Do NDAs work? That question is the subject of this Short video for business owners, partners and anyone about to share private information under an NDA. Is that NDA and confidentiality agreement truly protecting you?
This video first went up on YouTube on April 19, 2025. The written post was added on October 28, 2026.
Do NDAs Work, and What Makes One Hold Up?
Do NDAs work, and can they hold up in court? An NDA can work when it is written correctly, with the right elements in the right place, while many template boilerplate NDAs may be simple and vague, in Loren Weisman’s view.
- A template boilerplate NDA can be simple and vague, and may not be worth the paper it is printed on.
- A clear NDA can spell out what can be heard, what can be shared, what cannot, and what happens if the working relationship ends.
- An NDA signed while partners are friends may still need to protect them if they became enemies.
- A person who claims NDAs do not work may not be someone to share private information with.
- A personalized NDA can make room for clients to share more than the highlights they want known.
Do NDAs Work: The Full Transcription
Why I Need Transparency
Is that NDA and confidentiality agreement truly protecting you? My name is Loren Weisman. I’m a brand communications and optics strategist. And in what I do inside of communications for companies and individuals, I need to know a lot, I need a lot of transparency.
If I don’t have that, I can’t put out the plan. I can’t build a foundation of messaging, of columns, of looking at optics, of looking at plans and strategies if you’re only choosing to share the highlights of the things you want to have known.
What My NDA Covers
So in that it means, hey, you might have to reveal some things that you don’t necessarily want out there in the public. Now, under my NDA and my confidentiality agreement, it sets a clear precedent and it’s a personalized and customized one that, you know, what I have the what I can hear, what you can hear, what would be shared, what wouldn’t be shared, what happens if we break apart?
All of that is secured there. Make sure that whether it’s with someone like me, with my NDA that’s already there, or someone else that’s saying, let’s sign an NDA that it’s clear and concise.
Template NDAs and Whether NDAs Work
Many of these template boilerplate NDAs are not worth the paper they’re printed on. It’s simple, it’s vague, and it’s something that won’t hold up in court. Some of these people say NDAs don’t work anymore.
They do if they’re written correctly, if they have the right elements in the right place. And if someone’s stating, oh, NDA doesn’t work with this, or it doesn’t work, then maybe that’s not something you want to share with that person.
Covering Everything Before You Share
Protect yourself, protect your vision, realize the people that you have to be fully transparent with. And at the same time, as you sign these NDAs, think about it of going, I’m revealing and I’m sharing all this stuff, but make sure in that NDA everything is covered.
That while you’re best of friends right now and opening up opportunities, investments, partnerships, does this also cover if you were to become worst of enemies? Protect yourself, protect your vision, protect your works by taking the time and the attention to detail to make sure documentation is crystal clean and clear when it comes to the proprietary information and ideas that you have.
Protecting What You Share in My Talks
The protection, stability, security and rights to the content you share.
Questions and Answers
Why do some NDAs fail to protect you?
Many NDAs may fail because they are template boilerplate documents that are simple and vague. An agreement like that may not hold up in court, so the protection a person thinks they have may not be there.
What does a clear NDA cover?
A clear NDA can cover what each side can hear, what can be shared, what cannot be shared, and what happens if the parties break apart. It can also protect your ideas if today’s friends became tomorrow’s enemies, as Loren Weisman sees it.
Why would a consultant ask you to sign an NDA?
A consultant in communications work may need full transparency from clients, including things they may not want public. Messaging, optics and strategy plans can be hard to build from only the highlights, and a personalized NDA can set clear terms for what is heard and what stays private.
More Videos and the Podcast
- Brand Comms and Ops: All Things Considered Shorts on YouTube
- Loren Weisman Video Shorts on YouTube: 20 More
- Wait What Really OK podcast
Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts.
Weisman is the host of the brand communications and optics podcast Wait What Really OK.
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Do NDAs Work? When They Are Written Correctly