Communication Lead
When to Use
- Define messaging hierarchy: narrative, pillars, proof points, audience variants
- Plan comms for a launch, reorg, policy change, or transformation
- Draft executive updates, all-hands scripts, company-wide email/Slack posts
- Build crisis or incident message packs (holding lines, customer statements) with approval path
- Align product, sales, and support on what to say (and not say) externally
- Design comms cadence: weekly exec brief, monthly all-hands, incident updates
- Prepare spokesperson talking points and anticipated Q&A
When NOT to Use
- Issue trees, business cases, steerCo slide analysis →
business-consultant
- Technical documentation, runbooks, API reference →
tech-writer-researcher
- Severity model, paging, on-call, postmortem process →
incident-management-engineer
- Outage rollback and deploy tactics →
deployment-strategist, devops
- Individual support ticket responses →
support-engineer
- Marketing campaign creative, paid media, SEO → route to marketing skills if present; stay factual/product-truth aligned here
- Contract, DPA, or legal risk language →
commercial-counsel
- Security control design →
cybersecurity
Related skills
| Need |
Skill |
| Executive deck storyline and business case |
business-consultant |
| Long-form docs and research synthesis |
tech-writer-researcher |
| Incident program, status page workflow |
incident-management-engineer |
| Release rollout and stakeholder brief |
deployment-strategist |
| Cross-team program coordination |
technical-program-manager |
| Developer training and certification programs |
developer-education-lead |
| Customer escalation and ticket comms |
support-engineer |
| Exec/VIP and community escalation program |
community-executive-escalations-program-manager |
| Security incident policy and enterprise IR |
cybersecurity |
| Security advisory and CVD publication |
technical-program-manager-security-cvd |
| Product positioning and UX copy |
product-designer |
| Commercial terms in customer comms |
commercial-counsel |
Core Workflows
1. Messaging framework
For any initiative, define:
- Audience — who must hear, believe, and act
- Objective — one outcome (e.g., adopt, reassure, comply)
- Narrative — 2–3 sentence through-line (problem → direction → ask)
- Key messages — 3–5 bullets, MECE, evidence-backed
- Proof points — metrics, quotes, dates (no unverified claims)
- Guardrails — what not to say; sensitive topics; legal review triggers
See references/messaging_framework.md.
2. Stakeholder and executive comms
| Artifact |
Typical cadence |
Lead with |
| Exec brief |
Weekly |
Decision or risk needing attention |
| SteerCo / leadership update |
Per milestone |
Status vs plan, blockers, asks |
| Board-style summary |
Quarterly |
Outcomes, risks, strategic choices |
Use pyramid structure: recommendation first, then support. Pair with business-consultant when the pack is primarily analytical.
See references/stakeholder_comms.md.
3. Internal communications
- All-hands — 30–45 min arc: context, wins, priorities, Q&A
- Change — why, what changes for whom, timeline, support channels
- Manager cascade — toolkit: email template, FAQ, office hours
Sequence: leaders briefed first → company announcement → team Q&A.
See references/internal_comms.md.
4. External communications
Align with product truth and legal review for:
- Customer email, in-app banners, changelog
- Partner or investor-facing notes (when approved)
- Blog or press statement (factual, attributable quotes only)
Never promise dates or features not shipped; coordinate with deployment-strategist for launch timing.
See references/external_comms.md.
5. Crisis and incident messaging
Separate process (incident-management-engineer) from words:
- Confirm facts with incident commander; no speculation
- Draft internal holding line → customer status → follow-up cadence
- Route legal/comms/security approval per severity
- Single source of truth doc; version messages
See references/crisis_comms.md.
6. Launch communications
| Phase |
Comms focus |
| T-4 weeks |
Internal preview, enablement, FAQ |
| T-1 week |
Sales/support talk tracks |
| Launch |
Coordinated send: email, blog, in-app, social (if approved) |
| T+1 week |
Metrics, feedback loop, correction if needed |
See references/launch_comms.md.
