Don’t Promise. Prove.
Build a coach bio people believe, in 4 steps.
Standing between you and your possible clients is a wall. It’s the client thinking, “I don’t trust that you can help me, yet.”
Most coaches try to get past it with a promise: “I help women find their purpose.” But promises don’t create trust. A promise tells people what you hope for them. A fact tells them who they’re hiring.
Proof puts a door frame in that wall. Your Frame is 4 or 5 facts about you that a stranger could check. Build yours below and you’ll get your opening line, headline and short bio, ready to paste.
Here’s our Frame.
- 35,000+People trained
- 60+Countries
- ★★★★★Average rating
- 2012ICF accredited since
Led by Colleen-Joy, MCC and her team of Master Coaches, consultants and mentors. Verify us on the ICF register.
Step 1: Spot a typical Purpose Promise
These promises are copied word for word from live LinkedIn public profiles.
- Help People Find Their Purpose A life coach, Cairo, Egypt
- I build leaders and help people find their purpose. A leadership coach, Fort Worth, Texas
- I help people to find their purpose and live lighter A life coach, Campinas, Brazil
- I help people find their Purpose. A Vedic astrologer, Los Angeles, California
- I help people find their purpose and their perfect tea. A tea seller, Sri Lanka
Did you notice that a tea seller, an astrologer and coaches all promise to help you find purpose? So what exactly does that mean? Can you see how this doesn’t open the wall of trust?
Read your own headline again. Cross out every word a stranger couldn’t check. What’s left is the start of your Frame.
See 8 more promises coaches use too often
Open one to see real examples.
The potential promise
Nobody can check if potential is reached, and it’s used so often that your promise drowns in the noise.
- I help leaders reach their full potential | Mentor & Coach
- Empowering You to Overcome Challenges & Unlock Your Full Potential | Life Coach | Growth, Clarity & Confidence
- ICF Certified Coach | Empowering Aspiring Leaders to Reach Their Full Potential
- I empower individuals and teams to unlock their full potential and achieve their vision and goals
- My mission is to empower women to discover their true potential
The best promise
Nobody can check what the best even means, and again it’s used so often that it becomes noise.
- Coaching as a way of becoming the best version of yourself!
- Real help becoming the best version of yourself.
- Be the best version of yourself.
- Transformational Life Coach Helping you be the best you and achieve your highest goals
The transformation promise
It’s true that coaching is about guiding change and transformation. But it’s better to prove the specific change than promise using the word transformation. Name the thing you transform and you’ve got a fact.
- Transform your mindset. Transform your life.
- Inspiring You to Transform Your Life
- Unlock Your Power. Shift Your Frequency. Transform Your Life.
- Mentor to help you understand yourself in a new way and empower you to transform your life
The empowering promise
Potential clients are not actively looking for empowerment, that’s not what they tell a friend on a Friday afternoon when they are tired and seeking help.
- Empowering women. Clarity, Choice and Change
- Empowering Women Leaders & Teams
- Empowering women to transform Mindset, Relationships & workplaces
- EMPOWERING WOMEN & LEADERS FOR GLOBAL IMPACT
The power promise
There’s nothing wrong with the word power, it can land well inside of about paragraphs, but it’s weak as a headline or opening bio.
- Step into your power with clarity, confidence and leadership.
- Step into Your Power, while staying Authentic
- Release what’s holding you back. Step into your power.
The live your best life promise
Can you see how salesy this line feels? It’s over used, and doesn’t prove that you can guide real change.
- BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION & LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NOW!
- Empower Individuals to Live Their Best Lives | Talks | Workshops
- Get clear. Feel empowered. Live your best life.
- Live your best life, on purpose!
The authentic self promise
Authenticity is something that matters to many, but its a value not a factual proof point.
- Nurturing Your Authentic Self
- Empowering you to return home to your authentic self and achieve your fullest potential
- Helping you to succeed by being your authentic self.
- Inspiring heart-based, ambitious professionals to step into alignment with their authentic self
The holding space promise
This is insider language. Your clients don’t say to their friends, I need someone to hold space for my growth. What words do they actually use?
- Holding Space for Sustainable Growth & Clarity
- Holding space for thinking, dreaming, imagining.
- Holding space & safety for you to live up to your potential
- Holding Resonant Space for Transformation
Step 2: Make a proof list
A Frame is 4 or 5 facts about you and your journey. Nothing else. Pretend that every word costs you money to use. Reduce the words to their bare essence. This makes a frame easy to scan (which clients want). It’s also something easy to remember, which is great for people who want to refer clients to you, or introduce you.
Experience
What you’ve lived and done. Years, roles, places, numbers.
- Speaks 5 languages
- 20 years as an HR manager
- 12 years as a primary school teacher
- Managed a team of 9 at a bank
- Held the budget for 7 figure clients
Expertise
What you’re qualified in. Certificates, specialist knowledge, specific problems you’ve solved.
- Certified ICF PCC Coach, InnerLifeSkills Master Coach
- Trained in trauma informed practice
- Rebuilt 3 IT support teams after a merger
- Took 40 leaders through redundancy
Energy
Something human that makes a reader smile. Still a fact. Still true.
- Keeps bee hives and harvests organic honey
- Pet mom to three sausage dogs
- Sings in a choir on Thursdays
- Four times Boston Marathon runner
Your life before coaching counts.
Coaches often leave out their best proof because they think they must only share coaching related points.
Twenty years in nursing. Six years running a restaurant. Raising three children alone.
If it built your character, it belongs in your frame.
Step 3: Swap a title for your brand
Most coaches think they need to climb into a title box and decide what type of coach they are. This is very limiting.
What we’ve seen works very well, is to swap title for brand, and rather list your services.
Not this
- I am a Life Coach
- ICF ACC Certified Coach
- Executive Coach
Your credential is a great fact. Put it in your Frame, not in place of your name.
This
Your brandYour nameTwo or three services
Plain words for what you sell. Nothing clever.
- Coaching, consulting and training
- Life coaching, enneagram typing and team building
- Financial consulting, business coaching and leadership development
Your brand and your name are facts. So is a plain list of what you do. Then your Frame does the rest.
Put together, it looks like this
A made-up composite coach, from many who we’ve trained.
Before
- Certified Life Coach | Empowering women to find their purpose and unlock their potential
After
Brand & Services
Olivia Taylor. Life coaching, enneagram coaching and training.
Frame
| ICF PCC and Certified InnerLifeSkills Master Coach | 20 years as an HR manager in finance | Speaks English, French and Portuguese | Trained in trauma informed practice | Helped 40 people back into work | Black Belt Karate
Step 4: Build your Frame
Answer the questions below. Nothing you type leaves this browser.
No adjectives. No opinions about yourself. A fact is something true and simple. No exaggerating or making yourself small.
Put the thing you want people to hire you for first. Don’t bury your coaching frame line.
Show us. Don’t tell us. Show us the result, e.g. talent pool had 68% promotion rate after their coaching journey, instead of “I help talented leaders get promotions.” Because of their coaching journey, who did your clients become, what did they achieve, what they could now?
Want help with your frame?
The Frame is the first thing Colleen-Joy MCC and her team teaches in our ICF Accredited Business Coach course – it’s class #1.
There are 6 classes guiding you to build your coaching business, from program ideas, finding clients and breaking free from selling hours.
You get personal guidance and feedback. Our online classes are fun and hands on practical. We make sure you leave with something useful after each class.
