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Phase 01 · Strategise

Strategise

Audience research, stakeholder mapping, competitive analysis, message architecture, channel planning, and measurement design: the intelligence layer that comes before anything is published.

New to this phase? Read the Strategise reference

21 templates

Comms Foundations Index

A single index of your organisation's canonical communications foundation documents: what exists, where it lives, who owns it and when it was last reviewed. The reference layer every project and every AI prompt should draw from.

Strategise Featured

20 minutes · Straightforward

Comms Audience Profile

A one-page audience profile that helps communications professionals understand who they are communicating with before they start writing, planning, or pitching – covering role context, motivations, barriers, and communication preferences.

Strategise

25 minutes · Straightforward

Media Pitch Builder

A structured approach to writing media pitches that journalists actually respond to – with angle variants for news, features, comment, and exclusive stories.

Strategise

25 minutes · Intermediate

Stakeholder FAQ Builder with Audience Variants

A framework for building FAQ documents for multiple stakeholder audiences from a single core narrative – covering employees, media, board, customers, and partners.

Strategise

30 minutes · Intermediate

Brand Positioning Audit

Assess where your brand actually sits in the minds of your audience versus where you want it to sit – and identify the specific messaging gaps that need to close.

Strategise

40 minutes · Intermediate

Competitor Comms Audit

Analyse how your key competitors communicate – their messaging, channels, tone, and narrative positioning – to identify gaps and sharpen your own strategy.

Strategise

35 minutes · Intermediate

Analyst Relations Briefing Document

A structured briefing document for analyst meetings – covering company narrative, competitive positioning, product roadmap framing, proof points by analyst priority area, a Q&A prep grid, and post-briefing follow-up template.

Strategise

28 minutes to complete the briefing document; additional time for Q&A prep depending on complexity · Advanced

Audience Segmentation Worksheet

Define, profile, and prioritise distinct audience segments to tailor communications and allocate resources effectively.

Strategise Featured

23 minutes · Straightforward

Campaign Brief

A comprehensive campaign planning document that aligns stakeholders on objectives, strategy, creative direction, and execution before work begins.

Strategise Featured

28 minutes · Intermediate

Communications Plan One-Pager

A single-page strategic overview that captures your communications objectives, audiences, approach, and measurement without the need for a 40-page deck.

Strategise Featured

18 minutes · Straightforward

Executive Quote Pack

Pre-approved spokesperson statements that translate core messages into authentic, quotable language suitable for media, events, internal communications, and customer interactions.

Strategise

23 minutes · Intermediate

FAQ Builder

Systematic Q&A development template that transforms anticipated questions into strategic messaging opportunities with consistent tone and credibility.

Strategise

22 minutes · Straightforward

Channel Strategy Matrix

Map messages to optimal channels with strategic rationale based on audience behaviour and campaign objectives.

Strategise Featured

24 minutes · Intermediate

Key Messages Grid

Audience-specific message variants that systematically adapt core messages for different personas, channels, and contexts whilst maintaining strategic consistency.

Strategise

19 minutes · Straightforward

Message House

Structured narrative framework that builds a foundational house of messages with core positioning at the roof, three pillars of support, and detailed proof points in the foundation.

Strategise Featured

25 minutes · Straightforward

Myth vs Fact Sheet

Counter-narrative template that systematically addresses misconceptions and competitor claims by isolating myths, stating facts, and providing evidence.

Strategise

18 minutes · Straightforward

Objectives & Measurement Framework

Define SMART communications objectives and establish key performance indicators to measure campaign success.

Strategise Featured

26 minutes · Intermediate

Positioning Statement Generator

Core positioning articulation that systematically defines target audience, category, key differentiation, and supporting proof to create a clear, defensible market position.

Strategise

24 minutes · Intermediate

Proof Points Bank

Evidence library organiser that catalogues and categorises research, data, testimonials, and credentials to support messaging claims with verified proof points.

Strategise

27 minutes · Intermediate

Quarterly Comms Planning Grid

Create a 90-day communications calendar with activities, owners, and dependencies to align teams and ensure consistent execution.

Strategise Featured

24 minutes · Straightforward

Stakeholder Mapping Matrix

A systematic framework for identifying, analysing, and prioritising stakeholders based on their power, interest, and support levels to inform engagement strategy.

Strategise

22 minutes · Straightforward

Applied

Applied in this phase

Everything tagged Strategise
  • article Strategise

    The machine speaks our language: why AI puts communications at the centre

    AI systems are built on language, steered by language and increasingly speak on an organisation's behalf. That makes communication part of how the technology behaves, and hands comms a job nobody else in the building is trained for.

  • article Strategise

    Why is AI losing the communications and PR war?

    AI's leading voices are losing the communications war because they are fighting a publicity war instead. They are spending on the message and neglecting the fundamentals.

  • article Strategise AI Agent Series

    The Work Before the Work: Comms With AI in the Strategise Phase

    Most AI conversations in communications start with the draft. That framing misses where quality is actually set – in the research, positioning, stakeholder mapping, and message architecture that happens before a single sentence gets written.

Frequently asked questions

Can AI write a communications strategy or plan?
AI can get you 70–80% of the way to a first draft (structuring objectives, mapping audiences, and drafting message architecture), but the strategic judgement is yours. The templates here pair an AI prompt with a human review step so the output is grounded in your context, not generic.
How do I use AI for stakeholder mapping?
Start from a structured framework rather than a blank prompt. The Stakeholder Mapping template gives the AI the power, interest, and support dimensions to work from, then you validate and prioritise. AI speeds up the first pass; you make the calls on engagement.
What's the difference between a template and an AI prompt here?
Each template is a complete workflow: the structure to fill in, an embedded AI prompt you can copy into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and a checklist to review the result before it's used. You get the thinking and the prompt, not just one or the other.

More in the Learn hub: live sessions and their write-ups, the 5-phase framework, and training.

What it produces

Example output Anonymised and shortened. Real outputs will vary based on your inputs.

The prompt you start from

 

Before anything goes out