positioning-and-messaging
Positioning and Messaging
Positioning is a decision. Messaging is the expression of that decision. Most bad messaging is not a writing problem — it is an undecided or unevidenced positioning problem being papered over with adjectives.
This skill runs a four-stage sequence drawn from four practitioners, each covering the others' blind spots. Run them in order. The order is the method.
The sequence
| Stage | Question | Source | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0. Evidence | Why did people actually switch — and what stopped the ones who didn't? | Bob Moesta | Demand brief |
| 1. Decision | Where do we compete, and what can only we claim? | April Dunford | Positioning decision |
| 2. Expression | Can a stranger tell what this is in five seconds? | Fletch PMM | Messaging and homepage copy |
| 3. Narrative | What changed in the world that makes this urgent? | Andy Raskin | Strategic narrative |
Why this order matters. Narrative is the most enjoyable stage and the most dangerous starting point. A team that begins with the story invents a world, names a category, and writes a manifesto — and then discovers none of it maps to a real buyer, a real shortlist, or a real reason anyone switched. That team ends up with several competing heroes and no differentiation that survives a competitor's feature page. Evidence constrains the decision; the decision constrains the words; the words constrain the story. Each stage should feel like it narrows options, not opens them.
Announce which stage you are in and what would have to be true to move on. If the user wants to jump ahead, say what is being skipped and what risk that carries, then do what they ask. The sequence is a default, not a cage.