Better Messaging

Messaging shouldn't feel this hard.If you’re staring at a complex product, an oversaturated market, and a mountain of conflicting opinions from stakeholders, you aren’t alone. Whether you’re a founder trying to find your voice or a marketer struggling to align multiple buyers, the "messy middle" of messaging is where most brands get stuck.On Better Messaging, Emma Stratton, author and B2B messaging expert, is pulling back the curtain on how to turn technical complexity into clarity. Drawing from a decade of experience partnering with hundreds of tech companies, from seed-stage startups to global household names, Emma shares the practical frameworks and real-world lessons needed to make people actually care about what you’re building.

Better Messaging is a business podcast hosted by Punchy, with 9 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Punchy hosts Better Messaging, a business show with 9 episodes published.

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  Episode #9

  The Science Behind Storytelling and Better Product Messaging

  Sep 30, 202637 min

  Storytelling has become increasingly important in B2B marketing, but many companies still struggle to define their narrative, communicate their value, and stay aligned across teams. When product, marketing, sales, and leadership each tell a different version of the company story, even strong messaging can quickly become diluted, confusing, and forgettable. In this episode, Emma Stratton speaks with Elliott Rayner , Fractional Head of Storytelling at OWOW Agency , about the science behind product storytelling and why great stories are ultimately about transformation. Elliott explains the difference between messaging and narrative, sharing a simple framework built around three questions: what value does your product create, who cares most about that value, and why are you best positioned to deliver it. The conversation also explores why storytelling is emerging as a strategic business function, why marketers should spend more time understanding customers instead of outsourcing their thinking to AI, and closes with a practical framework for stronger messaging built around human connection, conflict, and a compelling turning point. If you’ve ever struggled to make your messaging more memorable, align your company around one clear story, or explain why storytelling matters to the business, this episode offers a practical and science backed way to approach it. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:38) Why storytelling keeps coming back into fashion in business (03:01) Storytelling is a moment of transformation (04:50) From Adidas product teams to teaching storytelling (07:04) Great storytellers don't know they have a process (08:14) Why product marketers are the best-positioned storytellers in any company (09:20) Messaging vs. narrative and why most companies have one but not the other (12:13) The 19% alignment stat and how misaligned is your company's story? (16:58) Why great storytelling is saying less via the TikTok 3.3-second rule (25:32) How AI is making execution cheap but meaning more valuable than ever (30:21) The 3 chemicals of great storytelling If you're ready to elevate your messaging and make it impossible for your audience to ignore, subscribe now and start writing better messaging today! Connect with Elliott Rayner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottrayner/ Learn about OWOW Agency: https://owow.io/ Learn about Elliott’s book, “Product Marketing: The Story Engine”: https://maven.com/productstorytelling/o/3c5611 Connect with Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ Learn about Punchy: https://punchy.co/about/ Produced in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://shareyourgenius.com/

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  Episode #8

  Juggling Multiple Audiences In Your Messaging

  Sep 16, 202631 min

  B2B tech marketers face an overwhelming number of voices when trying to write messaging. From multi-stakeholder buying groups to competing priorities between enterprise and SMB targets, the pressure to appease everyone usually results in beige, generic messaging that appeals to no one. In this episode, Emma Stratton breaks down why trying to write a magical headline for everyone is a myth, and why narrowing your audience is actually your greatest positioning advantage. She shares practical strategies for identifying your A-plus customers, the raving fans who see the highest value in your product, and explains how to optimize your messaging specifically for them. From finding the core champion within a complex buying group to executing a phased approach when moving upmarket, Emma gives you the playbook for trading broad, forgettable messaging for high-impact specificity. If you’ve ever felt terrified that narrowing your focus means leaving money on the table, this episode will show you how getting specific actually builds a stronger path to revenue and makes your brand stand out from the crowd. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:58) Why B2B tech messaging gets so complicated to write (03:03) Proving why specific messaging always beats generic messaging (04:40) Debunking the myth of the magical all-appealing headline (06:57) Overcoming the fear and scarcity mindset of narrowing your audience (09:48) Narrowing your messaging is actually an act of positioning (13:46) Learning how to identify and optimize for your A-plus customer (22:43) Identifying your buying group champion and managing audience shifts (30:23) Final takeaways on why your messaging must get narrow If you're ready to elevate your messaging and make it impossible for your audience to ignore, subscribe now and start writing better messaging today! Connect with Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ Learn about Punchy: https://punchy.co/about/ Produced in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://shareyourgenius.com/

