How to score your company’s narrative
Give each component a number from 0 to 10, then put your effort where the number is lowest.
Most marketing teams can't score their own narrative objectively. They know the origin story and lived through the product's evolution, so they fill in gaps a buyer never sees.
That's why I built a scoring rubric. It runs your story through the four components of the Narrative Authenticity Framework, gives each one a number from 0 to 10, and shows where to put your effort first.
What the ranges mean
Friction scores 9 or 10 when the audience recognizes itself instantly. You're using their language and naming their workarounds, and the emotional cost is on the page. A 6 to 8 is accurate but distant, written in industry terms. Below 5, the problem could belong to any company in the category.
Lived stake reaches 9 or 10 when there's an origin moment you can point to, failed experiments, and career choices shaped by the problem. At 6 to 8, the founders have relevant experience that reads more like a vantage point. Lower scores mean the company claims proximity it can't show, or stands outside the friction entirely.
Distinctive qualification earns a 9 or 10 for structural insight: a misaligned incentive or non-obvious pattern that others miss. Clear methodology differences land in the 6 to 8 range. A list of credentials or features scores 3 to 5.
Real aspiration at 9 or 10 describes a concrete future and an obvious action someone can take today. At 6 to 8 the vision is clear but the path takes real commitment. An appealing future with no operational steps lands between 3 and 5.
What to do with the total
An overall score of 8.5 or higher means your narrative works as belief architecture. Protect its consistency as the market moves.
Between 6.5 and 8 you have professional positioning. Pick your weakest component and spend 30 days strengthening it before you touch anything else.
From 4 to 6, the story needs reconstruction rather than polish. Start with friction interviews, ideally with customers who almost churned.
Under 4, pause campaign work and build the foundation first.
Two habits make the scores more honest. Run the analysis on your website, your sales deck and your one-pager separately to see whether they tell the same story. Then have someone outside the company score it too. Internal teams tend to overrate lived stake and underrate how generic their friction sounds.
Get the full scoring prompt on LinkedIn
Want your own score? A Narrative Diagnostic runs your website, messaging and leadership content through the same four components.
