TALK LIKE A CONSULTANT - Top down communication explained (management consulting skills)
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, the speaker, a former McKinsey consultant, introduces the concept of top-down communication, a critical skill for effective professional discourse. The script explains that top-down communication involves focusing on key results and starting with the main message, as opposed to detailing the process. Through a practical exercise, viewers learn how to apply this principle, particularly in high-pressure situations like being questioned by a CEO. The video aims to help viewers improve their communication skills, not only in consulting but also in various professional and personal contexts.
Takeaways
- 😀 The video is about teaching top-down communication skills, which are crucial for consultants and professionals alike.
- 📚 Top-down communication emphasizes focusing on results and key content that matters to the audience, starting with the main message.
- 🔑 The concept is often associated with the 'pyramid principle', which structures information with key messages at the top and supporting details below.
- 🤔 The video aims to clarify misconceptions about top-down communication and provide a practical understanding through an exercise.
- 👨🏫 The speaker's experience from McKinsey highlights the importance of effective communication for young consultants and its role in training programs.
- 📈 The training exercise involves a scenario where a consultant must concisely report project status to a senior executive, like a CEO.
- 🇫🇷 An example scenario given is a market entry study for a new product line, where the consultant concludes that France is a suitable market.
- 🙅♂️ A common mistake is answering with a bottom-up approach, detailing the process rather than starting with the key result.
- 🗣️ The recommended top-down approach starts with the hypothesis or conclusion and then provides supporting reasons if time allows.
- 🧐 Difficulties in adopting top-down communication may stem from natural storytelling habits, the desire to showcase work done, or unclear thinking.
- 📚 The video recommends Barbara Minto's 'The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking' for further learning on this topic.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of the training programs for new consultants at McKinsey?
-The primary focus of the training programs for new consultants at McKinsey is on communication skills, particularly on how to communicate effectively and articulate key messages clearly.
What is the concept of top-down communication explained in the video?
-Top-down communication is a method of delivering information by starting with the key message or result and then providing supporting details. It is about focusing on the content that matters most to the audience and structuring communication to convey the main point upfront.
Why is top-down communication considered an important skill in professional settings?
-Top-down communication is considered important because it allows professionals to convey their key messages and results succinctly and clearly, which is crucial for effective communication in business settings, including consulting.
Can you explain the 'pyramid principle' mentioned in the video?
-The 'pyramid principle' is a concept where information is structured in a pyramid shape, with the key message at the top and the supporting details, facts, and arguments at the bottom. It helps in organizing thoughts and presenting information in a logical, top-down manner.
How does the video suggest structuring an answer when asked about a project's status by a senior executive?
-The video suggests starting the answer with the current hypothesis or key result of the project, followed by the top reasons or evidence supporting that conclusion, rather than detailing the process or steps taken to reach it.
What is the main difference between top-down and bottom-up communication as per the video?
-Top-down communication starts with the key message or result and then provides supporting details, while bottom-up communication starts with the details and processes and ends with the conclusion or result, which is not considered as effective in professional settings.
Why might some people find it difficult to adopt top-down communication?
-Some people might find it difficult to adopt top-down communication because it goes against the natural order of recounting events, it requires not emphasizing the work done but focusing on results, and it demands clarity of thought and the ability to articulate the main reasons for a recommendation or conclusion.
What exercise does the video suggest to help understand top-down communication?
-The video suggests an exercise where you imagine being asked by a senior executive about the status of a project, and then practice responding by starting with the key message and supporting reasons, as opposed to detailing the process.
What book is recommended in the video for further understanding of professional communication?
-The book recommended in the video is 'The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking' by Barbara Minto, an ex-McKinsey employee, which is a bestseller on professional communication.
How often does the speaker release new content on their YouTube channel?
-The speaker releases new content on their YouTube channel at least once every Saturday.
What additional platforms does the speaker use to share content related to professional development and communication skills?
-Besides the YouTube channel, the speaker also shares content on Instagram under the handle Firm Learning and has an email mailing list for more regular content on similar topics.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Top-Down Communication
The speaker introduces the concept of top-down communication, emphasizing its importance in training programs for new consultants at McKinsey. They outline the structure of the video, which includes an explanation of top-down communication and a practical exercise to help viewers understand and apply this principle. The speaker highlights that effective communication involves focusing on key results and starting with the main message, which is likened to a pyramid structure with the key message at the top and supporting details below.
