If you want to be a refined business analyst, holding robust documentation and analysis skills is crucial, but there is more to it. The profession of Business Analysis requires you to be an eloquent communicator and a powerful persuader.
Communication is an art. It’s an expression of human thinking in loud and subtle ways. And persuasion, it’s a skill just like magic, which takes time to acquire, but once mastered you will have people act as per your instructions!
Although mastering these skills is a slow process, today, I will give you some handy tips and techniques you could use right away in your next assignment or even your following conversation and elevate your standards as a Business Analyst.
So, without further ado, let’s move ahead.
How to be an Eloquent Analyst
Every corporate gentlemen and gentlewoman must have a firm grip on communicating effectively. But, communication itself is not easy, and it gets all the more difficult when you are conversing or presenting in front of large or high-influence stakeholders. Today, we will go deep into the human psyche and learn how to overcome the nervousness and present our best foot forward with these.
Tip 1: Look into the eyes
When you look directly into someone’s eyes, you radiate confidence and have a subtle but strong effect on them. You are bound to be taken seriously, and your statements will be heard and respected. When speaking to a mid or large group, briefly look into each stakeholder’s eyes, make him feel as if you are directly talking to ‘him and no one else’ and then, move to the next stakeholder. This way, you create a ‘personalized‘ experience for each of your audiences.
Now, if you feel distracted by looking right into somebody’s eyes, look at their forehead instead. From a distance beyond 2 meters, people will not notice whether you are looking at their forehead or eyes. This way, you will retain the same effect on them without disturbing your flow of communication.
Tip 2: Exchange fillers for pause
Everyone needs time to recollect their thoughts, even the most natural speakers. But, there is a difference. Powerful speakers don’t use fillers like ‘Umm’, ‘You know’ or ‘Aaaaann’ but they ‘Pause’ – Yes, they ‘Pause’ without speaking anything.
This technique makes the crowd believe that you are absolutely clear with what you need to convey, and your pause is to emphasize your next statement. Whereas, when you use fillers, you are literally telling them that ‘see, I don’t know what to speak, give me a moment to think’.
So, exchange fillers for pauses in your subsequent verbal communication.
Tip 3: KISS
Keep It Simple, Silly!
There is a very famous quote from Einstein, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know it well enough.”
In a presentation, you might temporarily impress clients with your technical jargon, but in the long run, you are making them more perplexed than enlightened. So, keep your conversation simple, don’t ramble much, and don’t use overcomplicated words or phrases. Additionally, to aid comprehension, take advantage of whiteboards or charts, and make your presentations and communications more visual.
Benefits? Well, your audiences will understand your point better, and it will stick to their minds for long as humans remember images 13 times longer than words.
Tip 4: Educate by association
Business analysts can’t always keep away from technicality, and it usually becomes inevitable when explaining complicated processes and flows to the ‘not-so-technical audiences’.
But there is a trick; repeated human experiments show that we understand something the best when it’s associated with something we already know. E.g., Suppose I asked you to remember the term ‘Buckminsterfullerene’, which is a chemical term. In that case, you will be scratching your head trying to remember it but if you associate it with a buck over a minister and appearing fuller by doing it, its way too easy – see, Buck + Misnter + fuller + in.
So, help everybody understand complex processes, terms, or flows by relating it with something they already know, and you will be amazed by seeing how well they can grasp it.
Tip 5: Avoid displaying your nervousness
We all get nervous now and then, and believe it or not, and it’s a good thing as it shows that you care about what you are going to experience.
The human body is intricate, and when you are nervous, you send physiological signals indicating your anxiousness. Some of us are biting fingers or lips, fidgeting, waving hands a lot, or looking at the ceiling – such actions are distracting and could even be irksome to your stakeholders. Hence, check these actions and present a positive and self-assured posture.
Tip 6: Be energetic
Being spirited and energetic is contagious, and when you are actively presenting or communicating something, your audiences are bound to follow suit.
Be lively, make your presence felt, add some decent humor in your conversation, and, most importantly – Smile (something I have noticed not many people do, and it will set you apart). Soon, you will see that your audiences are much more interested and involved in your dialogues.
Tip 7: Diversify your speech
No one likes a monotonous tone, accept it, and when you are explaining a process flow containing 40 steps, it might act as a perfect recipe for sound sleep for your attendees!
