A translator first
No jargon. No unnecessary complexity. Because understanding is the first step toward acting.
The skill people recognise most often is not a technical one. It is the ability to explain.
I believe technical jargon rarely serves precision. Far more often it protects the speaker — maintaining a distance that keeps them indispensable. It is an effective short-term strategy and a disastrous one for the organisation on the receiving end.
Translating, every day
- Azure to a CEO who has to approve the budget
- Cybersecurity to a municipal council of elected citizens
- Artificial intelligence to a small business wondering where to start
- Quebec’s Law 25 to a community organisation with no legal department
- Governance to a volunteer board of directors
- Digital risk to entrepreneurs who have no time to waste
If the person across from me does not understand, they are not the one with the problem. I am the one who has not finished the job.
How I go about it
Start from the decision, not the technology
A leader does not need to understand how an authentication token works. They need to know what happens if they skip it, and what it costs to put it in place.
Show rather than describe
A ten-minute demonstration lands harder than a two-hour annual course. People remember what they watched happen.
Name the real stake
Behind almost every technical question sits a question of risk, cost or time. That is the one to address first.
Welcome the naive question
A room that no longer dares to ask is a room that has checked out. I would rather be interrupted.
A question on this?
Describe the context in a few lines. I answer with a proposed angle, not a brochure.