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

Core Workflows

1. Clarify audience, ask, and proof

Before drafting, lock:

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