How to sound more "business smart"?

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the consistency with your preparation!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• Generally speaking, the above-mentioned phrases are less about being business smart or displaying business judgement but more about using “case study”-typical phrases. Still, regarding your question, I would highly advise you to avoid “case study”-typical phrases by talking as customized and as precise as possible:
  • Asking about the goals of the case study: Instead of saying “What is the quantifiable objective of client?”, I would advise you to rather say “In what time frame does InsuranceCo want to recover the profitability decrease made, and what metrics are they using to measure is?”
  • Summarizing the prompt: Contradictory to what other coaches said, I would advise you to keep quickly (!) introducing your summary. While conciseness is a skill highly sought after in consulting, you should still come off polite and not rehearsed. Instead of saying “Let me recap the client problem.”, I would advise you to rather say “Thank you very much for outlining the initial situation. I'd like to start by summarizing to make sure I've got everything right.”
  • Presenting your structure: Instead of saying “Let me share with you my structure”, I would advise you to rather say “I would approach InsuranceCo's profitability decrease in three steps, 1) … .”
  • Analyzing the first area of your approach: Instead of saying “I would like to explore… in the first bucket", I would advise you to rather say “As outlined in my approach, I would first like to analyze …”
• When it actually is more about being business smart or displaying business judgement, I would advise you to truly step into the shoes of the client, act on it and constantly share your thinking (even if not all proposed solutions might be correct eventually).

In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best display business judgement, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Hi there,

I would be careful with the canned phrases (though they don't hurt), and rather really focus on changing your mindset here.

Take a few seconds - gather your thoughts. Perhaps right them down. Take a quick breather to better formulate and then articulate your thoughts

1. Pause before speaking to gather your thoughts - the time may feel like forever for you, but it's not nearly as long as you think. Leverage filler sentences such as "that's and interesting point" to buy some time if needed.
2. Frame your answer - Generally, MBBers say "There are 3 parts to this". Then, they highlight in 1 sentence each of the 2-4 points
3. Iterate through each point - After framing how you're going to answer the question, then answer it by diving into each "part" in the order you summarized each.

Use signposting - Always preface what you will be saying. For example, when brainstorming you can say "I'm thinking about this in three main ways: A, B, and C. Within A we can look at..."

Be objective-driven - Everything you say needs to clearly articulate why you're doing what you're doing (i.e. how does it help you answer the objective)

Practice with a coach - Other PrepLounger are fantastic practice but they are generally too nice! you need a coach who will really hit back and work with you to improve your answers.

I am a bit puzzled by your question, as none of the examples is about being “business smart”, but about using the typical catchphrases used in case interview. So sure, you can try to use a different terminology that is more realistic, but unless you are too mechanical and artificial, I don't see this necessarily as a major problem.

Regarding the specific examples:

1. How to ask for quantitative goals. You can ask directly (i.e. are there any quantitative goals), but a smoother way of asking would be: Is there a specific target? What level of growth would be considered a sucess or the minimal threshold?
2. You don't need to say you are going to recap. You just start recapping.
3. Instead of structure, you can use the term approach, which is more correct
4. I hate the word “bucket”, as it suggests one of those standard, generic and overused frameworks. You can mention topics, areas, drivers, key questions (this one assumes a question driven approach)

Hope this helps,

Pedro

Hello!

This is an interesting question, thanks for posting it, since many of my coachees have asked me in numerous occasions. 

Honestly, I used to suffer a lot for this myself. With my architect background, and zero consulting/econ/finance background, I always felt that I lacked the nice and fancy terms. 

The truth is that, it doesn´t matter! They are looking at how your brain works, how you structure and problem solve, your creativity… the terminology, that always sounds so fancy, it´s the least important thing. 

Hence relax, and don´t focus on this at all

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Have a look at these previous posts for very good insights on the same question:

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-be-more-concise-in-both-case-and-fit-interview-11799
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-speak-like-a-consultant-8388