Please, Just Make It Matter: The 7pm Rewrite 🤌
How To Stop Shipping Feature Lists And Start Telling Product Stories
Welcome to Part 6 of "Product Voyagers' Sprint: Storytelling in Product".
A 7-part, hands-on course that turns communication into powerful mini-narratives.
It's 7pm on a Tuesday. Your brain feels like overcooked pasta, and you're about to send the most boring product update.
So, you're staring at a Slack message that needs to go out about the feature you just shipped, and you're about to type something riveting like: "We updated the dashboard with new functionality."
⛔️ Don't. Please.
This is the moment that separates product storytellers from feature announcers.
This is your 7pm Rewrite moment.
Why Tired Communication Fall Flat
When we're exhausted, we default to the easiest possible communication: feature lists. We describe what we built, not why it matters.
We announce updates instead of telling stories. We INFORM instead of INSPIRING.
Your audience is just as tired as you are. They're getting dozens of product updates, feature announcements, and progress reports every day. The last thing they need is another bland "we shipped X" message.
So What?! What they need is a reason to care.
Same Feature, Different Universe
BEFORE (Facts? Sure. Story? Zero.)
Nobody cared. Zero engagement. 😞
Let’s try the same update with a 3-minute rewrite and still at 7pm.
AFTER (The 7pm Rewrite)
Did you notice the difference? Same feature, completely different impact.
✍️ The 7pm Rewrite is just one of seven storytelling techniques we teach in our Product Storytelling course.
🎙 And soon, we’re going live on Substack to walk through all seven one by one, live and unscripted. Stay tuned.
There’s a Story Formula (60 Seconds)
When you're too tired to think creatively but need to communicate something important, use this model adapted from the best product storytellers:
Character (15 seconds): Who is struggling?
Conflict (15 seconds): What specific problem do they face?
Climax (15 seconds): What did we change/ship?
Resolution (15 seconds): What's the outcome/impact?
Example:
Character: "New users with limited budgets"
Conflict: "Can't find affordable options in our 10,000-product catalog"
Climax: "We launched price-first filtering"
Resolution: "23% fewer people abandon their first session"
7pm Rewrite → 5-Step Transformation Process
When you catch yourself about to send that lifeless update, stop. Take 2-3 minutes and run through these steps to move from boring announcement to compelling story:
This isn't about transforming announcements into better stories that get remembered.
What Best Companies Actually Do
Companies are evolving their announcements to include more narrative.
OpenAI's ChatGPT Search Announcement:
"Getting useful answers on the web can take a lot of effort. ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before. You can get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for."
🪄 Analysis: They start with the user pain point ("Getting useful answers on the web can take a lot of effort") before explaining the solution.
Anthropic's Artifacts Launch:
"When a user asks Claude to generate content like code snippets, text documents, or website designs, these Artifacts appear in a dedicated window alongside their conversation. This creates a dynamic workspace where they can see, edit, and build upon Claude's creations in real-time, seamlessly integrating AI-generated content into their projects and workflows."
🪄 Analysis
User-centered: "When a user asks Claude to generate..."
Visual: "appear in a dedicated window alongside their conversation"
Outcome-focused: "seamlessly integrating AI-generated content into their projects and workflows"
From Feature Factory to Problem Solver
When you use the 7pm Rewrite, something interesting happens.
Instead of thinking like a feature factory ("We built thing X"), you start thinking like a problem solver ("We helped person Y with struggle Z") - It’s named “A Psychological Shift” .
→ Your stakeholders stop seeing you as someone who ships features and start seeing you as someone who solves problems.
→ Your team stops feeling like they're building in a vacuum and starts feeling like they're making real impact.
→ Your customers connect emotionally with your product updates instead of just scanning them.
When! to Use 7PM Rewrite
Slack updates about new features
Email announcements to stakeholders
Product briefs for leadership
Release notes for customers
Progress reports to investors
Internal presentations about roadmap wins
Basically, anytime you're about to communicate something important but your brain is too fried to think creatively.
What! Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't start with technical specs - Lead with the human problem, not the solution architecture.
Don't bury the impact at the end - Put the outcome upfront where people will actually see it.
Don't make it about you - Avoid phrases like "We're excited to announce..." Focus on what changes for your users.
How! To Measure Success
You’ll know the 7pm Rewrite is working when people start replying to your announcements instead of ignoring them.
Look for more questions, shares, and references to your updates.
Over time, you’ll see faster feature adoption and fewer confused “what does this actually do?” follow-ups.
The real goal is turning announcements people scroll past into stories they remember.
Note: You don't need to be Shakespeare.
You just need to care enough to spend 3 minutes turning features into stories.
Resources and Further Reading
Slack Updates and Changes - Examples of product communication in action
OpenAI Feature Announcements - Study how AI companies frame their features
Anthropic's Artifacts Launch - Master class in feature storytelling
Product Update Best Practices - Comprehensive guide to effective product announcements
Unlock Storytelling In Product Full Course
Want more like this? Subscribe to unlock the full “Storytelling in Product” course.
7 parts, hands-on, and made for product people like you.