In my last performance review, one of my Key Strengths is in Professional Communication. I think this is the first time I got a Key Strength in this point. The comments I got were that I can communicate exceptionally well, always clear, to the point, structured, and easy to understand.
Reflecting back, this way of speaking, as I call it “talking like a consultant”, was new to me. I didn’t have it before when I was a developer, project manager, or product manager.
“Talking like a consultant” gets me better at conveying my points, giving opinions, and delivering reports.
I learned this when I was preparing for consulting interviews during my MBA time. At that time I did a lot of case interview practices that were meant as a simulation of real consulting work and communication. At the end of each case practice, we need to deliver the conclusion and recommendation.
In delivering the recommendation, there are two frameworks that I often use, The Pyramid Principle and STAR Framework. In this post, I will share about The Pyramid Principle, STAR Framework will be discussed in another post.
The Pyramid Principle or Minto Pyramid or Top-Down Communication is in my opinion the most “consultant-like” communication pattern. It was developed by Barbara Minto from McKinsey and intended to help consultants communicate better with executives. The main consideration is that executives don’t have a lot of time to listen to consultants and they might leave mid-conversation for something more urgent. To solve this problem, we get to the point by making the conclusion or recommendation first, then if the executive is still there, we continue with the supporting arguments/analysis and then the supporting facts or examples for each argument/analysis.
This way of communicating needs some practice and conscious enforcement as it is not natural for us. We are used to bottom-up communication starting from the opening, then the body, and then the conclusion. We were taught this in school and see it all the time in our life. We see this format a lot in novels, movies, and when talking to our friends. But with The Pyramid Principle, we want to flip it over and start with the conclusion.
Communicating this way will help us communicate concisely, and clearly. Ensuring that our main point is delivered. I use this framework not only in a professional setting, but even in personal settings with my wife, friends, and families.