🗂 Practical Exercise in Top-Down Communication
This section presents a practical scenario where a consultant is asked to summarize a market entry study project to the CEO. The speaker describes the background of the task, which involves conducting interviews and analyzing data to assess market opportunities for a new product line. The consultant's preliminary conclusion is that France would be a suitable market. The speaker invites viewers to consider how they would answer the CEO's question, then provides two contrasting examples of potential responses, one following a bottom-up approach and the other adhering to top-down communication principles.
🔍 Analysis of Top-Down Communication Examples
The speaker dissects the two examples of potential answers to the CEO's question. The first example is a bottom-up approach, detailing the process and steps taken to reach the conclusion, which is not considered effective in a business setting. The second example is a top-down approach, starting with the key message that France is the best fit for the project, followed by three supporting reasons. This method is preferred as it provides the CEO with the essential information upfront and respects their time and interest in results rather than the process.
🚀 Conclusion and Encouragement for Top-Down Communication
The speaker concludes by discussing why top-down communication can be challenging for some people, citing natural tendencies to recount the process, the desire to showcase hard work, and the lack of clarity in one's own thoughts as potential barriers. They encourage viewers to reflect and adopt top-down communication for clarity and effectiveness. The speaker also recommends a book by Barbara Minto, 'The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking,' for further learning. They invite viewers to engage with the content by liking, subscribing, and following on other platforms for more insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Top-down communication
💡Consulting
💡Training programs
💡Communication skills
💡Key message
💡Pyramid principle
💡Market entry study
💡Hypothesis
💡Results
💡Professional context
Highlights
Top-down communication is a crucial skill emphasized in McKinsey's training programs for new consultants.
The concept is designed to enhance the effectiveness of communication in professional settings.
Top-down communication involves starting with the key message and focusing on the results.
It contrasts with bottom-up communication, which starts with details and works up to the conclusion.
The training includes exercises to practice top-down communication in simulated scenarios.
The video provides a clear definition of top-down communication and its importance.
The presenter explains the pyramid principle as a way to structure thoughts and communication.
The base of the pyramid consists of underlying arguments and details, while the top holds the key message.
Many people mistakenly start communication with details instead of the key message.
The video demonstrates top-down communication with a practical example involving a market entry study.
The example illustrates the difference between bottom-up and top-down approaches in responding to a CEO's inquiry.
The recommended top-down response provides the hypothesis first, followed by supporting reasons.
The presenter discusses common pitfalls in communication and why people tend to use bottom-up approaches.
The video encourages reflecting on one's own communication style to improve clarity and effectiveness.
The presenter suggests 'The Pyramid Principle' by Barbara Minto as a valuable resource for further learning.
The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to engage with the content and subscribe for more.
Transcripts
- During my time at McKinsey,
I helped in designing the training programs
for the new consultants.
In these training programs,
communication was always one of the most important skills.
It was common feedback of all the senior consultants
and all the partners that the number one topic
where young consultants needed training on
and where they need to be developed by the training programs
is how to communicate effectively.
How to say the things in the right way.
One of the most fundamental concepts that we taught
in these training programs is the concept
of top-down communication.
In this video, I'm going to talk
about what top-down communication is.
We are jointly going to work through one exercise
that I trust will really teach you
how top-down communication works.
So by watching this video,
I trust that you will build a very important skill set
that will hugely benefit you,
not only if you work in consulting,
but pretty much in every other role
in the professional context,
and probably even in your private life as well.
Welcome to another coffee break
with me here on my channel, Firm Learning.
If you're new here with this channel,
I want to help you to become successful
in the first years in your career.
But now without further ado, let's jump into it.
I will teach you how to talk like a consultant.
And this video will be structured in two parts.
First, I'm going to talk
about what top-down communication actually is.
And then second, we're going to do an exercise together
to really help you engrain this principle in your head.
So what is top-down communication?
And if you read all the books and articles about that,
you will find out that there are lots of definitions.
Many people claiming different things
to be top-down communication.
So I really want to simplify it for you.
So in my experience,
what this really comes down to is two things.
