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Episode #10

The Defendable Position: Fix Your Scattered Content

Four out of five content pieces send a scattered signal. One defendable position fixes that and builds an audience that actually stays.

11 min

Key takeaways

  • Audit your last 20 to 30 posts and sort them into two piles: noise and frame. The frame pile reveals your actual position.
  • Write your defendable position in one sentence that only you would say. If everyone in your field could say it, it is a category, not a position.
  • Build toward three to five defendable positions and anchor 80% of your content around them. The remaining 20% shows the full person.
  • A new content calendar does not fix scattered signal. A clear position does, because it naturally generates consistent direction without brainstorming.
  • A defendable position does not require arrogance or aggression. It simply means you can explain why you believe one thing over another, consistently.

Timestamps

00:00The problem: publishing a lot but growing nothing
01:18Why more content and better hooks do not fix it
02:41The exercise: audit your last 20 to 30 posts
04:09What a defendable position actually does for your audience
05:22Paul's own example: opposing work-life balance
07:09How to test whether your position is truly defendable
09:30Building three to five positions and structuring content around them
11:00How to apply this starting today

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Why Your Content Isn't Growing Your Audience (And What to Fix)

Show notes

What This Episode Covers

Paul Veth explains why prolific content creators with genuine expertise still fail to grow an audience, and introduces the concept of the defendable position as the structural fix.

The Core Problem: Scattered Signal

Four out of five content pieces from most experts create noise rather than signal. Each post attracts a different group and repels the previous one, resulting in zero compounding audience growth. A new content calendar does not solve this because the underlying problem is not volume or frequency.

The Defendable Position Exercise

Paul walks through a concrete, pausable exercise:

  • Open the social channel where you post most consistently.
  • Collect your last 20 to 30 posts.
  • Sort them into two piles: noise and frame.
  • In the frame pile, identify the position only you would take in your field.
  • Write it down in one clear sentence.

The goal is three to five defendable positions. Start with one.

What Makes a Position Defendable

A defendable position is specific enough that peers in your field might disagree with it. If everyone in your field says the same thing, it is a category description, not a position. Paul uses his own example of publicly opposing the concept of work-life balance while working with high-performance entrepreneurs as an illustration of what a real defendable position looks like in practice.

How It Changes Your Content Output

Once you have three to five defendable positions, 80% of your content anchors around those positions. The remaining 20% can be broader, showing you as a whole person. This structure removes the need for content calendars or brainstorm sessions because the position itself generates direction. Audiences grow because clarity attracts the right people consistently.

Key Framework

The Defendable Position framework is part of the Identity-First Methodology from Identity First Media, which treats identity as the structural foundation of all content output.

Topics

content strategy for expertsdefendable positionthought leadership contentpersonal brand positioningcontent signal vs noiseIdentity-First Methodologyaudience growth strategyexpert content marketing

