Why won't your stakeholders just tell you what they want? Because they don't know yet, and that's where you come in.When IIBA’s Digital Library+ recommended Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask to me, I felt a little called out. So I invited the author on the show! In this episode, I’m joined by Bill Shander, data storytelling expert and author. Bill has never carried the business analyst title, but he’s spent 30-plus years doing the work, and he says eliciting real needs is the most important skill any knowledge worker can build.We dig into what “whispering” is all about and why making your stakeholders feel heard is essential not just to eliciting requirements, but to building the kind of trust that gets you past the first answer to what they really need. Plus: why asking “why?” can feel like an attack, the useful paranoia every BA needs, and why this skill matters even more in the age of AI.💬 Tell us in the comments: What’s your go-to question when a stakeholder says “just do what I asked”?🎙️Episode Highlights• What "stakeholder whispering" really means• Why stakeholders don't know what they need• Fast thinking, slow thinking, and useful paranoia• The Socratic method and BA as therapy• Deep listening and follow-up questions• Imposter syndrome and owning your seat at the table• Using authority to ask "why" without the hostility• The dance of the six Ws• Everybody you work with is a stakeholder too• Where humans keep the edge over AI• Audience Q&A: signal vs. noise, political responses🔗 Resources

• Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

• Connect with Bill on LinkedIn

• Stakeholder Whispering by Bill Shander (also available to members in the IIBA Digital Library+)

• Bill Shander's Stakeholder Whispering course on LinkedInLearning (eligible for IIBA CDUs)

• Global Business Analysis Day, November 5–6 (our annual 24-hour, free virtual event): Global Business Analysis Day 2026 | Enabling Confidence | IIBA

• Learn more about our business analysis community: iiba.org

Business Analysis Live is hosted by Susan Moore, CommunityEngagement Manager with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). We talk with business analysis professionals about business analysis topics and answer questions from our live audience.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to hit that Likebutton, subscribe to the channel, and share it with your friends. Your support helps us keep bringing you great content!

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is anon-profit professional association serving the field of business analysis. As the global thought leader and voice of the business analysis community, IIBA actively supports the recognition of the profession, and works to maintain global standards for the ongoing development of the practice andcertifications.

#StakeholderWhispering #BusinessAnalysis #RequirementsElicitation

October is Cybersecurity Awareness month, and if you’ve been thinking about getting into cybersecurity, here's the good news: you don't need to be technical to make your organization safer. You need to get good at what our guest calls “adversarial thinking.”

In this episode, Mark Cross, cybersecurity practitioner and the EMEA regional chair of the IIBA Cyber Special Interest Group, joins Susan to show how business analysts can spot risks before attackers do, starting with four personas you probably haven't put in your requirements yet.Your business analysis skills are already cyber skills. Watch the full episode to see how, then tell us in the comments which of your BA skills you think are the most valuable for keeping your organization secure.🎙️Episode Highlights• What adversarial thinking is• Why you don’t need to be technical• The four attacker personas• Security perimeters and trust boundaries• Secure by design• Red shift and blue shift• The Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK)• IIBA’s Certificate in Cybersecurity Analysis (CCA)• AI and the changing threat landscape🔗 Resources

• Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

• Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

• IIBA Cyber Special Interest Group

• IIBA Certificate in Cybersecurity Analysis (CCA)

• Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK)

• Learn more about our business analysis community: iiba.org

Business Analysis Live is hosted by Susan Moore, Community Engagement Manager with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). We talk with business analysis professionals about business analysis topics and answer questions from our live audience.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to hit that Like button, subscribe to the channel, and share it with your friends. Your support helps us keep bringing you great content!

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is a non-profit professional association serving the field of business analysis. As the global thought leader and voice of the business analysis community, IIBA actively supports the recognition of the profession, and works to maintain global standards for the ongoing development of the practice and certifications.#BusinessAnalysis #Cybersecurity #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth

Back in 1995, Bill Gates wrote that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. Thirty-one years later, we're still learning that lesson, only now the shiny new technology is AI. In this episode of Business Analysis Live!, host Susan Moore sits down with Oge Nwachukwu, business analysis consultant, trainer and author, to talk about why the process must come first, whatever technology you're bringing in.We also dig into listener questions on convincing the business, uncovering knowledge that lives in people's heads, using governance as a stage gate, and why business analysis professionals need to learn the technology to help stakeholders assess their options. Stay to the end to hear about Oge's new book and her upcoming IIBA webinar. 🎙️Episode Highlights• Why organizations skip the process step• Bringing discipline to the excitement• For every AI use case, what's the business case?• The process-led approach to AI use cases• Happy paths vs. exceptions• Why AI isn't an automation tool• Extracting knowledge that isn't documented• Governance as a stage gate• Crawl, run, fly: an AI roadmap• Why BAs need to understand AI• No data, no AI• Oge’s upcoming book The Business Analysis Career Book and the digital goodies included🔗 Resources

• Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

• Connect with Oge on LinkedIn

• Register for Oge’s Nov 25th webinar TheReal Reasons You're Not Getting Hired as a Business Analyst

• Learn more about our business analysis community: iiba.org

Business Analysis Live is hosted by Susan Moore, Community Engagement Manager with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). We talk with business analysis professionals about business analysis topics and answer questions from our live audience.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to hit that Like button, subscribe to the channel, and share it with your friends. Your support helps us keep bringing you great content!

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is a non-profit professional association serving the field of business analysis. As the global thought leader and voice of the business analysis community, IIBA actively supports the recognition of the profession, and works to maintain global standards for the ongoing development of the practice and certifications.

#BusinessAnalysis #ProcessImprovement #AIStrategy