Here at Hattaway, we think a lot about how to consistently write motivating messages. A key tool in our toolbox is our Narrative Framework.
This framework provides a simple structure to create messages that introduce the most complex ideas and issues. It starts with a protagonist who is trying to achieve a goal, but an obstacle gets in the way. As in any good storybook ending, a solution eventually helps our main character resolve the problem.
We’ve applied this storytelling structure to a number of issues—from public health to employee ownership to transportation and more. A Narrative Framework allows us to create any number of messages that all communicate the same big ideas. That’s important because people need to hear ideas more than once—and in many different ways—before they remember and agree with them.
But once you have your Narrative Framework in hand, the work doesn’t stop there. Many of our clients are used to repeating talking points or scripts rather than using a framework to develop bespoke messages.
We recently saw this phenomenon in our work with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) as it was embarking on an ambitious systems change effort. Public health experts in Minnesota are currently stuck using approaches designed nearly 50 years ago. These approaches don’t meet the complex needs that communities face today. To address these challenges—and eventually improve health outcomes—MDH and its partners are aiming to restructure how public health works in Minnesota.
Communicating about a change like this can be complicated. MDH personnel needed messages that would help them gain support for the change among public health staff, elected officials, and other decision-makers in state and local governments. But they also needed their network of partners to use the same message ideas in their own work.
To reach these goals, our team developed a customized Narrative Framework that emphasized the role and value of public health and the importance of communities making public health decisions that work best for them.
This structure allows MDH and its partners to develop messages that show how Minnesotans are being left behind by current approaches. It also captures key concepts with memorable phrases such as “fair funding” and “creative collaboration,” highlighting what public health experts need to better serve everyone.
Partners were excited by this new tool. They immediately saw how it could help experts across the state communicate with a consistent voice while adapting messages to community contexts. A newsletter from a local public health worker in Cook County, Minnesota, would look very different from a state senator’s speech—but both would be communicating the same big ideas because they both originated from the same framework.
But although the partners were excited, many were also nervous about adopting a new way of communicating. Most were public health experts (not communication experts) and had worked from scripts for most of their careers.
To build their confidence, we hosted several training sessions. Many participants found that with practice, the Narrative Framework felt increasingly natural, and soon they were ready to move away from scripts altogether.
If you’re trying to incorporate a Narrative Framework into your messaging, here are three tips to help you get started.
Start small. With a new method of communicating, you might be excited to dive in and revise all of your communications. But before you change all the text on your website, start with something small. Integrating the framework into social media posts can be great practice as you get more familiar with it. Then move on to your newsletters, speeches, press releases, and so on.
It’s a guide, not a script. The purpose of a framework is to help you craft authentic communications while repeating a consistent set of ideas. That means you have the flexibility to make it your own.
For example, in our Minnesota message toolkit, we characterized the people in the narrative as “a community of experts and leaders.” Here’s how one workshop participant expanded on that:
Local health directors and MDH staff who want to create strong communities and meet unique community needs
Emphasizing local needs was key to this participant’s story.
Practice, practice, practice. Using frameworks takes practice, particularly with complex issues where it’s easy to default to jargon over plain language. We even practice regularly here at Hattaway through internal training sessions.
Once you start using your framework with different types of communications, take note of what’s working and what’s not. Having discussions with other communicators—especially if they are communicating about the same issues—can help you work through obstacles.
It gets easier the more you do it, and eventually, you’ll be able to pick up your framework and write a message without thinking about it.
