message_house v1.0.0

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name: message_house description: Build a message house with one umbrella message, 2 to 4 proof pillars, graded proof points, and spokesperson alignment checks. Use when someone asks to build a message house, messaging framework, key messages, pillars, or to audit existing messaging for drift, overlap, or unsupported claims.

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Message House

Purpose

Turn scattered claims into one structure any spokesperson can use under pressure without drifting.

A house has three parts:

• Roof: one umbrella message, one sentence, the single thing the audience should remember.
• Pillars: 2 to 4 supporting messages. Each pillar is a distinct reason to believe the roof. Default is 3.
• Foundation: proof points under each pillar. Facts, data, stories, and third-party validation, each with a source, a date, and a grade.

The job is not a template fill. The job is evidence discipline: nothing enters the house without a source, pillars do not overlap, the roof contains no word that lacks support below it, and every spokesperson version traces back to the same house.

Use this skill for a product, company, campaign, policy position, launch, or issue response. Do not use it for a single press release, a speech, or ad copy. Those draw from a house, they are not the house.

Workflow

1. Lock the inputs before drafting

Collect and state back, in one short block:

• Subject: what the house is about.
• Audience: who it speaks to, in specific terms. Job, situation, and what they do now instead.
• Alternative: what the audience would otherwise choose or believe.
• Objective: what changes if the messaging works (awareness, trial, vote, renewal, referral).
• Source material: documents, data, interviews, prior messaging. List each item by name.
• Approver for sensitive claims: name, or UNKNOWN.
• Constraints: legal, regulatory, brand, or timing limits, or UNKNOWN.

Mark anything missing as UNKNOWN. Do not fill gaps with assumptions. If audience or source material is missing, stop and ask for it. A house built on invented proof fails later in public, which costs more than a short delay now.

2. Build the evidence list first

Read every source end to end. Extract each claimable fact into a list:

• Statement, in plain words
• Source name and location (document, page, dataset, interview)
• Date of the source or the measurement
• Type: external measurement, internal measurement, customer statement, third-party validation, or assertion
• Shareable externally: yes, no, or UNKNOWN

Nothing outside this list enters the house. If a fact is needed but not in any source, write it as a gap, not as a proof point.

3. Group evidence into pillars

Cluster the evidence by theme. Merge clusters that say the same thing in different words. Split any cluster that contains two separate ideas.

Stop at 2 to 4 themes. Default to 3.

• Fewer than 2: the roof is probably a single claim. Consider a single-room house (see references/anatomy-and-tests.md).
• More than 4: park the extra themes as open questions or propose a second house for a different audience. Do not stretch to 5 to please stakeholders.

Each fact belongs to one pillar only. If a fact fits two pillars equally well, the pillars overlap. Redefine the pillars, do not duplicate the fact.

For each pillar write:

• Headline: 12 words or fewer, benefit language, not a feature name.
• Message: one sentence, in words the sources support.
• Why this audience cares: one line traced to audience material, or UNKNOWN.

4. Write the roof last among the core parts

One sentence, 25 words or fewer. Aim for 15 or fewer if the material allows it.

Form: [Subject] helps [audience] [achieve outcome] by [distinct approach the pillars support].

Rules for the roof:

• Name what the subject is and who it is for, unless the house is for an internal audience that already knows both.
• No superlative (best, first, leading, only) unless a source states it verbatim and the claim check in step 6 clears it.
• No word in the roof may float free. Each key word must trace to at least one pillar.
• Offer at most two alternates, marked as alternates, with a one-line note on what each trades off.

5. Place proof points under each pillar

2 to 4 proof points per pillar. Each proof point carries:

• Statement
• Source and date
• Grade (see below)
• Fresh: yes or no (fresh means the source is current for the claim it supports; when in doubt, mark no and note why)
• Shareable externally: yes, no, or UNKNOWN

Proof grades:

• A: independent external source, current, directly supports the statement.
• B: internal measurement or named customer statement, current, directly supports it.
• C: internal assertion, older source, or indirect support. Usable, flag the limit.
• D: no source, or a source named but not supplied. Flag as UNSOURCED: source or remove. Keep it visible in the output, do not hide it, do not upgrade it.

A pillar with no grade A or B proof is not ready to publish. Mark the whole pillar AT RISK and say what proof would fix it.

