Use the Hard Questions to Prepare a Clearer Story

Stef Tschida's path through communications changed, but one skill continued with her: asking difficult questions.

In her Fireside Chat conversation, she described initially following a path toward newspaper reporting, then realizing that a particular part of that work did not suit her. She moved toward public relations and corporate communications instead.

The journalistic skills remained useful. She described using tough questions to help clients prepare for the questions they would face from reporters, clients and other stakeholders.

Preparation can make the explanation stronger

A difficult question can feel like an obstacle to a message. In preparation, it can also reveal where that message needs more substance or clarity. Tschida's account describes putting the questioning skill to work on behalf of the person who will eventually need to answer.

The editorial connection for cyber professionals is the preparation that happens before an important briefing. If an explanation cannot address the questions its audience is likely to have, polishing the slides will only solve part of the problem.

Working through those questions can help distinguish what is known, what remains uncertain and what decision is being requested. That is an application to security communication, rather than a claim that Tschida prescribed a specific briefing method in the conversation.

Her career story also illustrates how a skill can remain valuable when its setting changes. Moving away from one kind of communications work did not require discarding what she had learned. Asking good questions became part of helping someone else tell a clearer and more useful story.

Listen to the original conversation with Stef Tschida · Read the transcript

From the Fireside Chat archive: original episode published 2022-08-24. This is an editorial reflection on that conversation, not a new interview or an update on the guest’s current role.