The Positioning Statement Template

A two-page fillable PDF that turns positioning from an afternoon of argument into six decisions and one sentence.

A positioning statement is a coherent set of six hard decisions. It is not a tagline. Most companies never finish making the decisions, which is why most positioning statements say nothing. Every clause that got added along the way was a decision being avoided in public, and a sentence nobody objects to is a sentence nobody can act on.

This is the instrument that ends that afternoon. The six decisions in the order they have to be made, each with the specific mistake that ruins it. Six tests to mark your own work against. And a worksheet you type straight into, so what you finish with looks like a document rather than a note to yourself.

WHAT'S INSIDE

The six decisions — who it is for, the problem, the category, the benefit, the proof, the alternative. Each one with the trap underneath it, because a demographic is not a customer and "trusted" is not proof.

The six tests — substitution, rejection, alternative, proof, one benefit, read aloud. It is finished when it passes all six, and the first test alone disqualifies most of what gets written.

The worksheet — fillable on screen, with the connecting words already set so the finished sheet reads as a sentence. Or print it and use a pen.

A worked example — one finished statement, and a note on what it gives up. A positioning statement is partly a list of things you are prepared to lose.

Instrument No. 01 of The Assignment, published Monday 28 September 2026. A new task, assignment every Monday.