What do you do if your communication skills need a boost in Budgeting & Forecasting?

I would take proactive steps to enhance them. Firstly, I would target training and development programs focused on financial communication. Investing in learning new courses which would include complex financial data, tailoring messages to different audiences, and refining presentation skills. Then seek feedback from friends, colleagues, and supervisors to identify areas needing improvement. Continuous learning, seeking opportunities for feedback, and staying updated on industry trends would be integral to my improvement journey. By taking these proactive measures, I aim to confidently communicate financial awareness, and contribute more effectively to strategic decision-making in Budgeting & Forecasting.

The challenge with assessing your communication skills related to business presentations is that feedback is often related to the content, not on the delivery because they are often conflated in a business context. When assessing your strengths and weaknesses it's important to try to encourage feedback that separates the content from the delivery or better yet, focus on feedback on one particular piece, e.g., cadence and inflection. When you focus on improvement, work and improve one area at a time until you achieve your desired outcome consistently then move to the next area. Finally, do not wait for big presentations but ask for a coach/colleague/leader to provide feedback on that one area after every meeting or informal presentation.

I have found that Toastmasters Intl is very helpful in this respect. The Pathways programme allows for all of these areas to be practiced and evaluated in a safe space conducive to learning and improvement

Before budgeting and forecasting, you must evaluate your communication skills and shortcomings. Review the presentation with peers or record it to assess correctness, clarity, and relevance. Be aware of the presenter's body language, speech, and visual aids. Practice with questions and comments may enhance responsiveness. Improve your quickness, confidence, and rapport. Understanding one's skills and weaknesses allows for more focused training, which improves financial communication. Regular self-evaluation and feedback loops may help you communicate difficult financial information convincingly.

I agree with all the comments said about understanding your strengths and weaknesses. And, as Rick F. mentioned, as business presentations are often based upon "content" and not "delivery", to boost your "delivery" communications skills, you may want to invest in an AI software package that will evaluate and provide interactive as well as a written summary of your strengths and weaknesses in your delivery. We, at the Touro Graduate School of Business, use the AI software PitchVantage and have seen (from both an anecdotal and statistical perspective) the effectiveness and increased confidence in student presentations when this software (used as a practice tool) was utilized.

Researching great communicators may help financial planners and forecasters enhance their communication abilities. Looking for financial professional webinars and courses? Check out the AFP, CIMA, and AICPA. Find an experienced instructor or colleague to enhance your communication abilities. To observe how others communicate well, attend conferences or seminars. Watch videos, listen to podcasts, and take online financial communication courses. You may improve your communication skills and clarify hard financial ideas with self-study and industry standards.

Meeting with a mentor or a person you have identified is skillful at communicating budgets and forecasting is a great way to start a feedback loop. Ask them for feedback in a past meeting in which you presented in the topic. Ask if you can schedule regular check ins after future meetings. Making it a habit will help you fine tune your own skills.

Improve budgeting and forecasting skills with practice and new communication skills. Use opportunities to present your findings to various audiences to improve your ability to explain complex concepts. Simulate real-world situations via simulations or role-playing to develop communication skills. Advice from mentors or colleagues may help you develop. When you practise and build confidence, you can explain complicated financial concepts clearly. Regular communication exercises foster development and equip you to speak in shifting financial circumstances.

Schedule a time with your feedback group to practice an upcoming presentation. If you are allotted a certain time, make sure to have a timer tracking your presentation and Q&A section. Have prepared bullets written down if you get off track!

If you are making a presentation, you should keep in mind the differing "learning" styles of your audience. As examples, within your presentation, you may want to include: --diagrams/graphs/photos for the visual learners --handouts for linguistic learners --show relationships/how information is related for logical learners, etc.

Publicly sharing my learnings, and admitting to what I don't know has been a huge lesson for me and a way to connect with others that are either in the same situation as me or those that have skills to offer and are willing to share and help me learn. We all have our gifts and talents that we excel at but there is always time to learn more and to play around with new tools and techniques. Social media has been one way for me to share this as well as through newsletters. Podcasts were a way I experimented with during the 2020 lockdown, though I found that it wasn't the way I wanted to share my learnings. I also learned that you don't have to share on every platform! Chose the top 2-3 that suit you and work with them.

Each experience brings a new learning opportunity. While perfection isn’t the goal, you can always work on refining your skills and presence. Mastery includes your comfort level in receiving immediate feedback and revising numbers based on new shared information.

In becoming an effective communicator when making presentations on budgeting and forecasting, especially if the audience are senior managers that may not be fully knowledgeable about finances, you will need to "interpret" the financial model, its input and output in laymen terms reflecting how the budgeting and forecasting data will impact the business. This is an essential step and skills that cannot be ignored!