This was a question a young nonprofit communicator asked one of my clients who turned to me for an answer. 

I didn’t know whether to be amused or discouraged because it was the wrong question. The real challenge isn’t just about learning to “speak business” but about understanding the nuances of corporate lingo and how to apply it strategically.

CEO’s often tell me how frustrated they are with communications professionals because they don’t understand their business.  Without that fundamental knowledge and insight, it is hard to communicate effectively and convincingly. 

To be sure, every industry and every field has its own corporate lingo, but just knowing the words is not helpful if you don’t understand how a business operates, what the drivers of success are, what market pressures it faces, what issues it grapples with around labor and talent recruitment and retention, etc. This deeper understanding is key to talking business in a way that resonates. 

My advice to my client was to tell her friend to take courses in and about business to learn about finance, HR, business law, demographics and marketing and so on. It’s not just about memorizing corporate jargon but understanding the context behind it.  

When I left journalism to work with an architecture association, I didn’t know much about architecture except what I had learned in a college art history class. I was tasked with writing a newsletter on key issues affecting architecture practice, so I made it a point to spend time immersing myself in their world by going to various architecture firm offices and observing:  

  • How did they work?  
  • What tools do they use?  
  • What reference materials do they keep close at hand?
  • How do they interact with clients? 
  • How are their projects financed?

I asked lots of questions and read about the design process and phases, contracts, liability and legal issues so that I could write intelligently about things that mattered to architects practicing architecture every day.  

In the process, I did learn “archispeak.”  I learned when to use it and how to translate for lay audiences. 

As communicators, we have to be more than wordsmiths, social media mavens, and storytellers. To truly add value, we need to be strategists who understand how to use all communication tools to support and advance business objectives. 

That combination of business knowledge AND communications skill allows us to align messaging with a company’s goals and deliver results. That is where we can bring the greatest value.