If you're writing a business book and you're struggling for clarity on your Big Idea, go and talk to your best clients. The stories they tell you will help you to clarify what it is that you do for people, and how you help them make changes in their world.

Even if you don't use all the stories in your book, these make fantastic testimonials.

<aside> 👉🏼 Click Duplicate to import this into your own Notion workspace. You can delete these instructions from there if you wish.

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<aside> 💡 Tease out as much information as you can about what their life was like before you came along, how they found you, and how you have helped them change their life for the better. Or solve their problem. Or helped them achieve something.

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<aside> ⛏️ Dig deeper: when someone gives you a fact, ask them to tell you more. Keep digging until you get to the good stuff.

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<aside> ✍🏼 Use these questions as a framework to help you build your client stories. Record their words (on video or audio, if you can)—but also note down your own observations about their facial expression, emotions, gestures, demeanour.

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Testimonial Questions

<aside> 💡 The idea here is to tell your client's story from start to finish, using storytelling principles: context & backstory + inciting incident + obstacles + personal transformation & results + changed reality

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• What reason did you have for [doing the thing they wanted to do or buy]?
• What made you look for [product / service]?
• What was your main concern about working with me? What worried you the most before you handed over the cash?
• Now you’ve worked with me, how have you found it? What happened?
• What specific feature do you like most about [product / service]? Why?
• What are three other benefits of [using product / service]? What did they do for you?
• Would you recommend me to anyone else? Why?
• Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Bonus Question

What do you get asked most by your customers and clients?

Keep collecting and adding client stories to your files, and you'll always have a supply of stories to tell—about your business, and about people. Their hopes and dreams, motivations and struggles.