comms-plan

Communications Plan

Design the communication strategy for a product story. Maps every relevant audience, adapts the story for each, selects the right format and channel, plans the pre-sell sequence, and prepares the PM for both proactive and reactive storytelling situations.

When to Use

• After building a story: The story structure and content exist — now the PM needs a plan to land it
• Before a big pitch: Need to orchestrate the sequence of conversations that leads to a successful leadership decision
• Cross-functional alignment: Need to get multiple teams on board with different motivations
• Standalone: The PM already knows their story but needs help with the communication strategy

Core Insight: Communication > Content

How a PM communicates their story is a stronger predictor of success than the content of the story itself. Good communication can overcome story shortcomings. Bad communication can kill a great story. The most common reason PMs fail to get buy-in is not that their idea was wrong — it's that they treated the pitch as a single event instead of an orchestrated sequence.

Process

Step 1: Gather Context

Ask the PM for:

• The story: What initiative are they communicating? (If a story-builder document exists in workspace, offer to pull from it.)
• The goal: What outcome does the PM need? (Approval, resources, alignment, dependency unlocked, team motivation)
• The timeline: When does this need to land? Is there a specific meeting or review date?
• Current state: Has anyone already heard this story? What's the starting point?
• Output format: What format for the final document? (docx, md, or pdf). Default: docx.

Step 2: Map All Audiences

Help the PM identify every audience that matters. For each audience, capture:

Audience identification:

• Who specifically? (Names and roles, not just "leadership")
• What do you need from them? (Be precise: approval, headcount, prioritization, execution, advocacy)

Audience understanding — for each person or group, assess five dimensions:

1. Context: What's their current situation? Under pressure? Exceeding goals? Going through reorg? Stressed or confident?

2. Goals: What are they personally trying to achieve? What metrics are they measured on? What do they care about most?

3. Relationship to the story: Where are they right now?

   • Involved: They have context, know the current state, have been part of decisions
   • Informed: They know the team exists and roughly what it's doing
   • Invisible: They don't know about this initiative at all

4. Relationship to PM and team: Trust level? Working relationship history? Any unresolved tensions?

5. Communication style: Do they prefer details or summaries? Written docs or live presentations? Pre-reads or live discussion? Data-heavy or narrative-heavy?

Three audience categories:

Leadership audience — People who control approval, resources, and strategic direction.

• Key question: Who are the gatekeepers? (The most opinionated leaders who most directly control the approval and resourcing of this initiative.)
• If PM isn't sure, suggest: look at the org chart, start with your direct management chain plus leaders of any dependent teams.

Team audience — People who will execute the work.

• Key question: Do you need alignment only, or do you also need motivation and inspiration?
• Goal is not just getting the team to do the work, but getting them to own the mission. The difference between a team that executes a spec and a team that brings creative energy and urgency to a problem is the difference between mercenaries and missionaries.

Dependent stakeholder audience — People outside your direct team whose cooperation you need.

• Key question: What exactly do you need from each stakeholder, and how does your story connect to their goals?
• These are the hardest audiences because you have the least natural influence over them.

Step 3: Adapt the Story for Each Audience

The core story stays the same. What changes is emphasis, detail level, and framing.

For leadership:

What they need to hear:

• It's aligned: Connect explicitly to company strategy and leadership's stated goals. Don't assume they'll make the connection — spell it out.
• The customer problem is real: Show evidence that this is a real, significant problem worth solving. Use data and research, not opinions.
• It's valuable to the business: Size the opportunity. What's the ROI? What's the expected impact on the metrics they track?
• It's achievable: How much will it cost? How long until results? What resources are needed?

Adapt the ask: Make it specific to what you need from leadership — approval, budget amount, headcount, strategic priority decision.

Communication style: Lead with an executive summary (elevator pitch), have a pre-read with details available, focus live discussion time on the ask and their questions. Don't bury the ask at the end of a 30-minute presentation.

For teams:

What they need to hear:

• Why this matters: Connect to company goals briefly, but spend more time on why this is the right mission for this team
• What changes: Be specific about what gets deprioritized and what's new. Give the team time to react.
• The customer's reality: Share the emotional, human side of the story. Customer quotes, journey maps, real user pain. This is what turns a roadmap item into a mission.
• Their role: Why is this team uniquely positioned to solve this problem?

Adapt the ask: What you need from the team — not just execution, but ideation, creative problem-solving, ownership.

Communication style: Teams usually want time to discuss, ask questions, and process. Workshops, team sessions, and collaborative formats work better than one-way presentations. Quick context on strategy, then deep dive on the problem and the plan.