So, it would help if you learn to modulate and vary the pitch and tone of your voice. While speaking longer sentences, lower your pitch in the middle and raise it at the ends to assert and emphasize important points. Also, vary the rate or speed of your flow – be fast when you repeat something, and be slow when covering an intricate concept.
Couple your diverse speech with an energetic tone and be ready to mesmerize your audience.
Tip 8: Move your body strategically
Quick question – What do you do when somebody softens their voice to tell you a secret? You lean towards them, isn’t it.
Human bodies are wired to react based on the body language of the person we are talking to. Take note of these subtle body language tips to aid your communication:
- Slumping is an indicator of self-doubt and laziness – sit with your spine straight (and relaxed) and keep your head upright
- Move your hands and gestures in-line with your words – sway your hands to denote movement and action
- Lean your body slightly forward while emphasizing a point
- Change your position (if standing) or re-orient your chair (while sitting) when you move from one subject/concept to another.
Tip 9: Practice
No one is born with a charismatic oratory personality, and even seasoned speakers sometimes rehearse 15-20 times before actual public speaking. Though I am not asking you to practice as often, a little staging before a scheduled presentation will always be more helpful.
Also, while practicing, please take note of all the above tips and incorporate them as well. This way, you will be much more confident during your actual presentation.
Tip 10: Always have a story handy!
(This is one of the biggest tips I can give to you. Something that involves careful practice to master but is absolutely worthwhile.)
Communication and engagement are the cornerstones of a business analysts’ job. However, eliciting requirements and exchanging emails aren’t perfect for building relationships with your customer. Your customers should see you as a ‘human being’ rather than a business analyst, and thus you need to connect with them on a more personal level.
The quickest way to do so is to tell a story.
Well, don’t get me wrong here. I am not asking you to plot a story with multiple characters and twists. All we want is a personal narrative that your stakeholders can understand and relate to. Some suggestions:
- An account of your hiking experience over the weekend
- A recital of an experience working on a similar project/feature/module
- Humorous/funny/intriguing incidents you recently experienced
- Tales and customs from your culture and religion
- Your views on the latest movie/sport/political affairs
When telling these incidents, you take your listeners on a journey where they emphasize your own emotions of adventure, anxiety, or humor and form a deeper bond with you.
A couple of guidelines that will help you strike the right chords with your listeners:
- Modify your story as per your audience
- Don’t drag your story for long – make it crisp and know when to close
- Avoid debatable topics
- Avoid taunts wrapped in humor
- Be authentic – fake stories can be easily caught
Tip 11: Be courteous
I have observed talented, influential people being rude and thankless, which tarnishes their complete image. As a species, we humans respond very well to thankfulness and appreciation and create a positive image of someone who radiates such feelings. Remember the saying:
‘Nobody is going to remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel’.
Don’t forget, today, we work in a team setting where the teams are as strong as their weakest links, and your actions should inspire an environment that boosts productivity. So, be appreciative – thank your stakeholders for their time, thank the technical team for sharing their knowledge, and thank your managers for giving you opportunities.
Again, don’t be rude or high-headed – Don’t be arrogant with your fellow associates, or you will unnecessarily create animosity in the team. Also, don’t blow the trumpet of your success everywhere, or you will be considered a shallow individual. Treat everyone with as much respect as you want to be treated, and you will notice how people, almost magnetically, will want to be in your company.
How to be a Powerful Persuader
This section explores the practical tips and techniques you could leverage to get your stakeholders to do as you would want them and tilt the odds in your favor.
Tip 1: What’s in for me?
Everyone looks for their benefit in things, and you can’t win over anybody when you think the same way. Dale Carnegie of ‘How to win friends and influence people’ fame once said, ‘Talk to someone about themselves, and they’ll listen for hours’.
So, before you try to get your point across to any of your clients or stakeholders, let them know what’s in store for them. Make them understand very clearly how they will benefit from it and sell those benefits.
For Instance, when you are trying to induce a new change in an existing application and want the buy-in from your key stakeholders, let them know the benefits they’ll get once this change is incorporated. E.g.
- Reduction in computation time required to ‘process’ the data
- Ease of access for the end-user
- Assist inclusions of future enhancements
- Add business value to the product
Put this way, and your stakeholder’s focus will shift from worrying about the ‘effort’ required for the change to the ‘advantages’ of the change.
Tip 2: Know the facts
For an analyst, things are not as smooth as going up to a stakeholder, coaxing him in flattery language and winning his confidence – Your clients are too smart for that!
Instead, what will help you win over them is how well you know the functionalities, the processes, the modules, the pros, and the cons of your project/product. Taking the same example of inducing a new change in an existing application, you should know:
- How the current functionality functions
- How complex (functionally/technically) is the new change?
- Will the dev team be able to handle the associated technicality?
- What’s the implementation time frame we are looking at?
- Do we be able to accomplish it in the existing schedule?
- What are our other options?
You get the drift. Right?
Remember, you will be respected and believed for the knowledge you carry about your project and the information you possess. People are too busy to care what lies outside that, and as you are already aware, everyone looks for their benefits – so show them that!
Tip 3: Know the 3 pillars
Scope, Cost, and Quality are the three pillars of project management, and you should learn how to use them to your advantage.
If you suggest an essential change and are receive resistance from your stakeholders, tweak your message in favor of these 3 pillars. Shift your focus on highlighting how ‘not’ implementing the suggested change will result in:
- Scope creep
- Schedule slippage (which in turn will impact cost)
- Risks of an increase in costs
- Quality concerns
- Increase in bugs/issues
- Loss of customers
You will instantly notice how your stakeholders will request you to show how to avoid these risks – present your suggestion with a nice bow around it!
It feels like magic when you see things turning out just how you want them to be by highlighting these three pillars’ effect.
Tip 4: Awaken those deadlines
You don’t have to be a bully to impose a deadline upon your peers and colleagues. Deadlines are a simple depiction of timelines, which, when not followed, will result in a problem for everyone associated with it. And, since nobody wants to be the reason for issues, deadlines are much more effective than ‘gentle reminders’.
Remember, activities/decisions are primarily postponed because people do not heed the timelines, and when you have the invisible yardstick of a deadline, people think twice before delaying.
Tip 5: Put to the proof
Individuals with an objective outlook are usually not bulged by flattery; they want facts – unbiased and practical. To tackle such challenging stakeholders, you have to go the extra mile and create something they can believe in – like a mockup or a Proof of Concept (POC).
I remember working with a similar client who wanted everything depicted through a working prototype – their rationale was ‘If you can successfully create the prototype, only then it’s worth believing’. We created numerous vivid prototypes for them, showed them how the feature works, and even ended up agreeing on a more straightforward (and easy to code) interface – proof that this technique can convince even the most resistive stakeholders.
Tip 6: Learn to Lean
Though convincing ‘all’ the project stakeholders is a challenging, arduous task, getting buy-in from a limited set of stakeholders is still very doable.
The trick is to shortlist a couple of influential stakeholders (take help from your stakeholder matrix) and identify their areas of interest in the project. Then, start to win over their trust by keeping them informed, seeking their guidance, and performing activities like:
- Giving them a heads-up even before you do any groundwork,
- Sharing your analysis and highlighting the benefits
- Giving them a glimpse as to how their interests will be taken care of,
- Collaborating with them
Over time, these stakeholders will become your confidant and will support and champion your ideas and thoughts. And, owing to the strong support you now have, you can easily influence all the other stakeholders on the project!
Tip 7: Be prepared for resistance
“Why should I prepare for resistance when my aim is just to convince stakeholders?”
Well, read along.
Immaterial of how hard you try, you will find that some stakeholders won’t budge from their stand and are firm in rejecting what you suggest. In such situations, you relent and step back because you were unprepared for this resistance, and that’s the mistake.
So if you believe your ideas are worthwhile, stick to them and hold them up while taking help from your Project Manager and getting technical assistance from your Technical Architects. Sooner than later, perseverance pays off.
Those stakeholders were essentially trying to judge your belief in your own theory, and when you abandon your own ideas, they understand that those were not worth pursuing.
Final note
Bring the above tips into practice for at least 2-3 months – It’s the period required to get something into a habit. Gradually you will realize that you have begun to perform all these actions subconsciously without you even noticing.
Go, become an elegant Business Analyst.