Build and maintain one coherent company story across all audiences — employees, investors, customers, candidates, and partners. Detects narrative contradicti...
One company. Many audiences. Same truth — different lenses. Narrative inconsistency is trust erosion. This skill builds and maintains coherent communication across every stakeholder group.
narrative, company story, internal communication, investor update, all-hands, board communication, crisis communication, messaging, storytelling, narrative consistency, audience translation, founder narrative, employee communication, candidate narrative, partner communication
The same fact lands differently depending on who hears it and what they need.
"We're shifting resources from Product A to Product B" means:
Same fact. Four different narratives needed. The skill is maintaining truth while serving each audience's actual question.
One paragraph that every other communication derives from. This is the source of truth.
Core narrative template:
[Company name] exists to [mission — present tense, specific]. We're building [what you're building] because [the problem you're solving]. Our approach is [your unique way of doing this]. We're at [honest description of current state] and heading toward [where you're going in concrete terms].
Good core narrative (example):
Acme Health exists to reduce preventable falls in elderly care using smartphone-based mobility analysis. We're building an AI diagnostic tool for care teams because current fall risk assessments are subjective, infrequent, and often wrong. Our approach — using the phone's camera during a 10-second walking test — means no new hardware, no specialist required. We have 80 care facilities in DACH paying us €800K ARR, and we're heading to €3M ARR by demonstrating clinical value at scale before our Series B.
Bad core narrative:
Acme Health is an innovative AI company revolutionizing elderly care through cutting-edge technology that empowers care providers and improves patient outcomes across the continuum of care.
The good version is usable. The bad version says nothing.
Take the core narrative and translate it for each audience. Same truth, different frame.
| Fact | Employees need to hear | Investors need to hear | Customers need to hear | Candidates need to hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We have 80 customers | "We've proven the model — your work matters" | "Product-market fit signal, capital efficient" | "80 care facilities trust us" | "Traction you'd be joining" |
| We pivoted from hardware | "We were honest enough to change course" | "Capital-efficient pivot to better unit economics" | "We found a faster, simpler way to serve you" | "We make decisions based on evidence, not ego" |
| We missed Q2 revenue | "Here's why, here's the plan, here's what you can do" | "Revenue mix shifted — trailing indicator improving" | [Usually don't tell customers revenue misses] | [Usually not shared externally] |
| We're hiring fast | "The team is growing — your network matters" | "Headcount plan aligned to growth" | [Not relevant unless it affects service] | "This is a rocket ship moment" |
Rules:
Before any major communication, run the contradiction check:
Question 1: What did we tell investors last month about [topic]? Question 2: What did we tell employees about the same topic? Question 3: Are these consistent? If not — which version is true?
Common contradictions:
When you catch a contradiction: Fix the less accurate version, then communicate the correction explicitly. "Last month I said X. After more reflection, X is not quite right. Here's the clearer version."
Correcting yourself before someone else catches it builds more trust than getting caught.
| Audience | Format | Frequency | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employees | All-hands | Monthly | CEO |
| Employees | Team updates | Weekly | Team leads |
| Investors | Written update | Monthly | CEO + CFO |
| Board | Board meeting + memo | Quarterly | CEO |
| Customers | Product updates | Per release | CPO / CS |
| Candidates | Careers page + interview narrative | Ongoing | CHRO + Founders |
| Partners | Quarterly business review | Quarterly | BD Lead |
See templates/all-hands-template.md for the full template.
Principles:
All-hands failure modes:
When the narrative breaks — someone leaves publicly, a product fails, a security breach, a press article.
The 4-hour rule: If something is public or about to be, communicate internally within 4 hours. Employees should never learn about company news from Twitter.
Crisis communication sequence:
Hour 0–4 (internal first):
Hour 4–24 (external if needed):
What not to do in a crisis:
Template for crisis internal communication:
"Here's what happened: [factual description]. Here's what we know right now: [known facts]. Here's what we don't know yet: [honest uncertainty]. Here's what we're doing: [specific actions]. Here's what you should do if you're asked about this: [specific guidance]. I'll update you by [specific time] with more information."
Run before any major external communication:
| When... | Work with... | To... |
|---|---|---|
| Investor update prep | CFO | Align financial narrative with company narrative |
| Reorg or leadership change | CHRO + CEO | Sequence: employees first, then external |
| Product pivot | CPO | Align customer communication with investor story |
| Culture change | Culture Architect | Ensure internal story is consistent with external employer brand |
| M&A or partnership | CEO + COO | Control information flow, prevent narrative leaks |
| Crisis | All C-suite | Single voice, consistent story, internal first |
references/narrative-frameworks.md — Storytelling structures, founder narrative, bad news delivery, all-hands templatestemplates/all-hands-template.md — All-hands presentation templateZIP package — ready to use