Katie King - Strategy, Narrative and Change strategic communications consultant
Katie King - Strategy,
Narrative and Change
When strategy changes, the story must change too.
I help organisations navigating periods of change and growth translate strategic vision into clear and compelling narratives that people can understand and act on.
I also work directly with founders, academics and professionals to refine important written material such as pitch decks, reports and website copy.
If you're navigating a moment of strategic change and need a clearer way to articulate the organisation’s direction, I would be glad to explore how I might help.
Much of my work focuses on helping leadership teams translate complex strategy into a clear organisational narrative, so that employees, customers and stakeholders understand where the organisation is going and why.
By bridging the gap between strategy and story, I help bring clarity to moments of transition and support organisations as they move forward with alignment and confidence.
Strategy → Story → Alignment → Reputation
Why you might need this work
Organisations typically bring in external narrative support when something important is changing.
Leadership transition
When a new CEO or leadership team needs to articulate a clear direction for the organisation
Organisational change
When restructuring, mergers or strategic pivots create uncertainty about how the organisation should explain itself
Strategy evolution
When the business has moved but the organisation's story no longer reflects who it has become.
Major announcements
When leadership needs to communicate significant decisions or changes with clarity and confidence
Investment or growth preparation
When organisations need to articulate a clear strategic story for investors, partners or stakeholders.
In these moments, organisations often need support translating strategy into a narrative people can understand and engage with and communicate clearly.
Areas of work
I typically work with organisations in the following ways:
Corporate narrative reset
Helping organisations clarify who they are, what they stand for and how they explain their direction when strategy has changed.
Organisations often reach a point where their strategy has evolved but the way they describe themselves has not. Leadership teams may be clear about the direction of travel, yet employees, customers and stakeholders hear slightly different versions of the organisation’s story.
A corporate narrative reset clarifies that story and provides a clear framework for how the organisation explains its purpose, direction and value.
The work begins with a narrative diagnostic and structured conversations with senior leaders, leading to the development of a narrative framework that can guide both internal and external communication. The outcome is a clear messaging architecture and practical guidance for communicating the organisation’s direction consistently.
Projects typically run for four to six weeks and are often needed following restructures, mergers, leadership changes or strategic pivots.
Leadership messaging and executive positioning
Supporting leadership teams to communicate strategy clearly, consistently and with confidence.
Even when strategy is clear, senior leaders can find it difficult to communicate it in a way that feels coherent and aligned. Different leaders may emphasise different priorities, which can create confusion internally and weaken the organisation’s external positioning.
This work focuses on developing clear leadership messaging frameworks and identifying the core narrative pillars leaders can use when speaking about the organisation.
Engagements may also include support for key moments such as major announcements, speeches or periods of organisational change.
These projects are typically advisory in nature and are particularly valuable during leadership transitions, strategy shifts or significant announcements.
Strategic brand and positioning review
Reviewing how an organisation presents itself and ensuring brand, narrative and strategy are aligned.
Over time, brand and marketing activity can evolve without remaining closely connected to business strategy. The result can be a positioning that no longer reflects the organisation’s direction, capabilities or future ambitions.
A strategic brand and positioning review examines how the organisation currently presents itself and whether that narrative still reflects its strategy and strengths.
This typically includes reviewing brand positioning, assessing market narrative and exploring how key stakeholders perceive the organisation today. The review concludes with recommendations to bring brand, narrative and strategy back into alignment.
Projects usually run for six to eight weeks and are common for private equity-backed companies, organisations preparing for growth or companies developing a clearer positioning ahead of investment or IPO.
Other ways to work with me
Not every piece of work requires a full consulting engagement. I also support founders, academics and professionals with focused editorial work and advisory conversations designed to improve the clarity and impact of important written material.
Focused editorial support
Shorter projects to improve clarity, structure and narrative flow in key documents and communications.
Examples include:
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Pitch deck narrative review - refining the story and messaging in investor presentations.
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Website copy editing - improving clarity, tone and structure across key website pages.
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Founder story and about page editing - helping individuals articulate their story clearly and authentically.
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Document clarity editing - editing reports, articles or strategy documents so ideas are structured clearly and flow naturally.
Narrative clarity sessions
For situations where a focused conversation is the most helpful starting point.
These structured advisory sessions provide an opportunity to explore questions such as:
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whether messaging is clear and coherent
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how a pitch deck or presentation could be strengthened
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how strategy can be translated into a clearer narrative
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how written communication could be structured more effectively
Sessions are typically 60–90 minutes and often lead to clearer thinking, stronger communication and occasionally larger project work.
Twenty years’ experience translating complex strategy into clear organisational narrative.
About me
My work sits at the bridge between strategy and story.
Many organisations develop strong strategies but struggle to translate that strategy into a narrative people can understand.
My work sits in the space between strategy and story, helping leadership teams articulate their direction clearly and align how it is communicated across the organisation.
I have spent more than twenty years in senior marketing and communications leadership roles within complex international organisations. Most recently I led the global marketing communications function at a FTSE-listed engineering and defence company operating across multiple markets.
My work focuses on helping leadership teams translate strategy into a clear organisational narrative, align messaging across global teams and strengthen positioning with employees, customers and stakeholders.
I now advise organisations on narrative clarity, leadership messaging and strategic positioning during periods of change.
I live in Bristol and work with organisations across the UK and internationally, both directly and remotely.
Let's connect
If you would like to explore whether this kind of work might be helpful,
please get in touch.
I'll reply to your email as soon as I can.
In the meantime, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn →