Powerful people are often seen as confident, gregarious and unapologetic — but the most humble people in a workplace can actually carry the most influence, says communication expert Matt Abrahams.

When timed well, your humility can encourage the people around you to be more creative and collaborative, display high emotional intelligence, and make others more inclined to listen to you, he says.

"Humility is a way of lowering your status or power [in an interaction] that sets up another person to feel equal or higher to you," Abrahams, an author and strategic communications lecturer at Stanford University, tells CNBC Make It. "If I think you and I are on the same team or closer to the same level, I'm much more likely to open up ... It's a tool that allows you to connect."

People with high levels of humility are better at evaluating evidence and understanding multiple viewpoints, and they're more curious, according to a 2017 Duke University analysis. Having the ability to admit that you're wrong helps you "be open to a learner's mindset, and that is absolutely crucial," executive coach Charlene Li explained to LinkedIn's "The Path" podcast last year.

You have to use the strategy in moderation, and earnestly, for it to be effective, says Abrahams: "People can smell humblebrags."

Here are two ways to practice it at work:

1. Think about your responses

Thoughtfully responding to questions and compliments is an easy way to display humility, according to Abrahams.

If someone compliments your expertise, you could respond with a simple "Thank you." Or, you could encourage the other person by acknowledging that you — like them — are always working to improve.

"When I say, 'I'm still working on my communication skills,' I'm really trying to take pressure off the other person and show that we're in this together," says Abrahams.

When done correctly, you can show the other person that everyone has something to learn — and make you seem more relatable to them, helping them feel more comfortable sharing ideas or collaborating with you, Abrahams says.

Avoid being self-deprecating, or your colleagues will feel like you're fishing for compliments, he adds. And read the room before you say anything: If you degrade your own skillset right before a presentation, your colleagues will probably think that you're unconfident in your work.

2. Acknowledge your imperfections

Admitting that you're wrong — you made an error, or you're unsure of how to complete a task — can help you connect with other people, whether you're an entry-level employee or CEO of one of the world's biggest companies.

Early in his career, current Amazon CEO Andy Jassy presented his team's operating plan in a 220-slide PowerPoint to founder Jeff Bezos and other major executives at the company, Jassy said in a video posted online by Amazon in July. Partway through the presentation, Bezos noted that one slide was full of errors.

Instead of getting defensive about the corrections, Jassy sensed an opportunity to display his own humility: He apologized to Bezos and acknowledged the mistake before moving on, he said — rather than lingering on the error, getting flustered or beating himself up over it.

The experience strengthened the trust between the two, said Jassy: "If you want to earn trust: If you say you've got something, deliver it. If you own something and it's not going well, be self-critical, and fix it."

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