storytelling

Storytelling

When to Use

• Shape a story spine (setup → tension → resolution) for a decision, launch, or change
• Tailor the same facts into executive, board, customer, or team narratives
• Build a data story with honest framing, context, and uncertainty
• Draft product or strategy narratives that connect problem, choice, and proof
• Turn incidents or postmortems into blameless, actionable stories
• Explain actuarial or insurance risk to non-technical stakeholders without diluting rigor
• Outline slide or visual narrative flow (section purpose, not final design)
• Distill key messages (3–5 MECE bullets) aligned to one audience and one ask

When NOT to Use

• Reframe jargon or produce dual-audience briefs without building narrative arc → cross-department-translation
• Org-wide messaging hierarchy, launch/crisis wording packs, or comms cadence → communication-lead
• Issue trees, business cases, or steerCo analysis as the primary deliverable → business-consultant
• API docs, runbooks, tutorials, or information architecture → tech-writer-researcher
• Long-form creative fiction, screenplays, or character-driven prose
• Brand voice, campaign creative, or marketing copy without strategic narrative framing → route to marketing or brand skills if present; pair with communication-lead for approved external lines
• Legal contract language, regulatory filings, or compliance attestation narratives → commercial-counsel, compliance-engineer, actuarial-consulting as appropriate

Related skills

Need	Skill
Cross-functional reframing and dual-audience briefs	cross-department-translation
Company narrative consistency across stakeholders	communication-lead
Strategy options, business case, steerCo analysis	business-consultant
Long-form research synthesis and technical docs	tech-writer-researcher
Actuarial methods, reserves, regulatory deliverables	actuary, actuarial-consulting
Incident program, severity, paging, postmortem process	incident-management-engineer
Product positioning and UX copy	product-designer

Core Workflows

1. Clarify audience, ask, and proof

Before drafting, lock:

Field	Question
Audience	Who must understand, believe, or act?
Ask	One decision or behavior change
Stakes	What happens if they misunderstand?
Proof	Metrics, examples, quotes (verified only)
Constraints	Legal, competitive, or timing guardrails

If the task is only vocabulary translation, route to cross-department-translation.

See references/storytelling_scope_and_principles.md.

2. Build the story spine

Use a single through-line:

1. Setup — context the audience already accepts
2. Tension — gap, risk, or opportunity (named clearly)
3. Turn — insight, decision, or intervention
4. Resolution — outcome, next step, or open question (honest)

Derive 3–5 key messages from the spine; each message needs one proof point.

See references/narrative_structure_and_arcs.md.

3. Tune register and channel

Match depth, jargon, and tone to audience and medium (live talk, memo, deck, status page).

See references/audience_and_register.md.

4. Tell the data story

Lead with the so what; show trend and comparison; state uncertainty; avoid chartjunk narratives.

See references/data_and_metrics_storytelling.md.

5. Executive, board, and strategy stories

Pyramid the recommendation; separate decision from appendix; pre-empt predictable objections.

See references/executive_board_and_strategy_stories.md.

6. Incident, change, and actuarial narratives

Blameless incident arcs; change stories with empathy and timeline; risk stories with ranges and drivers—not false precision.

See references/incident_change_and_actuarial_narratives.md.

Output standards

• One primary ask per story; secondary asks subordinate
• Plain language; define acronyms once per artifact
• No fabricated quotes, metrics, or causation
• Label estimates, scenarios, and confidence explicitly
• For slides: section intent + headline + 1–2 supporting bullets (not full visual design)
• Version and timestamp incident or crisis story drafts

When to load references

• Scope, ethics, boundaries → references/storytelling_scope_and_principles.md
• Arcs, spine, key messages → references/narrative_structure_and_arcs.md
• Audience and register → references/audience_and_register.md
• Metrics and charts as narrative → references/data_and_metrics_storytelling.md
• Exec, board, strategy, pitch → references/executive_board_and_strategy_stories.md
• Incident, change, actuarial risk → references/incident_change_and_actuarial_narratives.md