Put the websites of ten think tanks side by side, and you’ll quickly be struck by something: they all sound alike.
The uncomfortable truth is most think tank brands are trying hard not to stand out. They’re sticking to paths that are well-worn. They’re telling stories that are over-told.
They’re sounding just like every other think tank.
And in a crowded policy and advocacy space, that’s a problem. Because when the story is muddled and unmemorable, the audience goes looking for one that isn’t.
Donors find a different campaign to back.
Leaders find another programme to attend.
Corporates find an alternative partner to work with.
The weight of smarts
It’s no surprise that think tanks struggle to tell their story. It's not easy to read the label from inside the jar. We succumb to the ‘curse of knowledge’ (where we assum others know as much about our thing as we do). We fall prey to ‘complexity bias’ (where we lean into complexity, believing it to be a signal of our intelligence).
To paraphrase an old saying: The smarter they are, the harder they fall.
The four story traps
There are four traps that think tanks – along with research institutes and advocacy groups – tend to fall into when telling their story:
1) Telling a story for no one in particular
Most think tanks take the ‘inclusive’ approach to messaging. In their desperation to leave no one out, they end up speaking to no one at all. They tell a story that refuses to give away who the audience even is.
2) Too much solution, not enough problem
No mention of an audience tends to go hand-in-hand with no mention of the problems they have. Instead, the story focuses on the problem out there – without ever speaking to something closer to home.
3) Making yourself the hero of the story
It might be your story – but you’re not the hero of it. That role should be reserved for your beneficiaries or the audience you’re trying to reach. Your role in the story? To be the trusted guide – that’s it.
4) Sticking to the sector script
Cut-and-paste mission statements. Industry jargon. Over-used metaphors. If you stick to the script of the sector, you can expect your audience to skim-read the story…and struggle to remember it afterwards.
Start somewhere different
The most common mistake isn't bad writing – it's the wrong starting point. Most think tanks begin their story with themselves: who they are, what they do, how long they've been doing it.
Try starting somewhere else entirely. Begin with the world you're trying to change – the problem that exists, the stakes if nothing shifts. Or with the audience you're trying to reach – what they're carrying, what they're looking for, what success looks like to them.
Get that right, and the rest of the story has somewhere to go.
Does your story sell?
A final thought – what if you’ve underestimated the power of the right story? What if the organisations cutting through right now aren’t the ones doing the best work, but those telling the best stories?
The world needs your thinking, your vision, your approach.
It needs you to be seen, to be heard, to be bringing your change.
But first, it needs to buy into your story.