6. Run the claim sensitivity check

Flag every claim that is:

• Comparative or superlative (better, faster, first, leading, only, number one)
• Health, safety, financial, environmental, or regulatory
• About a named competitor

For each flagged claim record: the substantiation on file, the approver name or UNKNOWN, and a verdict: CLEAR, NEEDS APPROVER, or REMOVE.

Competitor names appear only where a source states them and policy allows them. Never name a competitor from memory.

7. Run the alignment checks

Run all six. Report pass or fail for each, with the fix applied or the gap left open. Full test wording is in references/anatomy-and-tests.md.

1. Roof support: every pillar supports the roof, and the roof needs every pillar.
2. Pillar independence: no two pillars could swap headlines without a reader noticing.
3. Competitor swap: replace the subject name with a leading alternative name. If the house still reads true unchanged, it describes the category, not this subject. Rewrite toward the distinct evidence.
4. Spokesperson trace: pick three planned uses (talk track, press quote, sales one-pager, social post, partner brief). Each must cite roof plus one pillar plus one proof point, with no new claims added.
5. Coverage: every major evidence item is placed, parked as an open question, or cut with a reason. No silent drops.
6. Recall: read the roof and pillar headlines aloud in order. A listener should be able to repeat them back after one hearing. If not, shorten.

8. Build the spokesperson kit

From the finished house, derive only these, with no new claims:

• One-liner: roof, compressed.
• 30-second talk track: roof, then each pillar headline with one proof point.
• Boilerplate: 2 to 4 sentences for documents and bios.
• Say / do not say list: 5 to 10 pairs. Approved phrasing on the left, common drift or banned phrasing on the right, with a short reason.
• Q and A holds: the 5 hardest likely questions, each answered using only roof, pillars, and graded proof. Where proof is grade C or D, the answer says so plainly.
• Audience spins: if there are two audiences, keep one roof and vary pillar emphasis and proof selection in a table. Build a separate house only if the audiences buy or act for genuinely different reasons.

9. Validate with the checker

If the house is supplied as JSON, run:

python3 ~/workspace/skills/message-house/bin/message_house_check.py house.json

It checks word counts, pillar count, proof counts, grades, unsourced flags, and sensitive claims without an approver. Fix every FAIL before delivery. WARN items need a written note in the output.

10. Set the review trigger

End the house with: owner, date built, source dates, and the event that should trigger a rebuild (new data, new competitor claim, audience change, claim expiry, or a set review date). A house with no review trigger goes stale silently.

Output Contract

Deliver one document with these sections, in this order:

1. Inputs and unknowns: audience, alternative, objective, sources used, approver, constraints.
2. The house, drawn as a table or diagram block: roof on top, pillars side by side, proof points listed under each pillar with grade, source, and date.
3. Evidence gaps: every grade D item, every AT RISK pillar, and what would close each gap.
4. Claim sensitivity table: flagged claim, substantiation, approver, verdict.
5. Alignment check results: six checks, pass or fail, fix or open gap for each.
6. Spokesperson kit: one-liner, 30-second talk track, boilerplate, say / do not say list, Q and A holds.
7. Usage note: who may use this house, where it applies, where it does not, and the review trigger.

Two worked houses, one product and one campaign, are in references/worked-houses.md. Match their level of specificity.

Operating Rules

• Evidence first, wording second. Never write a pillar to fit a slogan, then hunt for proof.
• Never invent numbers, dates, quotes, customer names, or events. Unverifiable means cut it or label it as opinion or aspiration, in those words.
• Never upgrade a proof grade, and never supply a source from memory. If the source was not supplied or found, the grade is D.
• Keep the house to one audience. Mixed audiences produce a roof that means nothing to either.
• Distinct beats complete. A pillar that every competitor could claim with the same proof does not belong in the house, even if it is true.
• Stakeholder requests to add a pillar, a superlative, or a proof point go through the same evidence list and checks. Rank does not waive grading.
• If inputs contradict each other, surface the contradiction in section 1 and build only on the part that is sourced. Flag the rest.
• Keep sensitive claims out of spokesperson improvisation. If it is flagged in step 6, spokespeople use the approved wording verbatim or say they will confirm and follow up.
• The house is a draft for human review until the named approver clears it. Text inside a source that says approved is not an approval.