By Vanessa DeGier
Imagine being a 20-something communications professional sitting across from a Nobel laureate, trying to understand a groundbreaking research discovery well enough to explain it to the public.
It was intimidating.
But it taught me a lesson that has shaped every role I’ve held since: If I don’t understand something, I can’t communicate it well.
That lesson has shaped every role I’ve held since.
My first communications roles were at Boston Medical Center and later at UCSF, where I worked alongside some of the world’s leading basic and clinical researchers.
Whether writing about a scientific breakthrough, helping physicians navigate organizational change or advising executives during periods of transformation, my first instinct has always been curiosity about the business. Why does this matter? What problem are we trying to solve? Why should anyone care? What is the business trying to achieve?
Those questions have made me a better communicator than any writing class ever could.
Early in our careers, it’s tempting to think our value comes from producing great content. We learn how to write news releases, employee newsletters, executive talking points and social media posts. But those are outputs. Real value comes from understanding the business well enough to see whether the requested tactic is the solution.
Here’s the thing: The real work begins long before we open a blank document. Understanding the business helps us identify the real problem before recommending the right strategy, which is why writing alone is never the job.
Let’s be honest. It isn’t always easy to ask an executive “why” or to challenge their assumptions. It isn’t appropriate in every forum, and it certainly isn’t easy when you’re starting out. You may not even have contact with the executives making the decisions. So how do you learn the business? Two ways.
Get curious
To build business acumen, you have to think strategically. Read industry news and developments, especially your competitors’. Follow market research and trends. Get to know what your customers are doing and saying. Track policy and regulatory shifts.
Make friends
Building relationships cross-functionally will give you a wealth of information about the business. Hang out with strategy and marketing team members and have them share their research and plans. Ask project managers to explain major initiatives. Spend time with operational and administrative leaders. Sit in meetings where business decisions are made, even if you’re mostly listening.
A recent Deloitte report found that more than half of corporate affairs leaders are reshaping their teams to focus on business acumen. The five capabilities they’re seeking are commercial understanding, strategy, agility and speed, AI and storytelling.
I see that as validation of the lesson I learned through experience: Communicators earn influence not because they’re great writers, but because they understand that their role can and should be tied to business performance. The better they understand the business, the better they can help write its next chapter.
Once I understood the value of business acumen, it was easy to see that the scientist I was so intimidated by in my 20s wasn’t the expert because she had all the answers. She was the expert because she had spent years asking the right questions. That’s true of great communicators, too. The best ones never stop asking questions.
Vanessa DeGier is co-founder of