My testimonial: Using real people in ads is not for the faint of heart.

Okay, here’s the thing. Putting real people in your advertising instead of actors is not the slam dunk you might think it is. It’s not easier. It’s certainly not always cheaper. And unless you do things right, it’s not even more believable or authentic. To coax a believable and moving testimonial out of an ordinary person takes a ton of preparation, hard work and craft. If that’s what your brand needs and wants, what follows will explain how it’s done.

But first, some background.

Before I learned how to create a believable testimonial, I created a few wooden ones. We all have. That’s the nature of the advertising business. I recall once recording an ad for a local restaurant where the founder had to read an incredibly funny script I wrote. He could not take direction. He had no sense of comedic timing. It was like being held at gunpoint and forced to watch this affable old guy rip up a Rembrandt with kiddy scissors. I’ve also seen confident, well compensated and highly accomplished business people turn into tongue-tied mumblers when a camera was turned on them. And we’ve all listened in horror as professional sports legends — men with the grace and prowess of gods — stumble through ad…