For dependent stakeholders:

What they need to hear:

• Goal alignment: How does your story connect to their goals? Use their language, connect to their metrics.
• The specific ask: What exactly do you need from their team? Alignment, a milestone, a deliverable, collaboration on an idea?
• The execution context: How and why does the dependency matter? Show you've done your homework.
• You've done your part: Show what your team is delivering. Make it clear you're not just dumping work on them.

Adapt the ask: Be precise — "We need your team to deliver the API by March 15" not "We need engineering support."

Communication style: Varies widely. For their leadership, use pre-sell methods. For their teams, include them in planning workshops. For stakeholders who just need to stay informed, use async updates.

Step 4: Plan the Pre-Sell Sequence

The pitch meeting should be the final step, not the first. When the PM gets to the formal pitch, every decision-maker in the room should already understand and support the story. The pitch is confirmation, not persuasion.

Why pre-selling works: When leaders encounter an idea for the first time in a group setting, they naturally pressure-test and ask tough questions. When multiple leaders do this simultaneously, they can undermine each other's confidence. Pre-selling lets each leader ask their questions privately, get answers, and arrive at the group meeting already aligned.

Four pre-sell methods (from most to least intensive):

1. Co-creation

• What: Work with the leader to build the story together
• When to use: The leader is highly important to the decision AND is currently against or neutral on the idea
• How to prepare: Come with ideas and 30-50% of the story at low fidelity. Leave room for them to shape it.
• Why it works: People naturally support ideas they feel ownership of

2. Feedback

• What: Share the story and ask for their input to make it stronger
• When to use: The leader is moderately important AND is neutral or mildly supportive
• How to prepare: Have 50-75% of the story ready. Don't wait until it's finished — you need room to incorporate their feedback.
• Why it works: Invests the leader in the outcome, especially when they see their feedback reflected in the final version

3. Advice

• What: Ask the leader for advice on how to best present this to the broader leadership team
• When to use: The leader is less central to the decision but still influential, OR you don't have a strong relationship yet
• How to prepare: Have 80%+ of the story at higher fidelity so they can fully grasp it
• Why it works: Gives context without demanding much from them. They become invested in your success because they want their advice to pay off.

4. Pre-read

• What: Send the complete story for async review before the pitch meeting
• When to use: The leader is supportive or unlikely to oppose, OR you can't get their time
• How to prepare: 95-100% complete and polished. This IS the final product.
• Why it works: Lowest barrier. At minimum, ensures no one is blindsided at the pitch meeting.

Choosing the right method for each leader:

Map each leader on two axes:

• Importance to the decision: How much do they control the outcome?
• Current stance: Supportive, neutral, or opposed?

	Supportive	Neutral	Opposed
High importance	Feedback or Advice	Co-creation or Feedback	Co-creation
Medium importance	Pre-read or Advice	Feedback or Advice	Feedback
Low importance	Pre-read	Pre-read	Advice

Step 5: Choose Format and Channel

Formats — how the story is packaged:

Format	Best for	Strengths	Watch out for
Presentation (slides)	Leadership pitches, team kickoffs	Visual, structured, shareable	Can feel one-directional
Written document (one-pager, memo)	Pre-reads, async alignment, complex stories	Detailed, reviewable, forces clarity	Some audiences won't read it
Video	Async storytelling, broad audiences	Emotional, personal, scalable	High production effort, hard to iterate
Conversation (no docs)	1:1 pre-sells, early stage ideas	Casual, flexible, builds relationship	No artifact for others to reference
Design/diagram (whiteboard, Miro)	Workshops, team exploration	Collaborative, visual	Can feel unfinished to leadership

Channels — where and how the story is delivered:

Channel	Best for	Strengths	Watch out for
Large meeting	Final pitch, broad alignment	Everyone hears the same thing	Hard to have real discussion
Small meeting	Pre-sells, focused decisions	Real discussion, relationship building	Limited reach
1:1	Pre-sells with key leaders	Deep, personal, trust-building	Time-intensive
Email / Slack	Informing, pre-reads, updates	Async, low-friction	Easy to ignore, no discussion
Workshop	Team alignment, co-creation	Collaborative, deep engagement	Time-intensive, needs facilitation

Selection guide: Match format and channel to the audience and the phase.

For leadership pitch: Pre-read (written) → small meeting pre-sells (1:1 or small group) → final pitch (large meeting with slides)

For team alignment: Presentation or workshop for kickoff → ongoing updates via Slack/email → workshops for planning

For dependent stakeholders: 1:1 or small meetings for key dependencies → email/Slack for informed stakeholders → include in planning workshops if they have execution responsibilities

Follow company culture. If the company is meeting-heavy, don't fight it — work within it. If the company prefers written docs, lead with a memo.

