Executive Communication · September 20, 2026
A Better Structure for High-Stakes Executive Messages
A structure for executive messages that leads with the audience problem, evidence, limits and a credible next action.
The Blog
Notes on language, trust, and being believed
Essays from the intersection of research and practice — what audiences are telling us about the words organizations use, and how to use better ones.
When Stronger Claims Produce Weaker Credibility
Why bolder language can lose trust when evidence, scope and limits disappear.
Read the essayTrust Is Built in the Qualifiers Most Leaders Remove
The qualifiers leaders cut for confidence are often the words that make a claim believable.
Read the essay
How Audiences Hear Risk Language Differently From Experts
Experts hear probability and precision; audiences hear relevance, consequences, control and motive.
Read the essay
The Difference Between Being Clear and Being Believable
Clarity helps people understand the claim; credibility helps them decide whether to trust it.
Read the essay
Why Accurate Messages Still Fail the Trust Test
Accuracy is necessary, but skeptical audiences also test completeness, motive, plainness and plausibility.
Read the essay
The Language of Trust, Fifteen Years Later
When the book was written, skepticism was a rising tide. Today it's the water everyone swims in. Revisiting the four principles of credible communication in an era of AI-generated content, collapsed institutional trust, and audiences who fact-check in real time.
Read the essay
The Year of the Apology Never Ended
Years ago I wrote about "the year of the apology." It turned out to be the decade, and then the era. Why most corporate apologies fail before the second sentence — and the anatomy of the rare ones that actually restore trust.
Read the essay
Say Less, Mean More
Every claim you add to a message taxes the credibility of the ones already there. The discipline of subtraction: how cutting your message in half makes the remaining half twice as believable.
Read the essayWant these ideas on your stage?
Michael's keynotes bring the research behind these essays to conferences, leadership teams, and sales organizations.
Book Michael to Speak