Speaking the Language: Helping IT Professionals Bridge the Communication Gap with Non-Technical Stakeholders

May 4, 2025 by cryan.com

When you're an IT professional, your value often lies in the details - the frameworks you built, the systems you stabilized, the vulnerabilities you patched before anyone knew they existed. But if your stakeholders don't understand those details, your contributions can disappear in a fog of acronyms and technical jargon. Communicating complex work to non-technical audiences is an essential skill that separates great IT professionals from merely competent ones.

Know Who You're Talking To

Before you open your mouth or put fingers to keyboard, take a beat to consider your audience. Are they in finance, HR, marketing? Are they mid-level managers who may have some exposure to tech, or executives who think “the cloud” is still just weather? Tailoring your message means putting yourself in their shoes. Understand what success looks like from their perspective and relate your work to their priorities. If your audience cares most about customer satisfaction, frame your IT achievement in terms of how it improved response times or reduced user complaints. When you understand the language of the listener, you can find the overlap between what they care about and what you've done.

Say Goodbye to Jargon (At Least for Now)

IT is a world built on shorthand - APIs, firewalls, CI/CD, and on and on. But even seasoned professionals can struggle with acronyms outside their own niche. Drop too many in a presentation to non-technical stakeholders, and you'll lose your audience fast. When acronyms are absolutely necessary, explain them. Better yet, swap them for plain-English alternatives. Instead of “Our new CI/CD pipeline allows for faster deployments,” try “We built a system that lets us update software quickly and safely without downtime.” You're not dumbing it down - you're making it make sense.

Invest in Communication Through Education

Earning an advanced degree in IT doesn't just expand your knowledge of cybersecurity, cloud computing, or data management - it also sharpens your ability to convey that knowledge to people outside your discipline. The right accredited IT degree program often includes coursework in leadership, project management, and technical writing, all of which are critical for making your work accessible to non-technical audiences. These programs allow you to deepen your skills in areas like programming and cybersecurity while also enhancing how you present that work to stakeholders. And if you're learning online, you can move at your own pace, making it possible to keep advancing your career without putting it on hold.

Use Analogies That Actually Land

One of the most effective ways to explain technical processes is through metaphor. Good analogies help people mentally map the unfamiliar onto something they already understand. For instance, instead of explaining a firewall as “a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic,” call it a security guard at a nightclub, checking IDs and only letting in approved guests. Or compare a server upgrade to swapping out an old engine in a car so it runs smoother and doesn't break down as often. When people can relate, they can retain.

Let Your Visuals Do Some Talking

Words are powerful, but pictures often cut through confusion quicker. That doesn't mean crowding your slide deck with clip art or complicated flowcharts. It means using clean, focused visuals - charts that show trends, diagrams that explain architecture, graphs that highlight results. If you're discussing increased system uptime, show a simple before-and-after graph. If you're explaining a migration plan, build a timeline that shows each phase and what's involved. Visuals help translate abstract processes into concrete realities and can engage stakeholders who might tune out a wall of text.

Tell the Story Behind the System

A security patch isn't just code; it's a story. So is migrating a database, launching an app, or building a reporting tool. Stories help people connect emotionally and follow a logical sequence. Start with the challenge or problem - why something needs to be fixed. Then describe the journey, including obstacles and decisions made along the way. Finally, deliver the resolution and what changed as a result. A story format keeps listeners engaged and makes it easier to communicate impact. Instead of a dry summary, you're delivering a narrative with stakes, progress, and payoff.

Leverage Your Team for Feedback

You're not on this communication journey alone. Loop in colleagues from other departments to review your presentations or summaries before they go public. Ask them: “Did this make sense to you?” or “What would you change to make this clearer?” Fresh eyes from outside IT can help flag jargon you didn't realize was opaque or identify where your narrative needs more context. This cross-functional feedback loop doesn't just make your message sharper - it also builds goodwill and collaboration across teams, making future communication smoother.