Your words are telling a story.
Is it the one you meant to tell?
Whether it’s a new policy, a targeted campaign, or a leadership think piece, how we frame our message communicates something about whose experience counts, whose voice gets heard, and who is expected to do the adapting.
Most of the time, nobody checks if the message lands the way you intended.
At one place I worked, the organisation decided to celebrate International Women’s Day by gathering its senior women on a stage to talk about their successes. In the presence of a newspaper photographer, of course.
It became clear very quickly that the point was not to celebrate these women. It was to parade them as proof that promotion was possible at a place that did not traditionally promote female staff. We sat through a talk about what women could do to improve our chances of promotion with no mention of what the organisation could change to improve fairness. The message was clear: they did it, why can’t you?
But one by one, the women on that stage admitted they had sacrificed a personal life for a professional life.
The organisation’s response? A follow-up event: a “dress for success” seminar. For female staff.
Nobody involved intended any harm. But the framing told a different story entirely: the problem is not the organisation, it’s you. An external audit revealed that there were in fact structural issues within the organisation that had a profound impact on fairness. And the women’s day event, however, well-intentioned, only compounded the PR disaster.
Language and framing are not style. They are substance. The words an organisation and its leadership choose shape how people are seen and what is treated as normal. When done well, communication builds genuine connection. When done carelessly, even with the best of intentions, it excludes the very people it is trying to reach.
Maybe this sounds familiar.
You already know your communications matter. You are probably the person in the room who notices when something is off — the careers page that only shows one kind of family, the annual report that defaults to "chairman" on every page, the marketing copy that means well but still uses “blind spot.”
You have tried AI tools. They catch some of the obvious stuff. But you know the problems go deeper than swapping a pronoun. A document can use all the right terminology and still centre one experience while sidelining others. No algorithm reads for that.
You want someone who can tell you what is actually happening in your text, why it matters, and what to do about it.
The same lens. A different text.
I also work as a developmental editor for fiction, and everything I do is shaped by what I call the dual lens: writing craft and inclusive storytelling, working together. My approach comes from twenty years of studying how culture shapes what language means, across anthropology, postcolonial theory, and classrooms that were never monocultural
For fiction, that means helping writers build characters and worlds that do not lean on lazy assumptions. For organisations, it means the same close reading applied to a different kind of text.
Both come down to the same question: what story is this language telling about who matters?
What working together looks like
A Communication & Framing Review is an expert analysis of your written content: reports, marketing materials, internal communications, policy documents, website copy, and thought-leadership pieces. Reviewed for full audience reach, problematic representation, and missed opportunities using specialist knowledge applied to your words.
Document Review
A detailed review of your content, with feedback on what needs changing and why.
What’s included:
✔ Annotated comments throughout your document identifying problematic language and framing, and missed opportunities
✔ A summary report with key findings, patterns, and practical recommendations
✔ Clear explanations of the “why” behind every issue
✔ Practical alternative language and framing suggestions
Pricing: Up to 5,000 words: €400 to €600 | Above 5,000 words: €80 to €100 per hour, scope agreed in advance
Final pricing depends on document length and complexity. I’m always transparent about costs before any work begins.
Consultation
A focused conversation to discuss findings, talk through your inclusive communication strategy, or work through a specific challenge. Sometimes you don’t need a full review. You need an expert to think it through with you.
Pricing: €90 to €120 per hour (1-hour minimum)
How it works
1. You get in touch. Tell me about the document, its audience, and any concerns you have.
2. We agree the scope. Document length, timeline, what you need.
3. I send you a clear proposal. Pricing, timeline, and what to expect.
4. I get to work. I read your document with care and critical depth, annotate it, and write up my findings.
5. You get an annotated document and summary report. Everything explained clearly enough to share with your team.
6. If you want, we talk it through.
Meet Sorcha
I am Sorcha Gunne. I have a PhD in English and Comparative Literary Studies, from the University of Warwick. For twenty years, I researched how language shapes the way we think about gender, race, power, and difference, published with Routledge and Palgrave Macmillan, and co-founded a research network with over 2,000 members.
I have taught thousands of students how to see what is really happening in a text. 94% rated my teaching "very good" or "excellent," and what they consistently said was that I made complex, difficult ideas accessible. This approach helped me win a Times Higher Education award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts, and it’s what I bring to your feedback: not academic jargon, but clear explanations that shift how your team sees its own writing.
While working at universities, I founded a committee from scratch and turned it into something that actually delivered: facilities for working parents, a mentoring programme, and contract reforms. I also contributed to the Athena SWAN application, an internationally recognised framework for gender equality in higher education.
I was a Guest Researcher at the University of Oslo's Centre for Gender Research, and, today, I’m also a Pro and Industry Judge for Writing Battle.
Based in Oslo. Working globally.
You know what you want to say. I can help you say it well.
I also work with fiction writers on developmental editing. Find out more.