Communication

Introduction

During this generic waiting period, one of the most useful skills to brush up or build up on is your communication. That is true because it's going to be useful for any and all interviews and later in life, and it's a fundamental skill that you won't be able to dedicate enough time to later on. You might be a strong communicator or you may be diffident about your speaking skills. In either case and for people anywhere in the middle it helps to identify the different types of key communication situations that you might be in, and the kind of communication that will best suit the situation.
In this section we'll map out some of the useful ideas and types of communication that you should get used to. We will also lay out the interview situations in which you would want to employ each of these. Later on, as you learn more about the case interview, the reason why each communication style is best suited for that situation will become apparent.

Summarising

- What -

It's often easy to answer a question in 10-20 sentences. Especially if it's a question about ourselves, or a topic that we know. We need to also be able to communicate the same answer in just 3 sentences. This doesn't mean state the full answer and then summarise, this means stating only the crisp 3 sentence version, and having a longer answer in mind, if the interviewer is interested.

- How -

The STAR framework used while building up your resume is very useful here. 1 sentence for the objective/scope, 1 for your action/achievement and 1 for the result (so what) of your action. For all of the situations where you will need these summaries, get into the habit of writing these 3 sentences down, so that when you're asked that question, you remember what 3 sentences will most crisply and completely cover the story. You will also have therefore got better at doing this even for new questions impromptu, even if it ends up extending to a 4th sentence.
The challenge here is that you will often feel like you're losing out on important information. Even if you can get 70% of the key ideas across in 30% of the sentences (a lenient 80-20), that's a big win. Remember the interviewer isn't as close to the story, and all of these are new facts for them. Fewer, but more important facts are often more interesting and definitely easier to register.

- When -

This is especially useful for HR questions. While talking about ourselves we tend to ramble on. Keep a short (3 line) and long (10-20 line) version of each of your important HR questions ready. This is also useful throughout the case interview. You might be asked questions, such as "what do you mean by this term?". You could succinctly respond with < define the term >, < list examples of what is included and excluded from the term >, < provide an example of something relevant, which you're including >. This is clearer and better than talking a lot about what you meant, and being unsure of whether you have got the idea across or not.

- Why -

Interviews are fairly short. You want to spend as much time as possible having a 2 way conversation about something which is interesting to the interviewer as well. It is therefore important to give them short summaries of your answers, so that you get a sense of their interest, and allow them to probe more into whatever catches their interest. You will consequently also have answered many more of their questions than the average candidate, leaving them with the impression that there is much more to you.

Elaborating in (<=3) Points

- What -

When asked a loaded question, there will be a few dimensions/reasons/ideas that you'll want to cover. Summarising isn't likely to work, because you aim to cover multiple aspects and show depth of thought here. However, in order to maintain the listener's attention, it helps to package each idea as a distinct, contributing point, so that they at least recall the overall ideas, and are more likely to remember the points within each idea, without getting mixed up.

- How -

In order to elaborate in points, you need to be able to identify what the major ideas in you mind are, before you get started. That enables you to begin with a sentence like "I believe that there are 3 factors to consider here". This is useful because the listener now knows that you will launch into a long answer, with 3 distinct parts to it, and will listen for each of these parts. Next you want to clearly call out the point number and heading. For example, "Firstly, I believe we should consider ….". This helps to call the listener's attention to the change in point, and at least the core idea of the point. This should also help you gather your thoughts on what needs to be discussed in this point, without rambling.

- When -

For any answer which is longer than 3-5 sentences, this is worth using as a communication tool. Even across the other communication styles that we will discuss, it is always useful to embed the idea of calling out points, to keep the conversation targeted and clear. It's particularly useful if you're describing a structure, which inherently exists in points, and should be presented as such. It is also useful while answering more open ended questions, where you might be explaining your point of view. This shows that you're structured, and improves the chances of you convincing the other party.

- Why -

While listening, we tend to either zone out or in. Even if we are listening attentively, a certain point might catch our attention, we give it a little more thought, and before we know it, the speaker has moved on. Calling out clear points helps the listener get a grip on where we are in a long answer, and ensure that they take away at least the headlines of the conversation. As for why the number 3; it's a reasonable number of points to cover while talking. If you cover more than 3, it begin to become exponentially tougher to recall each point. There is a lot of psychological analysis behind the number itself, but the idea of limiting the number of points is easy to appreciate intuitively.

Top Down

- What -

We know that it's useful to be succinct, and that we need to be clear on the points involved while elaborating. In top down communication, we try to get the best of both worlds. The focus idea is to start with the insight/conclusion, in a crisp sentence or two. From there we break it down further, elaborating on the pillars upon which we have built up the argument.

- How -

To communicate top down, we usually build our argument bottom up. You will usually have more time to think about these top down answers, probably while working through the case. One begins by gathering all of the relevant facts and mentally mapping them to the buckets or pillars which stand out, in the fact finding process. Once you have a few pillars (ideas) standing out in your mind, you begin to draw links between them and figure out what the connecting insight or conclusion is. Finally, you state it in reverse order. Start with the insights, then name the pillars (elaborating in points) that helped you arrive at it, and only then detail out some of the key facts under each pillar (elaborating in points).

- When -

Top down communication is most useful during the synthesis of the case. If given the opportunity to synthesise the case at the end, the interviewer is basically testing if you can use this format. Even for longer answers, and while describing a structure, for the same reasons that elaboration in points helps, top down communication helps even more. Not only is it step by step, communication, you have prefaced it with the key idea, making it incredibly easy for the listener to understand you.

