An expert who doesn’t boast: stories and advertising rules

An expert’s story without boasting tells of qualifications with no promised results or empty superlatives, on checkable facts and within advertising law.

First, a caveat

This lesson is a general landmark, not legal advice. Laws and professional rules change, they are read in different ways, and your profession may have limits we don’t know about. So the final text should be shown to a specialist who knows your rules. Below we name the documents to start with, and explain how to speak of yourself honestly.

Why it is harder for an expert

A story persuades more strongly than a list; we began with that. The stricter, then, are the demands on what you say in it. An expert has two more reasons for care.

• Readers trust you as a specialist. They can’t check your conclusions, so they take your word. An exaggeration here is deception.
• The outcome is often not in your hands. The decision is made by a court, a registry, the other side. To promise a result is to promise something you don’t control.

And a third: many professions have rules stricter than the general ones. Lawyers, notaries, doctors and licensed surveyors need to check their texts not only for “will people like it?” but for “is it allowed?”.

Check yourself: why mustn’t you promise the outcome of a case?

The outcome depends on more than you (a court, the other side, the law), so such a promise misleads the person.

Advertising law

Advertising law differs from country to country, but the core is shared: advertising must not mislead, and you must be able to back what you claim. Here is how the main systems say it.

United States. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act bans unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. The FTC reads that to mean an ad must not mislead a reasonable consumer on a point that matters, and that you must have a reasonable basis for an objective claim before you make it. Vague, plainly subjective boasting (“the friendliest firm in town”) is treated as puffery and is usually not a factual claim. But “the most experienced”, “rated No. 1” or “we’ll win” sound like facts, and a reader will take them as facts, particularly from an expert. States have their own consumer-protection laws on top. Testimonials have a rulebook of their own: the Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) and, since 21 October 2024, the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465).

United Kingdom. The CAP Code, applied by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), says marketing must not materially mislead (rule 3.1) and that marketers must hold documentary evidence for claims readers will take as objective (rule 3.7). Superiority claims need evidence unless they are obvious puffery, comparisons must be fair and verifiable (rules 3.32 to 3.34), and a testimonial must be genuine, with permission (rules 3.47 and 3.50). The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 adds legal force against fake reviews. The CAP team gives free Copy Advice before you publish.

European Union. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) bans misleading actions and omissions, and its blacklist, as updated by the 2019 “Omnibus” Directive, includes fake reviews. Member states add national rules, and rules for the professions vary a great deal between them.

Russia, for comparison. Article 5 of the Federal Law “On Advertising” (38-FZ) also requires advertising to be fair and reliable, and it names incorrect comparisons among the grounds for calling advertising unfair. The idea is the same as elsewhere: what you say about yourself must be true and provable.

For your page, a simple rule follows in every system: whatever you say about yourself must be true and be backed up. In practice that means three things.

1. Superlatives. “Best”, “No. 1”, “most experienced” with no criterion and no group they are compared with invite questions. Replace the judgment with a fact: “in practice since…”, “this many jobs done”.
2. Guarantees of a result. “We guarantee”, “we’ll win”, “risk-free” can’t be said where the result doesn’t depend on you.
3. Comparisons. You may compare yourself with others only fairly and verifiably. It is simpler and safer to talk about yourself.

Laws don’t apply to every piece of information, and they have exceptions. The general rule: while you aren’t sure, assume the rules apply, and check.

Check yourself: what do you put in place of “we’re the best”?

A fact that can be checked: length of practice, credentials, a number of jobs done. Then the reader draws the conclusion.

The rules of your profession

Advertising law is the general level. On top of it, a number of professions have rules of their own.

Lawyers. In the US, lawyers are regulated by the rules of each state’s highest court, most of them modeled on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 7.1 bars false or misleading communications about a lawyer’s services, and its comments say that reporting real past results can mislead if it creates an unjustified expectation of the same result for others, and that an unsubstantiated comparison with other lawyers can mislead too. Rule 7.4 covers claims of specialization. States differ, and some set specific rules for testimonials, disclaimers about past results, or the words you may use. In England and Wales the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board publish their own rules on how legal services may be described. Whichever it is, take the current text from your own regulator.

Everyone who deals with other people’s secrets faces one more limit. A lawyer’s duty of confidentiality is wider than the privilege in a courtroom, which is why a lawyer’s case studies need special care: the previous lesson covered that.

Other professions. Doctors answer to their state medical boards (and, in the UK, to the General Medical Council) and handle patient information under HIPAA. Licensed surveyors and engineers answer to state licensing boards, many of which follow the NCEES model rules on honest professional statements. Financial professionals have their own regimes: for example, the SEC Marketing Rule sets the conditions under which an investment adviser may use testimonials. The practical advice is the same for all: find the rules of your profession and your licensing body, and check the text against them. And if you can’t find them, ask the body directly.

Check yourself: why isn’t it enough to know advertising law?

Many professions have rules of their own, stricter than the general ones. Check them separately.

How to tell it without boasting

The good news: an honest text is usually also more convincing. A few moves.

• A fact instead of a judgment. Not “an experienced specialist”, but “in practice since 2012, with this many jobs done”.
• Process instead of promise. Not “you’ll get the result”, but “first we go through the documents, then we name a time and a price”.
• Limits. Say what you don’t do and what the outcome doesn’t depend on. That earns more trust than being all-powerful.
• A case instead of a superlative. A generalized case study (the last lesson) proves more than the word “best”.
• Documents. Links to credentials and memberships should lead to something that can be checked.

Check your text on the ruler below. It finds four groups of phrases: superlatives, guarantees, comparisons and testimonials. It is not a lawyer, only a hint about where to look.

Text about yourself (you can replace it with your own) We are the best in town and guarantee results. Unlike other specialists, we never lose a dispute. Thousands of happy clients have left us glowing reviews. Licensed land surveyor, in practice since 2012.

Places worth another look: 6.

• Superlatives: 1 “best”

  Needs proof of the criterion and of who it is compared with. Without it, better to remove.

• Guarantees of a result: 2 “guarantee”, “never lose”

  The outcome of a case or an inspection depends on more than you. It cannot be promised.

• Comparisons with others: 1 “Unlike other”

  Comparisons are allowed only if fair and checkable, and it is usually simpler to talk about yourself.

• Testimonials and recommendations: 2 “happy clients”, “reviews”

  For some professions, testimonials in advertising are limited by rules. Check yours.

The program searches by words and will miss a lot. It is not a lawyer and neither permits nor forbids anything: its result is only a reason to reread the text and show it to a specialist.

Check yourself: why is a “process” better than a “promise”?

A process is checkable and honest: the reader sees what you do. A promised result can’t be kept if the result isn’t up to you.

Practice

Write about your project in three ways and check each.

1. ABT: one sentence.
2. A short case study: situation, actions, result.
3. A founder’s story: the event, the lesson, what you do now. In one of the versions, name a credential or confirmation from the brief.
4. The checklist: six questions, each answered “yes”, “no” or “not applicable” with a short reason.
5. Three fields: which rules you checked against, what you fixed, and who will look at the final text.

If your profession isn’t regulated, answer the questions anyway: what an expert mustn’t promise, it is better for everyone else not to promise either.

What next

In the last lesson you’ll choose two of the three versions and plan a test on live readers: what to compare and how many readers it takes not to fool yourself.