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  Episode #7

  Say It Like You Would At The Barbecue (And Other B2B Messaging Tips)

  Sep 2, 202621 min

  Marketers are smart, creative people, but when deadlines loom and content demands stack up, it is easy to fall into a writing rut. All too often, we slip into a reflex of typing out stiff, jargony, corporate-y language that we would never actually say out loud in real life. In this episode, Emma Stratton shares how to break out of habitual writing traps and introduces her favorite exercise of all time: “Say it like you would at the barbecue.” She explains how to use this simple prompt to loosen up stiff B2B copy, tackles the misconception that clear copy requires "dumbing down" technical terms, and shares her three-question rubric to help you confidently navigate jargon. If you’ve ever looked at a draft and felt like it was missing that human spark, this episode will show you how to trust your own natural, conversational voice to write clearer messaging faster. In this episode: (0:00) Intro (01:02) Why messaging feels so hard (03:50) Why your spoken words are better than your drafts (06:35) How to use the “barbecue test” for clearer copy (08:35) Real examples of corporate jargon vs. plain English (12:46) How to write for technical audiences without dumbing it down (18:19) Trusting your intuition to build better messaging If you're ready to elevate your messaging and make it impossible for your audience to ignore, subscribe now and start writing better messaging today! Connect with Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ Learn about Punchy: https://punchy.co/about/ Produced in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://shareyourgenius.com/

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  Episode #6

  How To Convince Your Leadership Team To Stop Using Jargon

  Aug 19, 202619 min

  Marketers everywhere are totally on board with clear, simple, human messaging, until they try to pitch it to their leadership team. All too often, stakeholders fall back on comfortable corporate buzzwords and over-the-top technical fluff, leaving individual marketers swimming upstream against a wave of jargon. In this episode, Emma Stratton breaks down exactly how to handle an organization that is deeply wedded to its buzzwords. She shares five practical, high-impact fixes you can use to influence colleagues and convince leadership to ditch the jargon for good. From running a side-by-side competitor "blind taste test" to mining your frontline sales reps for plain-English insights, Emma gives you the data-driven strategies you need to build an unarguable case for clarity. If you’ve ever felt like the only marketer in the room flying the flag for simple messaging, this episode will give you the tools and the confidence to start changing the conversation inside your company. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:12) How to fight jargon and win over leadership (01:46) Proving your messaging sounds like everyone else (04:15) Revealing the gap between how you talk and how customers think (05:40) Mapping your jargon to the customer’s true voice (07:59) Running unbiased message tests with real prospects (08:49) Asking sellers what happens in real conversations (10:54) Looking at the simple brands your leadership secretly admires (13:08) How “Make It Punchy” can change the internal conversation (15:34) Knowing when a company is too hooked on fluff to change If you're ready to elevate your messaging and make it impossible for your audience to ignore, subscribe now and start writing better messaging today! Connect with Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ Learn about Punchy: https://punchy.co/about/ Produced in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://shareyourgenius.com/

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  Episode #5

  Why Product Names Should Be Clear, Not Clever

  Aug 5, 202619 min

  In this episode, Emma Stratton explores why so many tech companies end up with “naming debt” after giving every product its own unique, branded name. She explains why naming gets emotional, why clever names often create extra work for buyers, and why descriptive names usually make a product portfolio clearer, simpler, and easier to navigate. If your product menu is starting to feel like a word salad, this episode will help you rethink your naming approach. Tune in as Emma shares why simple, descriptive product names can build more clarity for buyers and more flexibility for your marketing team. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (02:11) What naming debt looks like (03:58) Why naming gets so emotional (05:47) What makes descriptive names work better (09:06) How clear product names help buyers (12:02) Why naming needs a system (13:54) Three reasons to keep names simple (17:15) How product names compete with your brand If you're ready to elevate your messaging and make it impossible for your audience to ignore, subscribe now and start writing better messaging today! Connect with Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-stratton-punchy/ Learn about Punchy: https://punchy.co/about/ Produced in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://shareyourgenius.com/

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