Reputation Labs: technical storytelling

Reputation Lab: Technical Storytelling for Defence Communicators Make the complex clear. Make the brilliant visible.

Your organisation has world-class technology. But if the people who matter — military users, policymakers, investors, prime programme managers — can't understand what it does and why it matters, it might as well not exist.

This is the Lab where you learn to translate.

What you'll work on

You'll take one real capability, product or service from your own organisation and build a communications narrative around it — moving from technical specification to a story that lands with a non-technical audience. You'll test it in the room, get expert and peer feedback, and leave with a messaging framework you can use immediately.

How it works

1. Briefing — The principles of technical storytelling. Why most defence companies get it wrong. Case studies of what works and what doesn't. Frameworks for translating complexity without dumbing down.
2. Discovery — You work on your own capability narrative. Experts help you find the story inside the specification.
3. Application (full day only) — Refine your narrative for different audiences: military user, policymaker, investor, prime. Build a messaging framework that flexes across contexts.
4. Lab Report — Your tested narrative, your messaging framework, your action plan for rolling it out.

What you leave with

Half day:

• A capability narrative for one product, service or technology (your lab report)
• Lab kit: storytelling frameworks, templates and worked examples
• Peer and expert feedback on your narrative
• Lab check-in call (group Q&A, 2 weeks post)

Full day — everything above, plus:

• Full messaging framework: narrative adapted for 3–4 different audiences
• Direct expert input on your hardest translation challenge (The Clinic)
• Team communication guide for consistent messaging across your organisation
• Working lunch and networking
• Certificate + 10 CIPR CPD points

Who it's for

Communications leads, marketing managers, BD directors and CEOs at defence and security companies — anyone responsible for explaining what their organisation does to people who don't share their technical background. Equally relevant for MOD communicators translating military capability for public and political audiences.

Who signs it off

Tell your approver: "I'll come back with a tested narrative for [our product/capability] and a framework we can use across all our communications."

About the organisers

Reputation Labs are delivered by Canny Comms, the UK's only communications consultancy focused exclusively on defence and security. Technical storytelling is our signature capability — it's what our clients hire us for most.

www.canny-comms.co.uk/reputation-labs

DRAFT Agenda

Half Day (09:00–12:45)

09:00 — Arrival, refreshments and networking

09:15 — Briefing: Why brilliant technology stays invisible Why most defence companies struggle to explain what they do. The gap between technical truth and audience understanding. Frameworks for translating complexity without dumbing down — with real defence sector case studies of what works and what fails.

10:00 — Discovery: Find the story inside your specification Hands-on. You take one real capability, product or service from your own organisation and start building the narrative. Expert guidance as you work through structure, language and audience. Peer feedback throughout.

10:45 — Break

11:00 — Discovery continues: Test your narrative Refine and pressure-test your narrative against the room. Does it land? Does it make sense to someone outside your specialism? Iterate with expert support until it does.

11:45 — Your Lab Report Finalise your capability narrative and personal action plan. Lab kit handover: storytelling frameworks, templates and worked examples to use back at your desk.

12:45 — Close

Full Day continues (13:00–16:30)

13:00 — Working lunch with fellow delegates

13:30 — Application: One story, four audiences Take your morning narrative and adapt it for different audiences: military end user, policymaker, investor, prime contractor. Build a messaging framework that flexes across every context your organisation operates in.

14:30 — Application: The internal challenge How to get consistent storytelling across your organisation. Draft a team communication guide: key messages, language to use (and avoid), and how to brief colleagues who aren't natural communicators.

15:15 — Break

15:30 — The Clinic Your hardest storytelling challenge. One at a time, direct expert input, peer perspectives. The session where the real breakthroughs happen.

16:15 — Your Full Lab Report Finalise your messaging framework, team guide and rollout plan. What changes on Monday morning.

16:30 — Close

You leave with: A tested capability narrative. A messaging framework for multiple audiences. A team communication guide. Your personal lab report. Lab kit. 10 CIPR CPD points.