice. For an example of how the Wirecutter reviews things, go here.