What key messages really are
A key message is a sentence you want to see picked up in an article, quoted in a podcast, or remembered by an interviewer. It is not a sales pitch. Nor is it a generic value like "innovation" or "quality." A good key message is rooted in a concrete fact, answers a question your audience is asking, and is memorable at a glance. Three well-constructed messages are enough to structure a communication strategy for 6 to 12 months.
How to build 3 solid key messages
The method is as follows. First, identify the three tensions or questions your audience has about your market. Then, for each one, formulate an answer rooted in your actual positioning. Each key message must be able to be illustrated by a concrete example, a figure, or a client anecdote. A message that cannot be illustrated is too vague. Test each formulation by asking yourself if a journalist could use it as the headline of an article or the basis for an interview question.
Connection to media training and interviews
Media training consists, in large part, of learning how to steer any question back to your key messages. A founder who hasn't internalized their key messages before an interview will improvise, go off on tangents, or answer the question asked without ever getting across what they really wanted to say. Key messages are therefore the foundation of media training: they always precede preparation for a specific interview.
What we see with our clients
When we start working with a startup, the first thing we ask is: what are your three key messages? The usual answer is a list of ten attributes. Too many, too vague, and often identical to those of their competitors. The work of clarifying key messages usually takes one or two sessions, but it radically changes the quality of all subsequent communications.
Common mistakes in defining key messages
The most common mistakes: phrasing messages in internal jargon that is incomprehensible to a journalist outside the industry, confusing a key message with a marketing promise, or defining messages that no one on the team actually remembers. An effective key message is one that your CEO repeats spontaneously in conversation, not one that sits in a shared document that no one reads.
