Epiphany bridge

What It Means

An epiphany bridge is a way of telling a storyUser storyA short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that." See more, taught by Russell Brunson in Expert Secrets, that walks the listener through the moment you yourself came to believe in an idea or product. Instead of listing facts and features, you retell the struggle, the wall you hit and the realization that changed things, so the listener can reach the same conclusion on their own. Brunson's site sets it out in five steps.

How People Say It at Work

• "Don't explain the product. Tell them your epiphany bridge."
• "What was the moment you realized this worked?"
• "Your story jumps straight to the result. Where's the wall?"

The Breakdown

The five steps, per Brunson's site

1. The introduction: desire and backstory. Start when the struggle was at its worst, describe what you were up against and what you tried that didn't work, so listeners see themselves in it.
2. The journey and the conflict. Say what pushed you to look for something new, what got in the way, and what was at stake.
3. The wall and a new opportunity. Share the insight that sparked the epiphany and how it changed your view of the problem.
4. The framework. Give the strategy at a high level: what your answer does, not a step-by-step of how.
5. The successes. Show how things changed for you, and for people like your listener.

Short version to try today. A bakery owner (made up) answers "why sourdough?" with a story: a year of failed loaves (introduction), nearly quitting (journey), the day a customer's grandmother showed her an old starter (wall and epiphany), the slow-rise method she uses now (framework), and the regulars who come back every Saturday (successes).

Where It Comes From

Russell Brunson teaches the epiphany bridge in Expert Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Converting Your Online Visitors into Lifelong Customers, first published by Morgan James Publishing in 2017 and released in an updated Hay House edition on August 9, 2022. His Perfect WebinarPerfect webinarRussell Brunson's script from Expert Secrets for a sales webinar in three parts: the Big Domino, three secrets each told with a story, and the Stack. See more method uses it too: ClickFunnels' guide says each of the webinar's three secrets is taught with an Epiphany Bridge story.

Good to Know

The story has to be true, and the successes should be ones you can show. Brunson's own page promises big jumps in conversion rates from the method; that's a seller's claim about his own teaching, so judge it by how your audience responds. Keep any results you mention typical of what a customer can expect.

Related Terms and Categories

• Hook, story, offer

  Russell Brunson's three-part formula from DotCom Secrets for any sales message: a hook to get attention, a story to build trust, then the offer.

• Attractive character

  Russell Brunson's term in DotCom Secrets for the person a business puts in front of its audience, built from a backstory, stories, honest flaws and clear opinions.

• Perfect webinar

  Russell Brunson's script from Expert Secrets for a sales webinar in three parts: the Big Domino, three secrets each told with a story, and the Stack.

• Soap opera sequence

  Russell Brunson's welcome email series from DotCom Secrets, usually five emails over five days that tell a story and build to an offer.

Business and entrepreneur terms