The problem with key messages: why organisations need a story, not another list

Most organisations don't have a shortage of key messages. They have too many of them. I've sat through plenty of conversations where the solution to a communications problem has been to create another set of messages.

Three key messages become six. Six become twelve. Then come the supporting messages, proof points, FAQs and supplementary guidance. Before long, everyone has a very comprehensive document. And nobody can remember what they're supposed to say.

When messages become the problem

Don't get me wrong. Key messages are useful. They help organisations communicate consistently, particularly when dealing with complicated subjects or organisational change.

But there's a danger in treating the creation of key messages as the end of the process, rather than part of it. A document containing twelve carefully approved statements might be accurate, comprehensive and entirely forgettable. Because a list of messages isn't a story.

Imagine an organisation embarking on a major programme of change. It might have messages about new technology, investment, efficiency, better services and new ways of working. Each message makes sense on its own.

But how do they connect? What's the bigger picture? Why is the change happening? And what does it mean for the people whose working lives, services or communities will be affected?

Without answers to those questions, communications can become a series of disconnected announcements.

Giving the messages somewhere to live

A strategic narrative provides the connecting thread. It explains where an organisation has come from, what's changing, why it matters and where people fit into the story.

It gives leaders something they can actually talk about, rather than a document they have to memorise. It gives campaigns a common purpose. It helps communicators make decisions about what deserves attention and what doesn't.

And, crucially, it gives audiences a better chance of understanding and remembering what's being said. That doesn't mean turning every corporate announcement into a dramatic tale with heroes, villains and a thrilling conclusion. It means recognising that people make sense of the world through connections, context and meaning.

An idea that has stayed with me

In 2021, I co-wrote an article with my brilliant former colleague Jude Tipper about creating key messages and strategic narratives. Our piece, How to create key messages and a strategic narrative, subsequently won Best Guest Post of the Year at the comms2point0 UnAwards. It was lovely recognition for work we'd developed together at NHS Digital, but the principle behind the article has stayed with me far longer than the award.

Good communications doesn't begin with asking, “What do we want to tell people?” It begins with understanding what we're trying to achieve, what matters to our audiences and how the different elements fit together.

The key messages follow from that, not the other way round.

Finding the story

When I work with organisations on communications strategy and storytelling, I keep coming back to four questions:

• What's happening?

• Why does it matter?

• What are we trying to change?

• Where do people fit into it?

The answers won't always be straightforward. Sometimes they expose gaps in the thinking, competing priorities or assumptions that haven't been properly tested. That's part of their value. Because organisations don't just need to decide what they want to say. They need to understand the story they're trying to tell.

And that's a distinction at the heart of Andrew Kirby Storytelling.

Further reading: How to create key messages and a strategic narrative — by Andy Kirby and Jude Tipper, comms2point0, September 2021.