Ah ha! Communication
Many financial professionals have real problems when trying to get their message across clearly and concisely to colleagues and clients. So how can they transform their ability to communicate? Clive Lewis, a speaker at this year’s ACCA conference, explains that it’s all about understanding brain power.
As accountants and financiers we face a pressing challenge… we have to learn mastery in communication. This goes far beyond mere presentation or meeting skills; it’s about learning how to build powerful relationships with our colleagues and clients. This is where business success lies and where our profession has a real opportunity to transform its impact.
So how exactly do we do this? Of course almost every accountant will have some of the foundation skills learned as part of their professional development. However while this is to be applauded I want to argue that most trainings fail miserably to equip us with the real skill we need - to be able to think on our feet.
Let’s take a typical example… such as when a senior colleague asks us for some tax advice. In such a situation how quickly will it be before our listener glazes over - or how soon will it be before we find ourselves descending into a level of detail that not even we think is particularly useful?
Now if you recognise yourself in the above description then you are not alone. We all fall into familiar traps. It may be our intention to help our colleagues get that ‘Ah ha!’ insight but we have to learn not to go off track, not to start rambling and not to go into too much detail. When we do so the outcome is entirely predictable. We fail our clients and we fail ourselves.
So the argument is this. Whether we are giving a presentation, conducting a Q&A session or are in a client meeting we need to get better at engaging, pacing and leading the conversation. And this requires that we remember one fundamental rule - it is not what we are saying that is important. The only measure that counts is how much the person listening has understood.
Structure supports spontaneity
So how can we do this? There is a secret here- ‘whole brain’ reasoning or, to put it in another way, using structure to support spontaneity.
The way this works is as follows. When it comes to communication our logical left-brain is absolutely superb in three critical areas - cutting to the core (breaking down your topic), breaking down the core (separating ideas out distinctly from one another) and providing dynamic movement (giving ideas energy and force). Meanwhile our right hand, intuitive brain is brilliant with images, stories, sensation, colour and imagination. And it is how we combine the gifts of both parts of our brain that enables us to get our message across with impact and clarity.
How this works in practice is simple but powerful. If, for example, we are planning a presentation on the state of pensions across Europe this might work as follows:
1. We start by thinking about our ‘the big headline’ which, for example, could be ‘So how big is the European pension crisis?’
2. We would then break this down into manageable chunks which might be
3. Then we would conclude with a comment that echoes the headline and gives the whole answer some forward momentum. So we might say something like …. ‘So this is a critical situation and unless we resolve it, it could be Europe’s Enron’
Now this 1,2,3, format is extremely useful both when planning formal talks as well as when you are making ad hoc replies because it imposes order on the mass of information that you have at your fingertips. However, remember that the colour and impact in any talk comes from your ‘right brain’ capacity for imagination. This is where you improvise around your structure by including stories and anecdotes and even using metaphor. Indeed the analogy of Enron is a good example of how you can make a dry subject immediately memorable.
However it is also worth drawing your attention to one additional creative technique which both adds colour and is especially valuable if you want to ensure that you get your message across - and that is Mind Mapping.
Now there are some developments in working practice that are so blindingly obvious it makes you wonder why people are still labouring in the old way and Mind Mapping is one of these. In essence Mind Mapping provides a visual representation of the way that we think. And we don’t think in lists - we think in images and key words, shapes and patterns, all connected one to another.
Let’s take an example. If you remember your last holiday a number of associated thoughts will spring to mind - the journey, the place you stayed, the things you did, the people you met and so on. And as you think of each of these key memories you will have hundreds more associated thoughts.
Mind Mapping reflects this natural process. It’s a graphic technique which focuses on a central issue, follows the process of your mind, and allows you to generate all sorts of thoughts and ideas about that issue.
If we take the case of European pensions we could, quite simply, reflect this as a Mind Map (see picture). The value of this to the listener is that it shows the whole picture in a way that the brain immediately recognises. This not only makes the subject immediately more comprehensible it also makes it easier for people to memorise and recall. And that is extremely valuable.
So let me conclude by saying again that it is absolutely vital for FDs, financial controllers, accountants and analysts to take seriously the need to sharpen their communication skills by structuring their talks and by adding colour to their responses. It is my contention that by following these guidelines even the least confident speaker can transform the impact they have on their colleagues.
Tags: ACCA, Financial professionals, Mind Mapping