The Answer is in the Question

There's just nothing better than when a third party--who has nothing to gain--shares from the heart about the benefits they got from your work.

Whether it's in written form or live at an event, a testimonial is social proof. It shows people that you have something great to teach.

But too often in a live setting when somebody stands up impromptu to give a testimonial, they don't share their success story in a way that other people can appreciate.

They mean well, but they end up sharing the details, the how they got the results, which is out of context, versus just the outcome of what happened. Or they'll talk all about their business, going on way too long and getting off-track.

They really want to help you but end up hurting you instead.

Frame the Question

To prevent that from happening, frame the question to get the answer that you want. Ask it in a way that keeps the person on-track.

For instance, let's say Michele grabs me in the hallway to tell me that, using what she learned from me, she tripled her normal results in the past two weeks. I ask her if it's okay if I call on her to share her inspiring results with the room.

Later, when I'm on stage and I'm talking about tripling your income, I can say, "Speaking of tripling your income, as I walked in this evening, one of the graduates of our program, Michele, told me she just had some amazing results. Michele, would you share with us what you told me in the hall about your income increasing in the past two weeks?"

I am reminding Michele what she said and guiding her to talk about what I'd like her to say. When she agrees to tell the group, I frame the question again: "So, Michele, will you tell the audience how much of an increase you had?"

Michele then focuses in on the outcome, and you get the result that you want.

Another way to frame the question nice and tight is to ask people their favorite part. For instance, instead of saying, "Oh, Debbie, you just recently did the laser face lift. How was it for you?"

In response to that unframed question, she could talk about the pain or how she got sick on the drugs.

So instead you want to say, "What is your favorite part about having your new beautiful face?"

Can't you just see Debbie gushing and everyone riveted while they listen to her?

That's what you want. And nothing can get you that social proof better than a beautifully framed question.