Step 6: Build the Communication Sequence

Help the PM create a timeline that sequences all pre-sells, team communications, and stakeholder outreach leading up to the decision point.

The sequence should:

• Start with the people whose buy-in you need most (or who are hardest to convince)
• Leave enough time between pre-sell conversations and the final pitch for the PM to incorporate feedback
• Ensure no one important is blindsided at the final meeting
• Include a plan for communicating the outcome (whether it's approved or not)

Step 7: Prepare for Reactive Storytelling

Not all storytelling is planned. The PM will get asked about this initiative in hallways, Slack threads, and meetings they didn't expect. Help them prepare:

The elevator pitch: 30-second version that covers character, problem, result, action, ask. Should feel natural, not rehearsed. (Pull from story-builder document if available.)

3-5 talking points: The key messages that the PM always comes back to, regardless of the question. These are the anchors.

Pre-built Q&A: The 5-7 toughest questions someone might ask, with prepared answers:

• How does this connect to company goals?
• How did you validate the opportunity?
• What other options did you consider?
• Why now?
• What does this displace?
• What's the risk if we don't do this?
• What's the cost?

Reactive techniques:

• If you know the answer: speak up, hit your talking points, answer the question directly
• If you don't know the answer: acknowledge the question, bridge back to your talking points, commit to following up — and actually follow up
• If you're surprised-pitched (asked to present unexpectedly): use the elevator pitch, offer to follow up with the full story and documentation

Step 8: Generate the Communications Plan

Produce the document in the user's chosen format (default: docx). If docx, use the docx skill. If pdf, use the pdf skill. If md, write as markdown. Use the following structure:

# Communications Plan: [Initiative Name]
Date: [date]
Target decision date: [when]
Author: [PM name]

## Goal
[What outcome is this communications plan designed to achieve?]

## Audiences

### Leadership
| Person | Role | Importance | Current Stance | Pre-sell Method | Timing |
|--------|------|------------|----------------|-----------------|--------|
| [name] | [role] | High/Med/Low | Supportive/Neutral/Opposed | Co-creation/Feedback/Advice/Pre-read | [date] |

Key adaptation notes:
- [What leadership needs to hear that's different from other audiences]
- [Specific goals/metrics to connect to]

### Team
| Team/Person | What you need from them | Current relationship to story |
|-------------|------------------------|------------------------------|
| [name] | [alignment/execution/ideation] | [involved/informed/invisible] |

Key adaptation notes:
- [What the team needs to hear]
- [How to frame what changes for them]

### Dependent Stakeholders
| Stakeholder | What you need | Their goal connection | Pre-sell method |
|-------------|---------------|----------------------|-----------------|
| [name/team] | [specific need] | [how it helps their goals] | [method] |

## Communication Sequence

### Phase 1: Pre-sell ([dates])
1. [date] — [person] — [method] — [format] — [goal of this conversation]
2. [date] — [person] — [method] — [format] — [goal]

### Phase 2: Pitch ([date])
- Format: [slides / memo / etc.]
- Channel: [meeting type]
- Attendees: [who]
- Goal: [what decision you want]

### Phase 3: Post-decision ([dates])
- Team communication: [how and when]
- Stakeholder communication: [how and when]
- Broader org communication: [if applicable]

## Format & Channel Choices
| Audience | Format | Channel | Rationale |
|----------|--------|---------|-----------|
| [audience] | [format] | [channel] | [why this combination] |

## Reactive Storytelling Prep

### Elevator Pitch
[30-second version]

### Talking Points
1. [key message 1]
2. [key message 2]
3. [key message 3]

### Q&A Prep
| Question | Answer |
|----------|--------|
| [tough question 1] | [prepared answer] |
| [tough question 2] | [prepared answer] |
| [tough question 3] | [prepared answer] |

## Trust-Building Notes
- [Specific actions to build credibility with key audiences]
- [Follow-up commitments to honor]

Executive Writing Templates

When the communications plan identifies key written communications (pre-reads, decision memos, escalation emails), offer the PM these templates as starting structures. The PM doesn't need to use them verbatim — they're scaffolding to get past the blank page.

Inverted Pyramid (for updates and announcements)

Best for: status updates, product announcements, any communication where the reader might not read past the first paragraph.