Namely, first in your communication to focus on the results,
to focus on the content.
To only focus on the things
that really matter to your audience.
And second, always starting your communication
with the key message, with the key result
that you want to communicate to your audience.
When people talk about top-down communication,
they often also use the word pyramid principle.
The reason why you talk about a pyramid
where you have a pyramid structure
is because you need to imagine and structure in your head
all the different facts, information, all the details
that you want to talk about in a pyramidal form.
So at the bottom, there are all the underlying arguments,
there are the details.
But then based on this fundament,
you would then draw some conclusions,
you would then draw some results.
And then on the very top is the key message
that you really wanna share
and that you really wanna talk about
and the main error that many people do
is not starting with this result, with this key message,
but rather starting with all the individual details,
with all the little arguments
that then your whole case is composed of,
and then only in the very end
to then draw the conclusion from it.
So they pretty much turn the pyramid around
and this for many different reasons
is not considered effective communication.
And if you want to learn more about that,
I talked a lot about this in my first video
in communication skills.
I will link it somewhere above here for you
if you want to check it out.
So hopefully this clarifies what top-down communication is,
but now to make it even more tangible for you,
let's deep dive into a practical example.
And this was an exercise that we did a lot
with young consultants, that we used a lot at McKinsey
to train consultants in the organization.
And you can imagine the overall setting
to be something like this:
You as a consultant sitting in the team room,
just mind your business doing your work,
and then suddenly the CEO of the company
or another senior client of the company,
or maybe even a partner is walking into your team room
and asking you, "Hey, Heinrich, how is it going?
Where do we stand? What's the current status?"
And this is a question
that hits many people kind of off guard
because you were just in the middle
of something completely else.
And now you are required to
in front of a senior person really concisely, briefly,
and to the point answering such a question
of where you stand with a specific task.
So now let's jump into this exercise
and let's imagine you finding yourself in such a situation,
and the context is as follows
and I'm reading from the slide here.
So you are working on a market entry study
and the objective of the study is
to assess market entry opportunities for a new product line.
So the client tasked you to work on that.
And of course it could easily also
be just the internal team, so not necessarily a consultant,
but an employee of the company
working on this specific task.
And now in order to do that, you conducted interviews
with lots of different internal and external experts
to learn more about this topic.
You analyzed lots of data,
you worked with different departments,
with the finance department, with the marketing department.
Probably the preliminary result,
the first indication that you have is
that the market entry in France would be a good fit
and you're basing this result just based
on all these interviews that you conducted
and all these data analysis that you did.
And now, indeed, the CEO walks in
and asks you to give a project summary.
He says, "Hey, how is it going?
You work on the market entry project, right?
What is the status on that?"
And now the question is, how do you answer to that?
And now I just want to take you a moment
and ideally just grab a pen,
grab a piece of paper and just jot down a couple of thoughts
on how you would reply to that.
And of course, if you want,
you can just briefly pause the video to do that.
Okay, so I hope to do just exactly that.
And now I want to guide you through two examples,
or two examples of potential answers.
And then let's briefly discuss
what is going well with this example,
and maybe what isn't so much.
Let's start with example number one
as a potential answer that somebody could have given.
And this answer goes as follows.
"So the last weeks we have been very busy on the project.
First, I talked to Tom from finance to get the market data.
However, when looking at the numbers,
we realized that marketing has the better numbers,
with the new marketing data set
together with interviews we conducted,
we were able to get a good overview
of the different market opportunities.
At the moment, it looks like France will be a good fit
for our project, though this is still work in progress."
So this could be an answer
and, from my experience, this is an answer
that many people would give in such a situation.
So let's just dissect it a bit.
What is special? What is characteristic about this answer?
And this answer consists of the stating
all the different steps that you did,
all the different steps that you did
to come to this conclusion.
Just saying, okay, first I did that, then I did this.
Then I talked to this guy, then I talked to that guy.
So lots of work that I put in, I crunched all these numbers.
And in the end, there is a specific result that we have now.
And of course now, if you look into this, this is something
that you would not consider talk-down communication.
Okay guys, this is not top-down communication
but it's the opposite, it's bottom up communication
because you start by giving all the details,
by giving all the nitty-gritty facts
and steps and arguments.
This is communication that is based on the process.
