How can you talk to non-technical stakeholders and clients?

Communicating with non-technical stakeholders is like translating a language. Imagine tailoring your message to their understanding. Knowing your audience isn't intricate; it's about adapting. It's not about complex jargon; it's about clarity. When you know your audience well, you can explain technical concepts in relatable terms. Whether it's clients or team members from other fields, understanding their perspective ensures effective communication. This way, you bridge the gap between technical details and their comprehension, creating a meaningful dialogue that fosters collaboration and shared understanding.

Knowing your audience means learning about their background, what they already know, where they are in their learning process, and what they want to learn. For example, you should know how much detail they want to know about the product you're working on or promoting. In any project or organization, there are stakeholders with different backgrounds who play a critical role in the success of the project. When talking to non-technical people, remember that they won't know all the technical terms you might use. That's why it's important to adapt the way you talk to what they will understand. Having a good idea of who your audience is will make it easier to communicate your message clearly.

It's a valuable being the only 'cyber geek' in a group of engineers (metalurgical engineers, electrical engineers, maritime engineers, etc.). I am always aware that my colleagues do not always under government terms like 'PIT' (Platform Information Technology), or cyber geek-ish terms. It takes a slight pause, and a couple of well-thought out sentences to clarify the cybersecurity terms. That type of consideration helps the engineers to a) feel included and know that their understanding is important and b) defining terms adds COHESION to the process of assessing and authorizing the systems under discussion. When everyone understands the goal, cooperation is the result. This is a topic that makes you think!! Thanks. #OpenToWork

Simplifying a message involves several methods, such as: - Choose words that your non-technical audience will understand. This ties back to our first point about knowing your audience beforehand. - While technical audience often want to know the HOW, non-technical stakeholders are usually interested in the WHY behind the product or project. - Analogies: for example, you could explain machine learning by comparing it to teaching a dog new tricks. Both involve repetition and rewards. - Visual aids: a picture is worth a thousand words. - Hands-on: rather than speaking about a feature, it's more effective to let people try out a prototype. This can make the feature's technical aspects easier to understand.

I teach and practice this daily. My students all know how to 'speak geek', and I write contract proposals or make presentations to the C-Suite. Knowing how to translate 'geek speak' into plain English can be a daunting task, as one must learn to couch highly technical or esoteric concepts into a simplicity of terms everyone can understand. I find couching terms in analogies to be the best way, along with using verbiage of simpler means to succinctly get the point across.

Should use visuals to explain the technical information and process. Should avoid technical jargon. Should know the audience

Following the priciple of "What’s in it for them", it's always crucial to let your audience know what benefits your project or product provides. This is especially true for non-technical audiences who are more focused on the value that your work brings. This value can differ based on the project; it could be about cutting costs or improving customer happiness, for example. Tailor your message to your audience. If you're talking to the board of directors, for instance, focus on how the product meets the company's business goals, using specific numbers to highlight increased efficiency or cost savings.

Understanding the real underlying customer and business needs through the interpretation of a non-technical stakeholder requires understanding the big-picture context and the end goal, not just how and when can we deliver a solution. Expressing and framing the problem statement from the correct role helps clarity! If as a developer, I'm presented with a solution, I do not jump into looking for problems in the solution, so as to not get drifted into 'solving' the presented solution. In talking to non-technical stakeholders, I like to clarify and write the definitions of terms being used because invariably as humans we tend to use context sensitive synonyms loosely, leading to misunderstandings. Clarify key concepts as definitions!

Try explaining the impact of your work to your team in a 5 minute presentation and take the questions! for e.g. I and my colleagues take turns into doing our summary presentations every other week for non-technical stakeholders - we explain the impact. Add a diagraming toolkit to your skillset! I like to learn 'diagramming' from product managers and anyone good at creating quick sketches, diagrams and pictures. A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

I used to try out texts on my mom to see if she, in all her blessed non-techy-ness, could get the message without feeling condescended to.

When crafting a message (no matter the form), always imagine that somebody comes to you with it. Would you read that message with patience? Would you be interested in finishing that presentation? Would you be bored with that pitch? Very often, if you take a deep breath and try to look at your message through somebody else's eyes, things look very different.