Our line first
Agree one shared, jargon-free sentence about what we do for the people we serve, anchored in a real moment. Teams with a shared understanding of the work tend to coordinate and perform better.
Resilient TeamRelational Game
Building Your Narrative
from confusing jargon→to one clear voice
The Goal
Create a shared, human-centered story that everyone can repeat.
Ideal For
Sales teams, product launches, strategy alignment, founder pitches, and any moment when “what does your company do?” gets answered five different ways.
The Shift
From confusing jargon to one clear voice.
The Science
Stories tend to be understood and remembered better than the same content as exposition, and jargon tends to make messages harder to process and less persuasive. Once we know something well, we tend to find it hard to imagine not knowing it, which is why a line that feels clear to us can lose a listener. Early brain-imaging work suggests that activity while people hear a message can predict their later behavior.
Our line, then yours, step by step
- Bring one moment (pre-work)Each person brings one real moment when the team was at its best for someone it serves, and the way they answer “what does your company do?” today.
- Our line (10 min)Everyone silently drafts one sentence about what we do for the people we serve, using a moment as evidence. Build on the strongest two and choose one the whole team can repeat. No titles, no category words.
- My spark (6 min)Each person writes how their role brings Our line to life: one declarative sentence, action not category.
- Translate (6 min)Rewrite your spark for two real, named listeners, in their words, without changing the meaning.
- Test and bridge (8 min)In pairs, say Our line and your spark in 20 seconds and end with an invitation. The listener plays back what they heard; rewrite once.
- Commit (6 min)“When I meet [named person] on [date], I’ll open with Our line and my spark, and end with [invitation].” Name who owns the final wording of Our line.
The techniques, and why they work
Translate, then test
Retune your spark for a named listener and have them play it back. Our own words tend to feel clearer to us than they are.
End with an invitation
Offer a specific next step instead of a contact swap. People tend to underestimate how often others say yes to a direct request.
Selected research
- Mar, R. A., Li, J., Nguyen, A. T. P., & Ta, C. P. (2021). Memory and comprehension of narrative versus expository texts: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(3), 732–749.
- Bullock, O. M., Colón Amill, D., Shulman, H. C., & Dixon, G. N. (2019). Jargon as a barrier to effective science communication: Evidence from metacognition. Public Understanding of Science, 28(7), 845–853.
- Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: Problems with using long words needlessly. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20(2), 139–156.
- Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., & Weber, M. (1989). The curse of knowledge in economic settings: An experimental analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 97(5), 1232–1254.
- DeChurch, L. A., & Mesmer-Magnus, J. R. (2010). The cognitive underpinnings of effective teamwork: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 32–53.
- Flynn, F. J., & Lake, V. K. B. (2008). If you need help, just ask: Underestimating compliance with direct requests for help. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 128–143.
- Falk, E. B., Berkman, E. T., Mann, T., Harrison, B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2010). Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(25), 8421–8424.
Also runs as a half day · P2.4 HD
Building Your Narrative – Half Day
Half day (3 h 30 min) for a team that needs one story it will all use, with pre-work and an optional 45-minute follow-up 2–4 weeks later.
from five people, five answers→to one story, every voice
The Goal
Build the team’s shared story from its own best moments, test it on outsiders, and leave with one line everyone uses and a spark for every role.
Ideal For
Launches, rebrands, sales kickoffs, new strategies and offsites, when the whole team has to tell one story about what it does.
The Science
Stories tend to be understood and remembered better than the same content as exposition, and jargon tends to make messages harder to process and less persuasive. Once we know something well, we tend to find it hard to imagine not knowing it, which is why a line that feels clear to us can lose a listener. Early brain-imaging work suggests that activity while people hear a message can predict their later behavior.
The techniques, and why they work
Start from the Story of Us
Draw the team’s line out of real moments (origin, best-of, comeback) the room agrees on. Stories tend to be remembered better than exposition.
Test it cold
Have people who don’t know the team hear the line once and play it back, then rewrite. Our own words tend to feel clearer to us than they are.
One line, every voice
Everyone says the shared line and their own spark, and each person commits to one named listener. Teams with a shared understanding of the work tend to coordinate and perform better.
Selected research
- Mar, R. A., Li, J., Nguyen, A. T. P., & Ta, C. P. (2021). Memory and comprehension of narrative versus expository texts: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(3), 732–749.
- Bullock, O. M., Colón Amill, D., Shulman, H. C., & Dixon, G. N. (2019). Jargon as a barrier to effective science communication: Evidence from metacognition. Public Understanding of Science, 28(7), 845–853.
- Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: Problems with using long words needlessly. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20(2), 139–156.
- Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., & Weber, M. (1989). The curse of knowledge in economic settings: An experimental analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 97(5), 1232–1254.
- DeChurch, L. A., & Mesmer-Magnus, J. R. (2010). The cognitive underpinnings of effective teamwork: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 32–53.
- Flynn, F. J., & Lake, V. K. B. (2008). If you need help, just ask: Underestimating compliance with direct requests for help. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 128–143.
- Falk, E. B., Berkman, E. T., Mann, T., Harrison, B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2010). Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(25), 8421–8424.
From the research
The thinking behind this lab, published in full: