Last reviewed on 29 September 2026.
NNWA publishes the name and qualifications of everyone who writes and checks its material. You can see the full teaching team on the faculty page.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Advertising in India is subject to the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the Advertising Standards Council of India's code, and personal data is governed by the DPDP Act 2023.
The three things that must be true
It has to be real. A testimonial from somebody who was not a client, or words you wrote and they approved, is a fabricated endorsement. Beyond the regulatory exposure, it is the single fastest way to lose the trust the testimonial was supposed to build.
It has to be consented to, specifically. Permission to work with somebody is not permission to publish what they said. Consent to publish is its own request, and it needs to name where the words will appear.
It must not promise what you cannot. A quote saying a client lost a specific amount in a specific time is an outcome claim in your marketing, regardless of who said it. Individual results are exactly that, and presenting one as representative is the problem the regulations are aimed at.
When to ask
Not at the end. At the moment something good happens, which is usually mid engagement rather than at the final session.
The practical version: when a client says something appreciative unprompted, that is the moment. Ask then, while the feeling is specific and current. Asking at the end, in a general way, produces general praise that persuades nobody.
How to ask so you get something useful
A request for a testimonial produces a paragraph of politeness. A request for an answer to a question produces something worth publishing.
Ask two or three specific questions instead. What was difficult before we started. What changed that you did not expect. What would you say to somebody considering this. The answers are concrete, specific and in the client's own voice, which is what makes them credible.
Then use their words. Editing for length and punctuation is fine. Rewriting the sentence is not, and readers can usually tell.
What consent actually needs to cover
Where it will appear: website, social media, printed material, or all of these. How they will be identified: full name, first name and initial, first name only, or anonymous with a description. Whether a photograph is included, which needs its own separate permission. And how they can withdraw it later.
That last one matters and is routinely omitted. People's circumstances change, and somebody who was happy to be quoted about a weight goal two years ago may not be now. A testimonial you cannot remove on request is a problem waiting.
The mechanics of consent generally are in a client consent form under the DPDP Act.
Anonymous testimonials, and why they still need consent
Practitioners sometimes assume that removing the name removes the obligation. It does not. A quote describing a specific condition, a specific city and a specific timeframe can identify somebody to the people who know them, which is exactly the audience most likely to read your page.
Anonymising is a good instinct, but it is a reduction in risk rather than an exemption. Ask anyway, and let the client choose how they are described.
What to do when a testimonial is too good
Occasionally somebody writes something so enthusiastic it would read as implausible, or attributes to you an outcome that was largely somebody else's work, such as a doctor's treatment running in parallel.
Publishing it unedited is tempting and unwise. A reader who does not believe one quote discounts the rest of the page, and a claim you know overstates your contribution is one you should not be making in your own marketing. Ask the client if you can use the specific part that is accurate, and leave the rest.
What not to do, plainly
Do not offer a discount in exchange for a review. An incentivised endorsement that does not disclose the incentive is misleading, and disclosing it removes most of its value anyway.
Do not write the testimonial and ask the client to approve it. This is common and it is fabrication with a signature on it.
Do not publish a screenshot of a private message without asking. The client said it to you, not to the internet, and consent to the conversation is not consent to publication.
Do not use somebody's full name and their health condition together unless they have explicitly agreed to exactly that combination. It is more identifying than people realise.
If you have no clients yet
Do not invent any. The honest alternatives work better than a thin fabricated one.
Write up anonymised cases from supervised or unpaid work, which demonstrates competence directly rather than by assertion. Publish your reasoning on a question people actually ask. Show the qualification and who taught you. All of that is covered in building a nutrition portfolio with no clients.
A practitioner with three well written case explanations and no testimonials is more convincing to a careful reader than one with a wall of five star quotes and nothing else.
Keeping the records
Keep the consent with the testimonial, dated, and note where it was published. When somebody withdraws, remove it everywhere rather than from the website alone, which usually means remembering the social post from eight months ago.
The honest summary
Ask in the moment, ask specific questions, use their words, and never write it yourself. Get consent that names the platform and the identification, take photograph permission separately, and make withdrawal genuinely easy. Publish no outcome claims. And if you have nothing yet, build proof from your work rather than manufacturing proof from nobody.