Study guide
11.3 Messaging: Setting Context and the Tell, Sell, Include Approach
APMG Change Management Foundation Exam
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1 Chapter 1: The v3 Foundation Exam and the Organisational Context
1.1 Exam Structure, the Five Syllabus Areas and the Certification Path 1.2 Scene Setting: External and Internal Factors Shaping Change 1.3 Change Management, Benefits and Dis-benefits
2 Chapter 2: Understanding the Change Context
2.1 Kelman's Three Levels of Adoption 2.2 VUCA and the Cynefin Framework 2.3 Planned Change versus Emergent Change 2.4 Systems Thinking in Change 2.5 Organisational Culture and Its Three Levels
3 Chapter 3: Diagnosing and Structuring the Change Approach
3.1 Lewin's Force Field Analysis 3.2 Co-Design 3.3 The ADKAR Model 3.4 Evolving the n-Step Process and Kotter's Eight Accelerators
4 Chapter 4: Delivery Strategy, Agile Practices and the Change Strategy
4.1 Delivery Strategy: Big Bang, Phased, Voluntary and Iterative 4.2 Agile Practices and Agile Change Practices 4.3 The Continuous Change Management Cycle 4.4 The Change Strategy
5 Chapter 5: People and Change — Individual Difference and Response
5.1 Differences in People and Personality Preferences 5.2 Neuroscience and Change: SCARF, Mindset and Insight 5.3 The Change Curve 5.4 Bridges' Transition Model
6 Chapter 6: Motivation, Resilience and Learning
6.1 Rewards, Punishment and Pink's Three Motivators 6.2 Positive Psychology, Resilience and Appreciative Inquiry 6.3 The Beckhard-Harris Change Formula and Schein's Two Anxieties 6.4 Competence, Learning and the Learning Dip 6.5 Learning Preferences: Kolb, Honey and Mumford
7 Chapter 7: Key Roles in Change Leadership
7.1 Key Roles in the Change Process 7.2 The Role of the Change Sponsor 7.3 The Change Agent's Role and Personal Influence 7.4 The Role of Local Leadership in Change
8 Chapter 8: Psychological Safety, Leadership and Culture
8.1 Psychological Climate and Psychological Safety 8.2 Carolyn Taylor: How Leadership Shapes Culture 8.3 Leadership Styles and Organisational Climate
9 Chapter 9: Teams and Change
9.1 Team Structures and Change Agent Networks 9.2 Tuckman's Stages of Team Development 9.3 Lencioni: Assessing and Growing Team Effectiveness 9.4 Harvesting the Value of Team Diversity
10 Chapter 10: Stakeholder Identification, Analysis and Engagement
10.1 Stakeholder Definition and Identification 10.2 Stakeholder Analysis, Segmentation and Empathy Mapping 10.3 Stakeholder Mapping and Sources of Power 10.4 Barriers to Engagement 10.5 Planning Stakeholder Engagement
11 Chapter 11: Communication Theory, Messaging and Emotional Connection
11.1 Communication Theory and the Communication Process 11.2 Barriers to Communication and Cognitive Biases 11.3 Messaging: Setting Context and the Tell, Sell, Include Approach 11.4 Appealing to Hearts and Minds
12 Chapter 12: Communication Channels and Planning
12.1 Ways of Communicating and VARK Language Style Preferences 12.2 Communication Channels: One-Way, Two-Way, Lean and Rich 12.3 Communications Planning
13 Chapter 13: Assessing Change Impact and Severity
13.1 Change Management as Risk Management and the Two-Step Assessment 13.2 Step 1: Categorising Impacts and Identifying Impact Areas 13.3 Step 1 Continued: Gap Analysis, Impact Profiles and Monitoring 13.4 Step 2: Change Impact Severity
14 Chapter 14: Resistance to Change
14.1 Causes of Resistance and Oreg's Four Neural Factors 14.2 Common Reasons for Resistance and How to Deal With Them 14.3 Building a Strategy to Manage Resistance
15 Chapter 15: Change Analytics and Exam Readiness
15.1 Measurement Types and the Change Delivery Scorecard 15.2 Building a Change Analytics Strategy 15.3 Exam Technique and Final Revision
11.3 Messaging: Setting Context and the Tell, Sell, Include Approach
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
People need to understand the bigger picture and wider context so they can understand the why behind change
Early communication must set clear boundaries about what is fixed and non-negotiable, so people know where they can contribute and co-design
The tell approach states what has been decided, sell explains benefits and reasons, and include invites participation
Key messages are structured around four areas: the challenge, what makes it worthwhile, where we are heading, and how we get there
The challenge covers current organisational challenges, the reasons we cannot stand still using both rational logic and emotional appeal, and the potential losses
Last updated: September 2026
Setting the context for change
People need to understand the bigger picture and the wider context, so they can understand the 'why' behind change. Knowing how change links to wider organisational objectives and a bigger purpose helps people engage in the process of change.
