Companies understand technical debt — the hidden cost of shortcuts that eventually slow everything down. Communications Debt works the same way. It’s the gap between who the company is today and the story it continues to tell the world.

Most leadership teams think of communications audits as a marketing clean-up exercise — something to do when the website feels dated or the brand needs polish. That assumption is exactly why many companies operate with quiet, costly drift in how they describe themselves.

Leaders often think of the boilerplate as an afterthought — the small paragraph at the end of a press release that nobody reads. But the boilerplate is one of the most useful strategy tools a CMO or communications lead has. It’s the smallest space where a company’s story either holds together or quietly falls apart.

Most people assume investor relations (IR) teams sound monotone because they’re naturally dry or overly cautious. That’s not it. The monotone comes from the environment — one built around risk, scrutiny, and legal precision. Executives aren’t trying to sound robotic. They’re trying not to make a mistake.

Executives often see policy as a legal formality — a document created to meet regulatory requirements or reduce liability. But once a policy touches the outside world, it stops functioning as paperwork. It becomes a signal.

Executives still say it every year: “Can’t we just pay Gartner?” It sounds efficient. It feels logical. And it’s completely wrong. Gartner isn’t pay-to-play. But the myth hangs on because it offers a simple explanation for a complex process.