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Brian Krogh on Stitching Across the Seams

In this episode of Expertly Said, Kristen Sweeney talks with executive communications coach Brian Krogh—founder of BK Presentations and lead facilitator at Leadership-Link—about how technical experts can communicate like leaders. With experience spanning sales, ministry, and higher education, Brian brings a unique perspective on what it takes to connect across different industries and audiences.

Watch or Listen to the Episode

Watch the full episode here or listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

The Big Idea: Stitching Across Seams

Brian recalls coming across a LinkedIn post suggesting that the best communicators can “stitch across the seams of an organization.” Brian has been using the phrase ever since because it captures the essence of his coaching work so precisely.

Inside companies, people from different departments who work on the same projects often lack a common language. Likely, they’ve been trained to speak to peers but not necessarily to cross-functional stakeholders. As a result, crucial information gets lost in translation.

The people who stand out are those who can “stitch across the seams” and explain their work in ways that colleagues throughout the organization can actually understand. This is the heart of what Brian helps technical experts do.

"When I work with people, I say, ‘We're going to help you communicate your expertise like a leader.’ That's different from communicating your expertise like an expert. Every expert I've ever worked with knows how to communicate their expertise like an expert."  
- Brian Krogh
Founder of BK Presentations

Key Takeaways

  • Technical expertise will only take people so far in their careers; advancement often depends on learning to communicate effectively across functions.
 
  • When colleagues don’t understand each other, decisions stall and projects are delayed. Brian shares examples of a biostatistician and a pharmacologist who communicated critical information in such a technical manner that decision-makers couldn’t make sense of it.
 
  • Experts often try to share everything they know, but a more effective approach is to distill that knowledge down to what matters most for the audience. Brian points to Steve Jobs’s advice to start with the customer and work backward to the technology when developing messaging.

Ways to Connect with Brian

If you’d like to connect with Brian, you can do so here: 

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