Full transcript

View full transcript
0:00
0So this video is for you if you are an expert in your field and you publish a lot of content, but the output isn't working for you. Because I see a lot of experts who are thinking, okay, I need to put out a lot of content and they do it. Every day they are posting on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on TikTok and they are putting out a lot of content. Probably you are doing this as well, but it's not working for you. You cannot see the growth in your social media channels.
0:36
0So that's probably very normal for you to see and to talk with other entrepreneurs you know because it this happens a lot. So you are going to search for the the better strategy or the viral content machine or the better hooks. Maybe you even respond to all the people who are telling you, yeah, you need this content plan and this content calendar will give you content for the next thirty days. That's great. But if you record content every day and you put it out there every day and it's not working for you, a new content calendar or a new brainstorm session is not going to help you.
1:18
0It's just like that. You need something else and that that's why I made this video because a lot of entrepreneurs who are very good in their field, you have the expertise, you are busy for at least three years, maybe even five, ten or twenty years. And what you notice is that the content you spit out, you have so many ideas about your field, it's not working for your audience and your potential audience. And there's one shift you have to to make because to be honest, four out of five content pieces you put online are not working for you and they make up for a scattered signal and that's why your audience does not grow. Because one content piece could attract several people and then the second content piece will attract different people, but they scare away the first group.
2:15
0And then the third piece of content will scare away group one and two and attract new people. But if you use this cycle, you understand you every time attract someone and then push away the same group again. So that's not working. So there's one thing I want you to do and it's very easy. And when I'm telling you what to do, it's like a workshop almost.
2:41
0You can pause the video and do it immediately. But what I want you to do is open up the social media channel where you post the most consistent. So if it's LinkedIn, it's LinkedIn. If it's Instagram, it's Instagram. It's okay.
2:58
0If it's both, then maybe it's even possible for you to find both. But what I want you to do is look at the last 20 to 30 pieces of content. Just collect them. And what I want you to do is don't look for the best hooks that are working. Don't even look at how many likes it got.
3:21
0Because a lot of coaches and marketers will ask you that. Okay. Look at your content and look at which posts work best and work around that. It it it's possible but it's not it's not aligning with you as an expert. So that's why that's a dangerous dangerous exercise.
3:42
0What I want you to do is look at the last twenty, thirty posts and find the just just write down two piles. One pile, okay, what's noise? And one pile, okay, this is the frame. And I want you to go looking for your position and specific for your defendable position. So which position do you take that's defendable for you always.
4:09
0And why that's something very strong is because if you start making content more consistent about your defendable position, then one group of customers, potential customers, will understand what your vision is and who you as a person are and what your business can solve for them that's connected with their vision of their world. It's it's it's really like that. So you have find your defendable position within these pieces of content. So you've got 20 to 30 pieces of content. You make two PALs and four out of five will be noise and one out of five will be your defendable position.
4:58
0I will give you an example. For example, I was working as an identity architect and I've worked with high performance entrepreneurs and sport teams and supporters as well. And it's amazing for me to work with them. So I'm pro high performance. So what's my defendable position?
5:22
0One of them is like, okay, I hate life work balance. Because when people talk about life work balance, they are like, yeah, but you have to relax a little bit more and you have to work hard, but there needs to be a balance. And that was a defendable position for me because a lot of people, even in high performance field, didn't agree with me like that. So that's a good defendable position because at that moment you can defend your position. And that's amazing because yeah, you are going to make sure a lot of people you don't attract old people, that's good because you are going to attract just a small group of people.
6:07
0And that small group can still be 10,000, 100,000, even millions of people because millions of people is still a small group compared to all the people in the world. So it doesn't matter and you don't have to think about it as okay, it's a defendable position so I need to be arrogant about it, of being angry about it. No, that's that's not necessary. It can be if you are a person who likes to be angry. Okay, be angry in your content as well.
6:41
0That's great. But if you're the calm and loving person, explain why you believe in one way and you don't like the other way. And you can think about it when you are writing down what your defendable position is about one thing. In the end, I want you to find three to five defendable defendable positions. But we start with one and I want you to think about it.
7:09
0Okay, if I can say it, maybe you can even write down a sentence. What's your position that you want to defend? And is that a sentence only you can say or is it a sentence that everybody in the field says? Because if everybody in your field says the same thing, it's not really a defendable position, but it's more like a category you are working in. And you will still say the same things other people will do and your output of your content will be much broader.
7:41
0That's not what I mean with defendable position. It needs to be very small for you and even other people in your field might frown upon it. They are like, okay, but I don't like what you say and that's great. For example, if you are making shoes, design shoes by hand, maybe you can say, okay, everyone in the field is making the sole white, but that's not what I believe in. Because when I use the black soul, I know it's it's nicer, I love it more.
8:24
0But the one thing is, with the black soul I can make it from a different material and that material is so sweet for your foot sole. I don't know this. I'm not an expert, but do you understand what I mean? So you are the only one who makes the black sole while the rest in your field of the designer shoe field, that category, they swore by a white sole. That's the defendable position.
8:51
0It has it doesn't have to be big but it's a position to take. So if you did this for 20 to 30 posts and you find you've found your defendable position, what you are going to do is you are starting to make more content about this defendable position. And it forces you to think more about your position and to create content more a little bit around that position. So it's more structured structured automatically. That's amazing because you don't need like the content calendar or the brainstorm sessions anymore.
9:30
0Because you as an expert can think about this position you take and to think about content around this position. And people will be attracted more because it's more clear to them what your vision is, what your strategy is, what your output is and that attracts more. It's it's amazing. So when you've done this, you can look at, you are probably someone who published a lot of content, so then you can look at another 30 posts and find a second position. And then you look at 30 posts more and then you have 90 in total and you are going to look at another position.
10:11
0So the position is what what do you see, what do you believe, what do you think that's from you and that's a little bit different or totally different than the rest of the people in your field. And that defendable positions, when you have three to five, if you make content around that with maybe 20% different content, because it's it's you don't have to niche down in content anymore. That's not what people find attractive. They they want to see you as a whole, as a human being. So you can make 20% extra of content about different things, but the core, the four out of five needs to be around your defendable position and that will work amazing for you.
11:00
0So if you pause the video and you already did it, great. You have your defendable positions. Try to write it down in one sentence. It doesn't have to be the sentence on your website or the best slogan that's short. It must must be clear for you to understand, this is my position and I'm going to make content around this position.
11:21
0And that will help you a lot with attracting new followers and grow your following. It's amazing.

Frequently asked questions

What is a defendable position in content strategy?

A defendable position is a specific stance you hold in your field that not everyone would agree with. It is a view only you would articulate in that exact way. If peers in your field might push back on it, that is a signal it is genuinely yours. It is the opposite of a generic category statement that any competitor could also make.

How do I find my defendable position from existing content?

Review your last 20 to 30 posts and sort them into two piles: noise and frame. The frame pile contains posts that reflect a consistent, specific point of view. Look for the through-line in that pile. Write it down in one sentence. That sentence is your starting point for identifying what your position actually is.

Why does posting more content not grow my audience?

High-volume posting without a consistent position sends a scattered signal. Each post may attract a different type of person while pushing away the previous group. The audience never compounds because there is no consistent frame to anchor around. Position clarity, not posting frequency, is what makes audiences grow over time.

How many defendable positions should I have?

Three to five defendable positions is the target. Start with one, write it in a single clear sentence, and build content around it. Once that position is clear, audit another 30 posts to find the second. This process ensures each position is grounded in your actual output rather than invented in a brainstorm session.

Does a defendable position mean I have to be controversial or aggressive?

No. A defendable position does not require a combative tone. It simply means you hold a specific view and can explain why you believe it over the alternative. If you are a calm, measured communicator, explain your position calmly. The position itself creates contrast. The delivery matches your actual personality and communication style.

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Discussion

The idea of a 'defendable position' assumes you know exactly what you stand for well enough to say no to everything outside it. How clear is your own position right now, and what is the hardest type of content to cut when you are trying to tighten your focus?

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