Ever walked out of an audit presentation thinking, “Argh…I should have worded that better, I don’t think they really got the point I was making”?

Or stopped yourself from asking just one more question because you weren’t sure how it would land, or you didn’t want to ‘bother’ the stakeholder?

Confident auditors ask better, braver, and more curious questions.

In internal audit, being competent isn’t always enough. You can be the most technically skilled auditor in the room – but if you’re not confident enough to ask the tough (or even obvious) questions, key risks and control gaps can remain hidden. Sometimes it can be the final question in a meeting that changes the direction of the entire audit.

The best auditors have this in common: they don’t stop asking when others would.

Stakeholder communication is just as important as fieldwork.

You may have delivered the most robust, standards-compliant audit of your life. The evidence is watertight, the findings are valid, and the recommendations are gold.

But if you present it to the Audit Committee with uncertainty, rushed language, or hesitation… your message will be lost. Senior stakeholders don’t just listen to what you say – they listen to how you say it. A lack of confidence can undermine the strength of your findings, no matter how well-founded they are.

As auditors, our job isn’t just to find the issue. It’s to ensure the right people understand it – and feel compelled to act.

Auditors don’t need to be subject matter experts — but we must trust our core capabilities.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of internal audit is the belief that we need to know a process in detail before we start reviewing it. We don’t. That’s not our job.

Our job is to review risks, controls, and governance – and apply our critical thinking, scepticism, and analytical skills. That means we often step into unfamiliar territory – and that takes confidence.

Confidence in your training. Confidence in your audit methodology. Confidence in your ability to ask the right questions, even if you don’t know all the answers yet.

If you’re waiting until you feel 100% confident before you speak up or take the lead – you’ll be waiting forever. The truth is, confidence often comes after action, not before.

Confidence isn’t about being aggressive or loud or “right”. It’s about trusting your instincts, your training, your experiences to date and knowing that you know how to audit and what needs to be asked – even if you’ve never audited the current process before.

So yes – competence matters. Of course it does. (And as Standard 3.1 of the Global Internal Audit Standards states – “Internal auditors must engage only in those services for which they have or can attain the necessary competencies.”)

But it’s confidence that helps you push past polite conversations and into powerful ones. It’s confidence that helps you translate findings into change. And it’s confidence that reminds you: you’re not an imposter. You belong in the room and you have something valuable to say.

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Claire Berry (CA, CFE, CPRM, AMIIA) is the Founder and Director of Green Pen Consulting, providing tailored risk management and internal audit support to solo operators and small teams.

With nearly 20 years’ experience across audit, risk and governance roles, prior to establishing Green Pen Consulting Claire was Group General Manager – Risk & Internal Audit for an ASX100 entity in the chemical manufacturing industry.

Claire also authors the monthly Green Pen Digest newsletter, keeping readers up to date on the latest news and events across the accounting and auditing industries.