If someone speaks well of you, you’ve got to remember that, embed it deep into your soul, and know that you’re good at this.

And once you’ve done that you need to share that testimony

There’s a whole philosophy behind referrals and testimonies, but I’m not sharing them today, because I’m not a psychologist; I’m just a boy, standing in front a celebrant, asking them to testify! Testimonies about how you are good at what you do, and you do it in a certain way that makes a certain kind of person happy.

So there’s two steps here.

Step one, get a testimony

Hopefully somewhere on your computer is a testimony about you being you and that whole circumstance being a positive experience. Look through your Facebook reviews and Google reviews, and if nothing is there, go back through your emails to find one that has a positive word about you. What we’re looking for is a testimony sandwich with some meat in it. A bunch of words that go further than the common “A+ effort, would hire again”.

I’m looking for something like this:

Josh was one of the best wedding decisions that we made. The marriage process can often feel quite overwhelming and complicated, but having Josh on our team made everything work. He was calming and fun, and allowed our wedding to be perfectly tailored to us. His professionalism and expertise also helped things run perfectly to plan. Plus, he always had a pen when I needed one! If you are planning on getting married, make sure Josh is a part of it!

Words that explain how you, being 100% you, was a positive.

Now, if you don’t have those words, my best advice today would be to get a phone and call a recent client to ask a few pointed questions like “How did I as a celebrant, positively impact or change your wedding?” and “How did me doing my thing differ from other people you have seen do my thing?” Let the person know you are looking for a testimony for your social media and with their blessing you’ll use some of those words they just told you. Try to put them on speakerphone and maybe record the conversation on a voice memo on a separate phone or computer. Transcribe those words back, and you’ve got a testimony.

Step two, post

I see a lot of testimonies shared with gushing and honestly, falsely humble, introductions like “I can’t believe that Jack and Jill were so happy with my little ol service” and other wastes of text. Just introduce the testimony and accept the compliment.

I’ll post mine with a photo by my friend Todd, because the testimony is about me being a wedding celebrant, and the photo works because it’s a photo of my being a wedding celebrant for the couple who are testifying!

“Josh was one of the best wedding decisions that we made. The marriage process can often feel quite overwhelming and complicated, but having Josh on our team made everything work. He was calming and fun, and allowed our wedding to be perfectly tailored to us. His professionalism and expertise also helped things run perfectly to plan. Plus, he always had a pen when I needed one! If you are planning on getting married, make sure Josh is a part of it!” – the pen-less but overtly lovely Jayden and Jane #marriedbyjosh at Midginbil Hill with the arty Todd and Alyda at Todd Hunter McGaw Photography who coincidentally made this photo.

Double points if you get the testimony recorded as a video so you can post it as one!

Post

Find a testimony, and share it with your followers on any and all social networks you feel like posting it today. This challenge is all about simply allowing other people to praise you, let it happen! Use the hashtag #celebrantinstitute so we can find your posts, like, comment, and share!

This content would work well as a blog post as well as a social network post. Post it everywhere, and also share a link to it here in the comments!