Building a Story That Will Stick
1. Building a Story That Will Stick
Up to now, we've used AI to support our research and analysis. In this video, we'll shift to the client delivery phase: building effective client-ready narratives for decision-makers.2. Example: Digital Transformation Program
Imagine that we're advising a large company rolling out a digital transformation program: new tools for sales and operations, new workflows, and new reporting dashboards.3. Example: Digital Transformation Program
The pilots are promising, but adoption is uneven and there's growing resistance in some parts of the organization.4. Ready for Client Delivery!
At this stage, all research and analysis is complete. We have survey data, adoption metrics, interview notes, and performance indicators from the pilots. Now the executive sponsor is asking for a story that can be used at the steering committee.5. Ready for Client Delivery!
Our task is to turn all that analysis into a client-ready narrative that explains why change is needed, what the transformation will achieve, and how people will be supported throughout the journey.6. Ready for Client Delivery!
Let's say the key insights from our research and analysis are that satisfaction is high in some areas but low and frustrating in others; adoption is strong in one region and significantly weaker in another; managers are reporting a lack of practical training, and only high-adoption teams are seeing meaningful improvements.7. Ready for Client Delivery!
If we pasted all of this into a client deck, it would be overwhelming. The goal of a client-ready narrative is to extract a small set of clear and actionable messages focused on business impact. This is where AI can help.8. Finding the Key Messages
In Copilot, we can bring together a summary of our research findings and ask it to generate key messages suitable for a client-ready change management story. We've attached our analysis results for the model to use, and everything is ready to go! The model suggests several key messages, and links them with the data we attached so we can trace everything from source to claim. It's important not to accept these messages blindly. We need to review each one and adjust the wording to ensure it's factually correct and aligned with our judgment and the data. Remember, this is an iterative process—each step builds on the previous one, which is essential when transforming completed analysis into client-ready narratives.9. Building the Narrative
Now we iterate further. We take the key messages from step one and turn them into a clear story for the steering committee. We'll use the SCQA framework, which stands for Situation, Complication, Question, and Answer. This structure helps create sharp and engaging narratives. With this prompt, the model no longer produces a list of data points. It generates a client-ready storyline that clearly explains the Situation, the Complication, the Question, and the Answer.10. Reviewing the Narrative
Once we have the first storyline, we can use AI as a critical reviewer to strengthen it further. We paste the draft into Copilot and ask it to identify logical gaps, weak transitions, and missing links between the findings and recommendations. Each pass improves the narrative for the intended audience. We can effectively see how AI reviews the content and proposes an improved storyline with clearer transitions and stronger supporting evidence.11. Tailoring Wording for the Audience
Even with a solid storyline, the messaging may still be too technical or not aligned with what senior stakeholders need. AI can help refine the wording and adjust the angle while keeping the core substance intact.12. Tailoring Wording for the Audience
For example, a narrative written for the steering committee can be adapted into an email for all middle managers with a tailored prompt. When changing audiences, it's important to ensure the language fits the client culture, that no new facts are introduced, and that the key messages remain consistent across formats.13. Let's practice!
Now it's your turn to begin creating effective client-ready narratives!Create Your Free Account
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