A good positioning worksheet passes three tests. First, the specificity test: your target buyer paragraph should let a stranger name five companies that fit. Second, the differentiator test: your “We are the only ___ that ___” sentence should make at least one of your competitors uncomfortable. If every competitor could sign it, it is a category statement, not a differentiator.

Third, the emotion test: the desired feeling should be specific enough to write a headline from. “Confident” is weak. “Relieved — finally someone built this for me” is a headline.

If any field feels like filler when you read it aloud, it probably is. Rewrite until a sceptical peer would nod.

The order here is not arbitrary. Audience first, because every other answer depends on who you are talking to. Category second, because your category decides your competition and your credibility. Claiming “we don’t have competitors” is almost always a positioning failure, not a market insight.

Differentiator third, because it is the hardest to fake. Most companies hide behind four adjectives instead of one sharp sentence. If you cannot write the “We are the only ___ that ___” line without qualifiers, you are probably selling a better version of what your competitors sell, and you should say so plainly rather than pretending otherwise.

Proof fourth, because a strong claim without proof reads like bravado. Three concrete proof points — a number, a name, a mechanism — beat ten soft ones.

Emotion last, because it is the summary of everything above. If the first four fields are strong, the emotion falls out naturally. If you are struggling to name the feeling, the positioning above is not finished.