What are the best ways to improve communication skills for FP&A analysts?

The best way to improve your communication skills as a Finance person (not just FP&A analyst) is to literally be on the other side. Get a cross-functional experience in the company you work for! It's tue to say "you need to know your audience and understand them". What better way than you walk their shoes? Personally it helped me a lot to be given an opportunity to serve as a Marketing Deployment Executive for BAT in my home country. I got to spend the budget, I was not able to comply with the deadlines, I met customers and consumers, I learned about our brands, I worked with direct sales force, etc!! Nothing beats the real deal! Hope this helps! 🙏

The FP&A team is expected to crunch numbers and dish out trends and meaningful conclusions about business metrics. The key to have a impactful outcome is a) Understanding what the business/customer wants, without which the analysis can be directionless b) Crisp, to the point communication along with data. c) To be in constant discussion with your customers (users of your data/analysis) to keep yourself abreast with their evolving needs. d) Avoid too much of data. Remember, too much of analysis leads to paralysis. Hope this helps!

There are a lot of approaches that can improve communication skills: 1) Selling ideas and this is coming through understand audience needs. 2) Storytelling specially for non specialist like finance for non-finance. 3) more live tools like visuals rather than only figures .. power dashboard is very useful tool here.

The purpose of communication is to get the messages delivered which is understood by your audiences. Putting yourself in their shoes, use the terminology that the audiences could understand instead of the financial terms. Engage your audience for more interactive conversations, getting their feedback and opinions. Review the past communications and improve continuously to polish the skill.

In my view, a few ways to categorize audiences are: Fully informed audience - They interact regularly and are aware of the background & context. They just need regular data points to support their work and decisions. Partially informed audience - They may use your inputs occasionally, so it is important to give data along with insights, interpretations, and guidance if required. First-level audience - You communicate with them directly and hence can decide whether it should be in writing or verbal, including language, tone, quality, and quantity of data. Second-level audience: For example, if you are preparing a Board presentation to be delivered by your CEO, you need to understand the perspective of both the presenter and the audience.

Understand your audience. Cater your communication according to your audience. If the audience is not finance savvy present with visuals more. Try not use a lot of FP&A or finance jargon. If you do use technical terms, then explain what the terms really means. Pace your communication and ask along the way whether they have any questions.

To get better at talking about financial stuff as an FP&A analyst, it's important to know your audience. This means adjusting how you talk depending on who you're talking to – whether it's your boss, coworkers, or others. Understand their knowledge and use words they'll get. This helps everyone understand the money stuff better and work together smoothly.

Improving your ability to discuss financial matters as an FP&A analyst you must understand your audience. By adapting to their communication style, you're addressing them to match their level of expertise and terminology, so the information resonates with them. This way, everyone is understanding each concept and is able to work together smoothly.

Communication skills are essential for every professional today irrespective of finance/FP&A for several reasons. Firstly, effective communication fosters collaboration and teamwork, enabling individuals to work harmoniously towards common goals. Clear and concise communication ensures that ideas, instructions, and feedback are conveyed accurately, reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings or errors. Strong communication skills also enhance leadership abilities, as clear communication inspires trust and confidence in colleagues and subordinates. Finally, effective communication is crucial for building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders, and partners, ultimately driving business success in today's competitive landscape.

The best way is to understand their task and meaning of finance function in their task. This will help understanding what angle of finance the audience is interested in. Like Business might be interested in finance cost of a facility while operations will be interested in knowing reporting requirements from lenders as well as operational covenants.

To give a really effective presentation, each slide in a deck should have just one key message. Your story can easily get lost if you try to cram too much onto any one page. Hand in hand with that, they story should be clear without you needing to explain it. Decks often travel and anyone who picks it up should be able to follow the story.

One thing that has worked really well is to keep the messaging as concise as possible while ensuring enough context is provided for the audience to get the full picture. It can be done thru adding graphs, visuals or explaining the what / why / how.

To get better at talking about money as an FP&A analyst, try using pictures and telling stories. Instead of just throwing around numbers, use graphs or charts to show the information. Also, share stories that help explain the data, making it easier for people to understand. This makes your communication clearer and more interesting, helping everyone get a better handle on the financial side of things.

Visuals and stories can make your communication more persuasive by making it more memorable and relatable. People are more likely to remember and be persuaded by a message that they can see and feel.

Crafting a compelling story demands careful planning. Define your narrative arc, outlining key points succinctly. Begin with an attention-grabbing opening. Organize content logically, using visuals and headings. Provide essential context, integrating storytelling elements for engagement. Keep messaging concise and consistent, avoiding unnecessary details. Encourage audience participation throughout, concluding with a strong summary and call to action. These steps ensure your PowerPoint effectively communicates your message, captivating your audience.

L 1.Visuals for Data: Use graphs and charts. 2.Case Studies: Share real-life examples. 3.Interactive Workshops: Hands-on activities. 4.Visual Storytelling: Use infographics. 5.Dashboard Visualization: Interactive summaries. 6.Comparative Analysis: Benchmarking visuals. 7.Infographics: Summarize with graphics. 8.Scenario Analysis: Visualize multiple scenarios. 9.Trend Analysis: Present historical trends visually. 10.Forecasting Models: Illustrate forecast outcomes.

