Advice to advance your career

C O M M U N I C AT I O N

Talking
Points
Pitching your contributions at
the right level so everybody
understands

by Christine M. Anderson-Cook

Whether it’s during a job interview, a presenta-

tion or collaborations with colleagues of differing
technical backgrounds, effectively conveying
your ideas and contributions is at least as import-
ant as the content. Daniel Goleman speaks to the
importance of emotional intelligence being a key
driver of success and advancement.1
Why does this matter so much? If you dive right 1. T
 o quote the second the best possible outcome from it
into technical details without providing a broader habit from Stephen R. would be. Having specific goals for
context and motivation for the problem, the people Covey’s groundbreak- the meeting—such as guiding the
with whom you are communicating won’t appreciate ing book, The 7 Habits outcome or helping participants
the contribution. If you talk only about your ideas of Highly Effective appreciate what your team can
at a high level with insufficient detail, the weight People,2 “begin with contribute—is beneficial. Thinking
of your contributions might be undervalued or the end in mind.” this through in advance has served
misinterpreted. With each communication or me well because in many meet-
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. meeting, it is important to think ings, there are opportunities to
Different situations require different styles and tech- through what would make it a shape the direction of discussions.
nical levels. So what strategies can be used to find the success. I was told early in my Having a firm thought of what you
appropriate level for each audience? Here are a few career to never go into a critical want helps you be decisive and
ideas that I have found helpful during my career: meeting without knowing what influential.

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When I was interviewing for my first academic job
(before I had received this helpful advice), my Ph.D.
advisor C.F. Jeff Wu encouraged me to do a prac-
tice run of my “job talk” (the seminar describing my
statistical dissertation research) for him. I had dedi-
cated a great deal of time in the talk to providing the
background to the specialized problem, and making
the material clear and understandable to statisticians
who were not familiar with it.
When I completed the practice run, I felt like I
had given exactly the talk that I wanted. My advi-
sor shook his head and said, “This won’t do at all.”
What had I done wrong? He replied, “You made it
all too understandable. They won’t get a sense of
the complex technical details that went into the Presenting
method.” With the benefit of experience, I have your work as
realized that he was exactly right. In a job interview, too obvious or
good communication is an important aspect, but a intuitive can
considerable portion of the evaluation of candidates undermine the
hinges on their technical abilities. weight of your
So presenting your work as too obvious or intui- contributions.
tive can undermine the weight of your contributions.
What my advisor knew more clearly than I did at
the time was that there were multiple goals for the
seminar: Convince the hiring committee that I could
communicate new material to a classroom of stu-
dents, provide enough context that they understood
the seminar and highlight my technical abilities.
After I understood what I was trying to accomplish,
formulating the right presentation became more
straightforward.
In a job interview, conveying that you have the skills
to be successful in all aspects of the job is essential. In
a presentation, provide a context and motivation for
the material, as well as clearly articulate the solution
and how it answers the question. When collaborating
with colleagues with different backgrounds, offer
enough detail to provide a framework for understand-
ing the answer and judge how many technical details
must be shared.
2. P
 lan to communicate at multiple
levels, and preface your comments
with descriptors of the level of
different parts of your message.
For my first job talk, the solution was to add a few
slides to the seminar that were rich in the tech-
nical details of the method that was the heart of
the dissertation. The majority of the talk remained
unchanged. When I gave the detailed introduction
to the problem I was going discuss, I began with
something like, “Because many of you may not be
familiar with the particular problem that I studied,
here is some context.”
When I dove into the messy equations and details
of the method, I prefaced it with, “The details of the
method are probably beyond the scope of this talk,
but here is a sense of the complicated aspects.” This
achieved the desired goal of conveying the depth and
technical complexity of the research—without having
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 to overwhelm anyone with too many gory details. The
To make key to the seminar working well was to intentionally
on-the-fly change the technical level and provide triggers for the
finely tuned audience to know what I was trying to accomplish at
adjustments, any given time.
it is important
to adapt as 3. Think carefully about the back-
the audience ground and priorities of those who
responds. will hear your message.
The same material should be presented differently
to different audiences. In projects that I work on in
my current job at Los Alamos National Laboratory,
for example, we often are required to present results
of the project multiple times. When we present to
colleagues with similar backgrounds, we may wish to
invite feedback and peer review of our work. In this
case, talking about choices made on the way to the
solution, and technical details, can foster discussion
and insights from the audience.
To present to collaborators from different technical
backgrounds, emphasize the connection of the solu-
tion to the problem, and probe for confirmation that
the details of the solution are a good match for what
was required. The details of the technical methods are
generally emphasized less.
Finally, when we present to managers and spon-
sors, it is essential to deliver a clear bottom line for
what problem was solved and how the implemen-
tation of the solution will have the desired outcome.
When talking to managers, the takeaway message
should be presented in the language of what matters
most to them: Often, this can be savings of time or
money, or mitigating risk.
Audiences also can be heterogeneous, and shaping
your message to have something for the different
segments is helpful. This can help demonstrate
your versatility, as well as give flexibility to focus on
different aspects of the material. In several presenta-
tions, I have started by commenting that a particular
portion of the talk would be aimed at one group (such
as an extended introduction for those unfamiliar with
the area), and other sections will be for a different
segment.
Stating this in advance can
help everyone feel like there
will be something for them,
and with a sense of when
that piece will come. It also
encourages the audience to be
accepting of some discussion
that does not directly connect
to their priorities.
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4. Be adaptable; anticipate questions
and feedback.
By anticipating what is needed and preparing
carefully, your communication should be close to
on target for its intended goals. To make on-the-fly
finely tuned adjustments, it is important to adapt
as the audience responds. Although it should go
without saying that actually answering the question
is essential, it is remarkably common for presenters
to answer the question that they were anticipating or
are comfortable answering. Listen intently to not only
the question, but also to subtle cues that are being
provided about context and what a preferred answer
would be.
We recently interviewed a job candidate who
initially impressed us tremendously with his ability to
describe the context of his research in understand-
able terms. However, when we tried multiple times to
encourage him to provide details about the methods
used to solve the problems, he was unable to make
that switch and talk to us as colleagues about the
nuts-and-bolts of the method. This left us with an
unsettled feeling about his technical abilities.
In this case, our initial delight at his communication
skills turned to skepticism because he was unable to
fill in the necessary details to convince us of his fun-
damental technical knowledge. As a communicator,
be tuned into the messages that different audience
members are sending.
By focusing on the underlying aim of the question
and background of the questioner, it is often possible
to respond with a shift in technical level that validates
the question asked, and showcases your adaptability
and perceptiveness.
With careful forethought about the nature of the
audience and preparation, communicating effec-
tively is possible. By being adaptable and responsive,
fine-tuning the delivery can turn a good presentation
into a great one.
REFERENCES
1. Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter
More Than IQ, Bantam Books, 2005.
2. Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,
Simon and Schuster, 2013.
Christine M. Anderson-Cook is a research scientist in
the Statistical Sciences Group at Los Alamos National
Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM. She earned a doctorate
in statistics from the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Anderson-Cook is a fellow of ASQ and the American
Statistical Association.