It's based on the things that you did,
but not so much about the result,
and in a business setting,
in most cases you want to avoid communicate like that.
And the main reason is that, frankly, the CEO won't care,
the CEO will not care to whom you talk to,
whose data set you analyzed.
These are all just details
that in most cases are just not of interest,
but instead he will just trust you
that if you tell him something,
of course you will have done the research,
of course you will have done the analysis,
but in general, this is just not the answer
that C-level executives of companies are interested in.
Let's contrast this now with a second example
of how such a question could have been answered.
And again, let me just read it out for you.
So, here, an answer could go like this:
"Our current hypothesis is that France
would be the best fit for our project.
This is based on three reasons.
First, our consumer research shows
that French consumers would appreciate our offering.
Second, the competitive landscape in France
is not yet developed.
We will be the first with this offering.
Third, our logistics and distribution capabilities
are well set up to serve the French market."
And now, again, let's first dissect this.
What is special about this answer?
So first, this answer now doesn't talk at all
about the little steps in between
that you took to get to a result.
Instead, this answer starts by giving the result,
it starts by sharing your current hypothesis.
And so pretty much if the CEO would need now
to leave the meeting just after a couple of seconds,
if now would have a phone call popping up on his phone
and he wouldn't be able to now continue listening to you,
he already just with the first sentences of your answer,
he would already know the result,
he would already know what your hypothesis is.
And of course now, if he would have the time
to continue listening to you,
he would not only have the answer,
but he also also would be able to hear the top three reasons
that you based your the conclusion,
that you based your answer on.
And this of course now is information that the CEO
or other senior level executives
in the corporation will be interested in.
This is the type of communication that is top-down.
It focuses on the content or for the results that you work,
but not on the process.
This is exactly what top-down communication is all about.
And I would always encourage you
to communicate your results in this fashion.
So why is it so difficult for many people
to on-the-spot embrace this top-down communication skill
and just communicate in that way?
Probably this is for three reasons.
First, it's just the natural way to talk about it,
to use this bottom-up approach, right?
It's just the order of how you did the things.
First you did this this, then this, then this, then this.
So this is just a natural way of how you tell something.
But, of course, still, it's not the best way.
So only because this is your first impulse,
take a second, take a step back and just reflect.
The second reason why I believe many people
rather use bottom-up than top-down communication
is because it really stresses all the work that you did.
It shows all your sweat, all the things, all the long hours
all the mental energy that you put into a task.
But the CEO will not care how long you worked last night
or how smart you were by coming up with the idea
of now hitting up the marketing guy.
This is not what will interest the senior-level guys.
They will care about the results
so don't bore them with the process.
Don't try to impress them
with the long hours that you worked.
And the third reason is
that people are messy in their head, right?
People for themselves often do not have it crystal clear
why they are recommending something.
What the underlying reasons are when you come up
with a conclusion or with a recommendation,
and so make sure just also for the quality of the thinking,
for the quality of your documents,
that it's always crystal clear for yourself,
just to start with,
what really the result is that you want to put out there,
and what also the main underlying arguments are
that are supporting your conclusions.
So I hope this video helped you to understand
what top-down communication is all about.
If you have any more questions on this topic,
leave me a comment below in the comment section,
and I will do my very best
to answer every single comment that you have.
If you want to learn even more
about this type of professional communication,
I have a book that I can really recommend you.
The book is called "The Pyramid Principle:
Logic in Writing and Thinking."
It is written by Barbara Minto.
She is an ex-McKinsey employee herself.
And this book is one of the best sellers
of professional communication.
If you want to check it out,
I included a link to the book below
in the video description, I can highly recommend it.
And now if you want to do me a little favor,
if you took any value out of this video,
please hit the like button.
This really helps me with the YouTube algorithm.
And of course, if you want to see even more content from me,
please subscribe to this channel for more content.
I release at least one video every Saturday.
If you want to see even more content from me,
I also have an Instagram channel
where I post content almost every day.
My handle is Firm Learning.
If you want to read even more from me,
I also have an email mailing list
with even more regular content on these topics.
You can find a sign-up link to the mailing list below
in the video description.
Thank you for watching guys,
I very much appreciate your time.
Hope you're enjoying your weekend
and talk to you soon again next Saturday.
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