Output standards
- One primary CTA per message
- Plain language; define acronyms once
- Accessible formatting (headings, short paragraphs)
- Version and timestamp on crisis or incident drafts
- Flag
[LEGAL REVIEW], [EXEC APPROVAL] where required
When to load references
- Messaging hierarchy →
references/messaging_framework.md
- Exec and leadership updates →
references/stakeholder_comms.md
- All-hands and change →
references/internal_comms.md
- Customer and public →
references/external_comms.md
- Incident statements →
references/crisis_comms.md
- Feature or initiative launch →
references/launch_comms.md
1---2name: communication-lead3description: Guides communications leadership—messaging strategy, narrative and key-message development, stakeholder and executive comms cadence, internal announcements (all-hands, change, crisis), external customer and partner messaging, launch and incident communication plans, channel selection, approval workflows, and spokesperson/Q&A prep. Use when planning org-wide comms, drafting executive or company-wide messages, aligning narratives across teams, designing change or crisis communications, or preparing launch announcements—not for management consulting deliverables (business-consultant), API/docs/runbooks (tech-writer-researcher), on-call/paging/SEV program design (incident-management-engineer), single-ticket customer replies (support-engineer), exec/community escalation program (community-executive-escalations-program-manager), developer training programs (developer-education-lead), or legal contract language (commercial-counsel).4---56# Communication Lead78## When to Use910- Define messaging hierarchy: narrative, pillars, proof points, audience variants11- Plan comms for a launch, reorg, policy change, or transformation12- Draft executive updates, all-hands scripts, company-wide email/Slack posts13- Build crisis or incident **message** packs (holding lines, customer statements) with approval path14- Align product, sales, and support on what to say (and not say) externally15- Design comms cadence: weekly exec brief, monthly all-hands, incident updates16- Prepare spokesperson talking points and anticipated Q&A1718## When NOT to Use1920- Issue trees, business cases, steerCo slide **analysis** → `business-consultant`21- Technical documentation, runbooks, API reference → `tech-writer-researcher`22- Severity model, paging, on-call, postmortem **process** → `incident-management-engineer`23- Outage rollback and deploy tactics → `deployment-strategist`, `devops`24- Individual support ticket responses → `support-engineer`25- Marketing campaign creative, paid media, SEO → route to marketing skills if present; stay factual/product-truth aligned here26- Contract, DPA, or legal risk language → `commercial-counsel`27- Security control design → `cybersecurity`2829## Related skills3031| Need | Skill |32|---|---|33| Executive deck storyline and business case | `business-consultant` |34| Long-form docs and research synthesis | `tech-writer-researcher` |35| Incident program, status page workflow | `incident-management-engineer` |36| Release rollout and stakeholder brief | `deployment-strategist` |37| Cross-team program coordination | `technical-program-manager` |38| Developer training and certification programs | `developer-education-lead` |39| Customer escalation and ticket comms | `support-engineer` |40| Exec/VIP and community escalation program | `community-executive-escalations-program-manager` |41| Security incident policy and enterprise IR | `cybersecurity` |42| Security advisory and CVD publication | `technical-program-manager-security-cvd` |43| Product positioning and UX copy | `product-designer` |44| Commercial terms in customer comms | `commercial-counsel` |4546## Core Workflows4748### 1. Messaging framework4950For any initiative, define:51521. **Audience** — who must hear, believe, and act532. **Objective** — one outcome (e.g., adopt, reassure, comply)543. **Narrative** — 2–3 sentence through-line (problem → direction → ask)554. **Key messages** — 3–5 bullets, MECE, evidence-backed565. **Proof points** — metrics, quotes, dates (no unverified claims)576. **Guardrails** — what not to say; sensitive topics; legal review triggers5859**See `references/messaging_framework.md`.**6061### 2. Stakeholder and executive comms6263| Artifact | Typical cadence | Lead with |64|---|---|---|65| Exec brief | Weekly | Decision or risk needing attention |66| SteerCo / leadership update | Per milestone | Status vs plan, blockers, asks |67| Board-style summary | Quarterly | Outcomes, risks, strategic choices |6869Use pyramid structure: recommendation first, then support. Pair with `business-consultant` when the pack is primarily analytical.7071**See `references/stakeholder_comms.md`.**7273### 3. Internal communications7475- **All-hands** — 30–45 min arc: context, wins, priorities, Q&A76- **Change** — why, what changes for whom, timeline, support channels77- **Manager cascade** — toolkit: email template, FAQ, office hours7879Sequence: leaders briefed first → company announcement → team Q&A.8081**See `references/internal_comms.md`.**8283### 4. External communications8485Align with product truth and legal review for:8687- Customer email, in-app banners, changelog88- Partner or investor-facing notes (when approved)89- Blog or press statement (factual, attributable quotes only)9091Never promise dates or features not shipped; coordinate with `deployment-strategist` for launch timing.9293**See `references/external_comms.md`.**9495### 5. Crisis and incident messaging9697Separate **process** (`incident-management-engineer`) from **words**:98991. Confirm facts with incident commander; no speculation1002. Draft internal holding line → customer status → follow-up cadence1013. Route legal/comms/security approval per severity1024. Single source of truth doc; version messages103104**See `references/crisis_comms.md`.**105106### 6. Launch communications107108| Phase | Comms focus |109|---|---|110| T-4 weeks | Internal preview, enablement, FAQ |111| T-1 week | Sales/support talk tracks |112| Launch | Coordinated send: email, blog, in-app, social (if approved) |113| T+1 week | Metrics, feedback loop, correction if needed |114115**See `references/launch_comms.md`.**116117## Output standards118119- One **primary CTA** per message120- Plain language; define acronyms once121- Accessible formatting (headings, short paragraphs)122- Version and timestamp on crisis or incident drafts123- Flag `[LEGAL REVIEW]`, `[EXEC APPROVAL]` where required124125## When to load references126127- **Messaging hierarchy** → `references/messaging_framework.md`128- **Exec and leadership updates** → `references/stakeholder_comms.md`129- **All-hands and change** → `references/internal_comms.md`130- **Customer and public** → `references/external_comms.md`131- **Incident statements** → `references/crisis_comms.md`132- **Feature or initiative launch** → `references/launch_comms.md`
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