Checklist for Key Messages – Make a Claim, Cite a Fact, Give an Example

Communications works best when you keep everything simple. There should be a logical flow to everything you do.

Image: Kami Huyse

Take key messages. San Antonio PR consultant Kami Huyse offers an excellent mental framework for creating key messages that will have impact.

Claim + Fact + Example

Basically, the format relies on corporate values. What is it that you want to be known for? I try to limit my clients to three or four of these, any more and it becomes unwieldy. These values become the claims, for instance:
Claim: We are champions of education

Then you come up with a list of facts and examples to back up this claim. In other words, you walk the walk.

Fact: Last year we gave over $100,000 to local charities to support education of K-12 students in the community. We also had over 40 rotating volunteers reading to students every day for the entire year during their lunch break.

Example: One 11th-grade student, was able to move up from a regular English class to an AP class and is expected to earn an A. She says that her mentor helped her to realize that reading was fun, and said that no one had ever done that for her before.

Kami asks for feedback on this template, so here’s my response. This is an excellent checklist to run through when creating key messages. It’s simple, easy to remember, and it just makes sense.

Key messages are supposed to be something you and others in the organization can internalize. When you use a key message, it’s supposed to come out in wording that sounds natural for the situation you’re in. The simpler your framework for creating the messages, the more likely you will remember the logic and the business goal behind it.

That’s much more useful than regurgitating memorized phrases.