matteotitta LinkedIn Personal Posts
Generate a series of personal story posts that build credibility and attract buyers — using the 5-section storytelling template. Takes a LinkedIn content guide (ICP + offer + pains→goals) and hooks as context, then outputs 3-5 ready-to-post personal stories.
Source: Nick Broekema (Content Design) — "How I write personal stories to build credibility and attract" framework.
Why personal stories? They rank #1 in LinkedIn content effectiveness. The algorithm rewards them because they generate the highest engagement, longest dwell time, and most saves. They're also the hardest to fake — which is exactly why they work.
How this differs from linkedin-expert-posts: That skill handles educational/framework content. This skill is exclusively personal storytelling — a rigid 5-section template applied across a series of posts, each mapped to a specific ICP pain→goal pair.
Doctrine inherited (Step 7 — 0626 rollout, locked 2026-06-04)
Output complies with output-tenets.md, output-simplicity.md, ai-speak-anti-patterns.md. Step 6 calibration: see [[feedback_execution_doctrine_refinements_step6]].
Refinements applied: R1 (post body is end-customer-facing — no source tags), R3 (operator-direct first-person voice), R9 (5-section template steps verb-led).
The 5-Section Personal Story Template
Every post follows this exact structure:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. PAINS ICP (OR PEERS) │
│ Hook with a mutual pain │
│ → Start with a shared struggle │
│ → Use words your audience uses │
│ → Use real examples so it resonates │
│ → Address real emotions/frustrations │
│ → Make the story relatable & sincere │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. BREAK │
│ Let the post breathe │
│ → Breaks (re)gain attention │
│ → Breaks allow for "plot twists" │
│ → Breaks prevent boring writing │
│ → 1-3 short lines that shift energy │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. SOLUTION │
│ Present the problem you solved │
│ → Describe the results of inaction │
│ → Show how tough it was for you │
│ → Show how you mastered this │
│ → Build credibility with evidence │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4. ICP'S IDEAL SITUATION │
│ Paint the outcome your ICP desires │
│ → Describe the solution's outcome │
│ → Paint a picture your ICP desires │
│ → Or: your peer's desire │
│ → Present the outcome as a solution │
│ → Make it exciting for your audience │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5. MOTIVATIONAL ENDING │
│ Close with purpose │
│ → Personal story = helping people │
│ → Personal story = attracting people │
│ → Personal story = encouraging people│
│ → Personal story = about what you do │
│ →...while building credibility + │
│ attracting simultaneously │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Claude Code Triggers
Invoke this skill when user says:
- "Write personal story posts for [client/person]"
- "Generate a personal post series"
- "LinkedIn credibility posts from my ICP"
- "Story posts from my content guide"
- "Personal posts that build authority"
- "Write a series of personal LinkedIn posts"
Do NOT invoke when:
- User wants educational/framework posts → Use
linkedin-expert-posts - User wants to build the ICP + offer first → Use
linkedin-content-guide - User wants LinkedIn comments → Use
linkedin-comment - User wants to optimize their profile → Use
linkedin-profile - User wants a single post (not a series) → Use
linkedin-expert-postsorlinkedin-sales-posts
Inputs
Required
| Input | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ICP context | Pains→goals table, ICP description, offer statement | linkedin-content-guide output OR user provides manually |
| Personal story seeds | Real experiences, turning points, failures, lessons | User provides (prompted by story mining questions) |
Optional (improve quality)
| Input | How It Helps |
|---|---|
| Voice profile / TOV guidelines | Ensures posts match the author's actual voice |
| Hooks library | Provides proven hook formulas to draw from |
| Proof points | Real metrics, client names, outcomes to include |
| Author's existing content | Reference posts to match their style |
If inputs are missing: Ask for ICP context and personal stories. Use the story mining questions from the premium reference to extract story seeds from the author.