CM3 adds a point that is easy to overlook and genuinely important:
Early communication also needs to set clear boundaries about what is fixed and non-negotiable. This helps people understand where they can contribute and co-design change.
This appears restrictive and is the opposite. Without stated boundaries, people either assume nothing is negotiable — and disengage — or assume everything is, invest effort in proposing changes to fixed elements, and become cynical when those are rejected. Naming what is fixed is what makes the genuinely open space credible. It is the practical safeguard against co-design degrading into consultation theatre.
Tell, sell, include
CM3 sets out approaches that can be used to communicate change, and when each would be used. The three form a spectrum of increasing participation:
Approach What it does Typical language When to use it
Tell States what has been decided and what will happen "Head office has instructed us to move over to a new system"; "All staff will receive training to use the new system" Where the decision is genuinely fixed, the matter is simple, or speed and clarity matter most
Sell Explains the benefits and reasons, persuading people of the value "The new system will enable faster, more accurate processing" Where the decision is fixed but buy-in is needed
Include Invites participation in shaping the outcome "Workshops will be arranged to capture your ideas for the functionality required from the system" Where there is genuine scope for stakeholders to influence the outcome
Distinguishing them in exam conditions
The test is what the statement asks of the receiver :
Tell — receive this information. It is a statement of fact or instruction. "Head office has instructed us" and "all staff will receive training" are both tell: neither offers a reason or invites input.
Sell — accept this reasoning. It offers a benefit or rationale. "The new system will enable faster, more accurate processing" is a benefit claim, so it is sell.
Include — contribute to this. It invites participation. "Workshops will be arranged to capture your ideas" is include.
A common trap is treating anything positive as sell. "All staff will receive training" sounds supportive but conveys no reason and asks for no participation — it is tell.
Choosing the right approach
The approaches are not ranked, and include is not automatically better. Using include where the outcome is actually fixed is dishonest and produces the resentment and cynicism CM3 warns about. Using tell where genuine participation was possible wastes the improvement stakeholders could have contributed and forfeits the buy-in that participation generates.
The honest sequence is to determine what is genuinely open — using the fixed-versus-negotiable boundary — and then match the approach to reality, which will typically mean different approaches for different aspects of the same change.
Developing key messages
CM3 gives a four-part structure for developing key messages, organised as four question areas:
- The challenge
- The current environment — organisational challenges, threats and/or opportunities
- Reasons why we cannot stand still , using rational logic and appealing to emotions
- Potential losses and the extent of the challenges
Note both halves of the second item: rational logic and emotional appeal. And note that potential losses belong in the challenge section — the losses are stated up front, not buried.
- What makes it worthwhile
- What achieving change will do for us
- The benefits resulting from the change
- What this will enable us to do more of — link to bigger purpose
- Where we are heading
What this looks like — a description of where we want to go, including what will change and what will stay the same
- When there is high uncertainty , describe the general direction of travel and ensure the link to purpose
- Demonstrate the sense of commitment of leaders or decision makers to this change
"What will stay the same" appears again here, echoing Bridges' endings guidance. It is one of the highest-value and lowest-cost things a change communication can include.
How we get there
A practical approach to get there — with high-level steps and possible key milestones. This may be an emergent, evolving approach with short-horizon iterations
Reassurance of support and resources that will be available
Depending on the nature of the change and approach, an invitation for people to be actively involved and co-design the change
What will happen next
This fourth area is, in change-formula terms, where D — practicality is established. A message that covers the challenge, the worth and the destination but not the route leaves people convinced and immobile.