# Storytelling

> Guides organizational and business storytelling—narrative structure (setup, tension, resolution), audience-tailored stories for executives, customers, boards, and teams, honest data and metrics framing, product and strategy narratives, incident and postmortem storytelling, and actuarial or insurance risk narratives for non-technical audiences. Covers story spine, key messages, and visual or slide narrative outlines. Use when the user says "tell the story", "storytelling", "narrative for executives", "data story", "board presentation narrative", "explain with a story", "story arc", "key message", "compelling narrative", "pitch story", or "incident story"—not cross-department reframing only (cross-department-translation), company-wide comms cadence and crisis wording packs (communication-lead), long-form creative fiction or screenwriting, brand copy without strategy context, or technical documentation and API reference (tech-writer-researcher).

- Skill: `daemon-blockint-tech/storytelling` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add daemon-blockint-tech/storytelling`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/daemon-blockint-tech/storytelling/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: daemon-blockint-tech (https://skillmd.com/u/daemon-blockint-tech)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/daemon-blockint-tech/storytelling

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# 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`