- Why -

The same principles that are at play in the way in which you write your resume, solve a case, and really work as a consultant all translate into top down communication. If you can communicate in the order of importance of each point, and simultaneously paint a picture of how all of the facts come together, there is nothing like it. That is what top down communication is, and that's why it's so important.

Process Driven

- What -

The previous 3 types of communication all subscribe to the top down philosophy, and are building blocks for the same. In process driven communication, we focus more on the story. Here your communication must cover the situation, all of the actions that have been taken, and then finally the result.

- How -

The STAR framework is a good starting point once again. The focus however is on actions. The situation and result might not be relevant in all cases. We want to comprehensively cover each action to be taken, step by step. Just because we are being comprehensive, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be succinct. The way to handle this tradeoff is that we aim to cover all of the big steps, but each step should still be described in a sentence or two. The total number of steps should of course still not be a number larger than 5, as far as possible. If the number is blowing up, group steps and keep it simple. Even here, you will elaborate in points. One key difference is that here it is necessarily sequential points, whereas usually, while elaborating in points, it doesn't matter if points 1 and 2 are interchanged.

- When -

Top down communication styles are usually better and clearer. The most important exception to the rule is while you are working on a problem and thinking out loud. Rather than repeatedly asking for a minute and coming back with an answer, it is good to often think out loud, and share your thought process with the interviewer. On these occasions, your thought process will often be sequential, moving from one step to the next. Another useful instance is when you have a powerful HR answer, and you don't want to lose out on impact by summarising it. You can ask the interviewer for a couple of minutes of time (not more than 2) to cover the story, because it's a key aspect of your story. You may then sequentially cover all of the key elements of the answer, painting a more powerful and moving picture.

- Why -

If there isn't a specific end result or insight to arrive at, or if the range of actions in the answer is more important than any one result, top down communication doesn't do justice to the answer. In these cases, you want to switch into a less objective, more friendly, storytelling mode to capture the listener's attention.

Synthesise and Confirm

- What -

A big part of communicating is listening. Just as we have to put a lot of thought and effort into getting our message across correctly, we have to put effort into ensuring that we have understood the other person as well. We therefore synthesise what they have said to us, and confirm that we have correctly understood their point.

- How -

While the other person is talking it is often useful to take notes of the keywords or the main ideas. This notetaking method will obviously have to be fast and crisp, so that you can track all of it, and so that you can easily go through all of it in one glance. As you are taking notes, without losing attention, make sure to also form an idea of how the points connect, and what the central idea is. Essentially, ask yourself what the "so what" is. Finally, you will repeat back the synthesis or the "so what" or at least a one sentence summary, and confirm if that is the key idea. You might do so by saying something like "Alright, if I've understood correctly ". After that you could either explicitly ask if that's correct, and wait, or more subtly say "if that's correct, I would like to move forward to…".
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- When -

This is important and useful at any point of time when you are receiving a question, asking a question to gather information or improve your understanding of the situation. Since a good interview has a lot of back and forth, this is something which will happen a lot.

- Why -

It is very easy to misunderstand the information you have received. Especially when the case gets complex, and when the topic isn't one that you're familiar with. It gets tedious to repeat your entire understanding, and annoying to ask the interviewer to repeat themselves. So it is best to have a clever method of quickly confirming and moving forward, without coming off as too slow and robotic.

Pausing and Pacing

- What -

One of the clearest differences between more mature, confident communicators and nervous novices is the pace of communication. Slowing down the conversation doesn't mean sounding old and slow, but rather allowing for thoughtful pauses, to ensure that the quality of your content is meaningful. It also means ensuring that the listener is following and hanging on your words.

- How -

Resist the temptation to start answering. In that couple of seconds you should figure out if you have the answer structured in your mind or not, as well as if you know which of the above styles of communication you will be using. In some cases you will realise that it's a loaded question, which requires a minute's thought. If so, say that you'd like a minute to structure your thoughts and do so. Once you launch into answering, make eye contact, enunciate and emphasise the key points. From this you should be able to judge if the listener is engaged, lost or bored, and change your pace and phrasing accordingly.

- When -

Pause whenever asked a question. Identify a pace which is slow enough for everyone to comfortable follow your speech, and stick to that pace throughout the interview. Ask for more time if you are asked a loaded question, or at any point of time during the case, when you aren't sure if you have a structure ready at hand.

- Why -

You will be talking to someone who has never spoken to you before. They will be from a different part of the country and might not understand your accent. There may be internet connectivity issues, and you might be tad bit nervous. In all of this there is a little loss in communication clarity. Slowing things down just a tiny little bit, makes everything much easier to understand, and also engages the listener more in the activity of listening to you. That little bit of a pause as a practise improves your ability to think and say something smart dramatically. It's worth the extra second, and no one really notices, especially if you nod along, showing that you have understood the question.

Practise

There is no single simple takeaway for this section. All of the above methods of communication are important and will be used and tested. These are also habits which we have got very used to, and are therefore difficult to change. As boring as it sounds, your regular conversations and class participation are wonderful opportunities to practise some of these methods of communication. Get used to evaluating how you communicated each time you spoke, and figure out what you will try to consciously improve in the next 10 minutes, before you talk again. These are useful communication skills, not just during an interview, but in any formal setting.