Structure:

1. Lead: The most important information in 1-2 sentences. If the reader stops here, they have the headline.
2. Supporting details: Evidence, context, and specifics that back up the lead. 3-5 sentences.
3. Background: Full context for those who want to go deeper. Can be skipped by busy readers.

Why it works: Busy executives read the first paragraph and decide if they need more. Front-loading the conclusion respects their time and ensures the key message always lands.

Decision Memo (for communicating or requesting decisions)

Best for: sharing a decision with stakeholders, requesting approval, documenting a choice.

Structure:

1. Context: Why this decision came up now. What changed. 2-3 sentences max.
2. Goal: What outcome we're optimizing for. 1-2 sentences.
3. Options considered: Each option with pros, cons, and estimated effort. Include options that were rejected early, with a one-line reason why.
4. Recommendation: The chosen option, stated clearly in one sentence.
5. Impact: What changes as a result. Who is affected.
6. Next steps: Concrete actions with owners and deadlines.

Why it works: Executives want to see that the PM considered alternatives, has a clear recommendation, and has thought through the implications. This template shows rigorous thinking in a scannable format.

Blocker Escalation (for unblocking dependencies or raising issues)

Best for: escalating a blocked workstream, requesting help from leadership, flagging a risk.

Structure:

1. What's blocked: The specific workstream, feature, or milestone. One sentence.
2. Why it's blocked: Root cause — not symptoms. Be honest and specific.
3. Impact: What happens if this stays blocked. Quantify where possible (days of delay, revenue at risk, downstream team impact).
4. What's been tried: Actions already taken to unblock. This shows the PM isn't just escalating — they've done their homework.
5. What's needed: The specific help or decision required. Be precise about who needs to do what.
6. Next steps & owner: Who does what by when, including the PM's own actions.

Why it works: Executives get escalations constantly. The ones that get acted on are the ones that clearly articulate impact and have a specific, actionable ask. Vague "we're stuck" messages get deprioritized.

When to suggest templates

During Step 8 (Generate the Communications Plan), for each critical communication in the sequence, suggest the most appropriate template:

• Pre-read for leadership pitch → Inverted Pyramid or Decision Memo
• Escalation to unblock a dependency → Blocker Escalation
• Post-decision communication → Inverted Pyramid
• Resource request → Decision Memo (framed as "should we invest in X?")

The templates are reference structures, not rigid forms. The PM should adapt them to their company's culture and the specific audience's communication style.

Proactive Storytelling Modes

Different phases of the product lifecycle call for different communication modes. Help the PM pick the right one:

Pitch mode: Building the case for a new initiative. Use the full story structure + pre-sell sequence. Best for: discovery/planning phase, seeking approval.

Inform mode: Keeping stakeholders updated during execution. No ask — just visibility. Use async channels (email, Slack, dashboards). Best for: execution phase.

Report mode: Sharing results after delivery. Focus on what was achieved vs. what was promised. Builds trust for the next story. Best for: post-launch.

Workshop mode: Collaboratively building or refining the story with an audience. Best for: team alignment, low-trust situations, and early-stage ideas that need collective input.

Common Mistakes

1. Treating the pitch as a one-shot event: Thinking of it as one big presentation where you either win or lose. In reality, the pitch should be the final formality in a pre-sold decision. If you walk into the pitch room without knowing the outcome, you've already lost.

2. Same story for every audience: Leadership cares about strategic alignment and ROI. Teams care about mission and execution clarity. Stakeholders care about how it affects their goals. Adapt.

3. Skipping the pre-sell: The single most common communication failure. Pre-selling takes time and effort but has a dramatically higher success rate than cold-pitching.

4. Not following up: Promising to "get back to you on that" and then not doing it destroys trust faster than anything else. Track every commitment and deliver on it.

5. Over-investing in format, under-investing in sequence: A beautiful slide deck doesn't compensate for blindsiding a key leader. The sequence of conversations matters more than the polish of any single artifact.

6. Ignoring company culture: If the company communicates through written memos, don't insist on a live presentation. If they communicate through meetings, don't send a Slack essay. Work within the culture.

7. Forgetting to communicate after the decision: Whether the story gets approved or not, the team and stakeholders need to hear the outcome. Silence after a decision erodes trust.

8. Not reading the room: Pushing a big investment pitch when the company is cutting costs. Proposing a casual workshop when leadership expects a formal presentation. Match the energy of the room.

Key Principle

Buy-in is not an event — it's a sequence. The PM who walks into a leadership meeting with every decision-maker already aligned has a 90% chance of success. The PM who walks in cold has a 10% chance. The communications plan is what turns 10% into 90%.