Validation Checklist
- ICP pains are specific (not generic "they struggle with marketing")
- At least 3 personal story seeds provided (real experiences, not hypotheticals)
- Author identity is clear (who is posting)
- Goal is understood (build authority, attract buyers, grow audience)
Process
3-phase flow: Story Mining → Series Generation → Quality & Variation Check. Each phase has explicit checkpoints and references the 5-section template above. Full step-by-step in the premium reference.
AI-Speak Scan (Personal Story Edition)
Personal stories are WHERE AI writes worst. Scan every post for these tells:
| Pattern | Why it kills personal posts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "X isn't Y. It's Z." | THE #1 AI tell. Never use in personal stories. | Just state the point directly |
| Wrapped bow ending | Real stories don't resolve neatly | End on a question, open thought, or mid-realisation |
| "Here's the thing:" | AI transition tic, not how people tell stories | Cut entirely — just say the thing |
| Uniform paragraph rhythm | Stories meander, stall, speed up | Mix one-word lines with longer passages |
| Progressive ClientCo | "Each step taught me more" | Real growth meanders. Show the setbacks and dead ends directly. |
| Wisdom narrator voice | "Looking back, I realise..." as if writing memoir | Stay in the moment. "I didn't know it then." |
| Humble-brag setup | "I failed... but then I crushed it" | Sit in the failure longer. The lesson is the post, not the win. |
| Generic motivation | "Just start. Take the leap." | Specific > inspirational. What EXACTLY did you do? |
| Story time. as a break | Overused. Everyone does it. | Find your own break style. "Let me explain." / Just a line break. / A one-word reaction. |
Nick's X-not-Y sweep (mandatory before delivery)
Added April 2026 in response to Nick Broekema's coaching feedback (see feedback_no_x_not_y_hooks.md). Before output, scan every line of the draft for false-contrast structures — the AI-Speak Scan above catches the most obvious forms, but the full sweep covers disguised variants.
Build a sweep table modelled on 0426-pmm-os-post.md lines 79-96:
| Candidate sentence | Verdict |
|---|---|
| {exact line from draft} | {OK: positive declarative / OK: temporal transition / BANNED: rewrite} |
Check at minimum the hook, every reflection beat, every transition, and the closing line. Any line matching "not X — Y", "X. It's Y.", "isn't about X, it's about Y", "Stop X. Start Y.", or two-sentence parallels where the second sentence asserts the inverse of the first is banned. Rewrite to positive declarative + behavioural implication before output. Real dialogue quotes are exempt if the speaker actually said those words — but pick a different real quote when possible.
Anti-Hallucination Guardrails
- Never invent the author's personal stories. Every story must come from real experiences the author has shared. If no stories provided, ASK — don't make them up.
- Never fabricate metrics. "My content generated $0" is powerful because it's TRUE. Don't invent numbers to make stories more compelling.
- Never add fake emotional details. "Kid on the way" works because it happened. Don't add family/health/financial details the author hasn't shared.
- Mark placeholders clearly. Use
[YOUR SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE HERE]when a story detail needs the author's input. - No composite stories. Don't blend multiple experiences into one fictional narrative. Each post = one real story.
Quality
Pre-delivery checklist covers template adherence, voice quality, format quality, series variety, coach's quality gates, and the 5-dimension refine rubric (hook strength, clarity, engagement potential, platform fit, authenticity — score per post; iterate any dimension ≤ 6). Gold standard worked example + full checklist in the premium reference.
Final ship gate
Run /premortem --output before ship. See /premortem skill for the 5 execution domains (will-it-resonate / will-it-convert / will-it-stay-on-brand / will-stakeholder-push-back / will-it-degrade-over-time) and output template.
Trivial-case escape: ## Premortem\nNo failure modes — trivial change satisfies the contract for genuinely trivial outputs.
Persuasion & stickiness pass
Output complies with persuasion-and-stickiness.md — Cialdini's 7 persuasion levers + Heath's SUCCESs. Deploy the 1-2 Cialdini levers that fit the reader's barrier (never all seven; every lever must be TRUE), run the SUCCESs diagnostic (Simple / Unexpected / Concrete / Credible / Emotional / Stories) over the near-final draft, then the rule's pre-ship gate.