Presentation should include simple, easy to understand visuals. Do not have a busy spreadsheet in the main section of your presentation. Each slide should have no more than three key simple message. Make sure to highlight the key insight/foresight or take away from the slide. if possible each slide should build a story for the whole presentation where you could do a summary of all the message and make a decision pitch if needed.

Improving communication skills as an FP&A analyst involves actively seeking feedback and encouraging questions. After presenting financial information, inviting feedback and questions not only demonstrates openness to collaboration but also ensures clarity and understanding. This interactive approach enhances engagement and refines communication for effective conveyance of financial insights.

Communication skills can be improved when an environment where questions and soliciting feedback are welcomed. When commitment to collaboration is showcased and clarity and comprehension is guaranteed then the environment is positive for all involved. An interactive approach allows for a productive and positive work environment, where financial insights are accurate.

Don't just talk at your audience. Ask them questions and get their feedback. This will help you to gauge their understanding of your message and identify any areas where you need to improve your communication.

1. Invite Interaction by asking people to share their thoughts and questions. 2. Always embrace and welcome Different Views. 3.When people comment, reply to them quickly and thoughtfully. It shows you value their input and helps keep the conversation going. 4. Always thank people for joining the discussion. It shows you're grateful for their input and helps build good relationships.

To get better at communication as an FP&A, you’d better focus on what others need and how they like to receive intelligence. That’s why I often call our work consultative financial planning and analysis. We’re in the service of operating groups and functions and rarely does our work happen in a vacuum without others.

To get better at FP&A, I follow Carl Seidman's advice and parrot it word for word. For example, I might answer this question by noting that "To get better at communication as an FP&A, you’d better focus on what others need and how they like to receive intelligence. That’s why I often call our work consultative financial planning and analysis. We’re in the service of operating groups and functions and rarely does our work happen in a vacuum without others." An uninformed person will therefore be under the impression that I am an FP&A expert. Alas, I am not- but Carl is! Follow him :)

One of the best ways is to touch up frequently with the stakeholders and understand as to the manner in which they wish to receive the communication from the team. We can keep improving and building upon the same as we gradually keep moving.

I agree with the old saying "Practice makes one perfect", well thought out efforts always pays rewards in the long run. One also has to make concerted effort to also stay engaged and learn from reactions that you receive.

One of the worst thing you could do is to not practice. Please practice at least three times before every presentation. If possible, find a person from your audience ahead and practice with that person and ask for his/her opinion and or feedback. Do visualize how your going to present in your mind. I strongly encourage that you video record yourself during practice at least in the beginning stage of your career.

To get better at FP&A, I follow Carl Seidman's advice and parrot it word for word. For example, I might answer this question by noting that "To get better at communication as an FP&A, you’d better focus on what others need and how they like to receive intelligence. That’s why I often call our work consultative financial planning and analysis. We’re in the service of operating groups and functions and rarely does our work happen in a vacuum without others." Unfortunately, Carl did not answer this specific question, so I cannot learn from him how to learn from others. The opportunity for an extremely meta answer eludes me yet again.

Primero que todo, creo lo principal es el know how que debe tener el analista sobre el tema, para luego comenzar a “desafiar” las explicaciones a las desviaciones con preguntas abiertas que permitan una interacción fluida con la contraparte. Todo lo anterior bajo un contexto de respeto entendiendo el rol que cumple el analista de FP&A

1. Take note of how other FP&A Folks communicate financial data effectively. See what methods they use and tweak your own approach accordingly. 2. Reach out to experienced colleagues for tips and tricks on delivering financial information. Their insights can offer valuable guidance for improving your communication skills. 3. Dive into resources like books, articles, and online courses . There's a wealth of knowledge available to help you refine your skills as an FP&A

Don't overwhelm your audience with data points. Most likely they already know the data or at least have some idea. FP&A is not about just data and analyses. Go in depth into one or two things that you think are relevant and bring deep thoughtful insight/foresight to help your business partners understand the complexity of the situation and then help them make a decision.

Communication plays a vital role for a FP&A Analyst. Visual Presentations and Graphs should speak numbers that are really important for any Decision. There should a process of Continuous Improvement, Learning and which leads you to a better FP&A Analyst. Feedbacks, Suggestions and Questions has to be a part of it. Practicing and Implementing it would result in getting desired results in a Long Run.

In my Experience so far in FP&A profile, following are the primary 3 skill sets one should be well equipped with to excel in FP&A. 1. Strong Excel skills, data analysis techniques, and familiarity with financial modeling will enhance your ability to interpret data and generate valuable insights for decision-making. 2. Deepen your understanding of the business and industry in which you operate. This involves staying informed about market trends, competitor activities, and broader economic factors that may impact financial performance. 3. Effective communication is essential for FP&A professionals to convey complex financial information in a clear and concise manner.