0:02 hello and welcome to our estrany YouTube
0:03 channel today we're going to be focusing
0:06 on the Acca exam that's the Acca
0:09 strategic business leader exam and
0:10 specifically we're going to be thinking
0:13 about how you can make your answers more [Music]
0:16 [Music]
0:18 effective so tip number one is that we
0:20 want to use a clear structure and a
0:22 professional format so when we're
0:23 thinking about having a clear structure
0:25 we want to have a logical flow to our
0:28 answers one way to help us do that is to
0:30 have clear headings so in those headings
0:32 we might say something like introduction
0:34 to start us off and then we might move
0:35 on to our analysis then we might move on
0:38 to our recommendations and then we might
0:39 move on to our conclusion so each one of
0:41 those should be a clear heading and then
0:43 we should be having um a logical flow to
0:45 our argument within those headings the
0:47 way that you structure your argument
0:48 matters because this is an exam that
0:50 assesses your ability to communicate in
0:52 a professional environment the exam
0:54 mirrors that environment and therefore
0:56 demonstrating that you can give a clear
0:58 structure to your responses will really
0:59 show The Examiner that you are able to
1:00 do this and it'll also help them to
1:02 follow your points so one example of
1:04 this could be that in a report you might
1:06 have an opening statement outlining the
1:08 purpose of the report and then you might
1:09 move on to some of your analysis and
1:11 your recommendations and you would want
1:12 to make sure that the tone of your
1:14 report is appropriate for the task you
1:15 have been given obviously that's very
1:17 context dependent but generally there'll
1:19 be some sort of clue in the question as
1:21 to how they want you to be responding in
1:22 your answer for example this could be
1:24 something like an email it could be a
1:26 report or it could be a presentation so
1:27 make sure you're following the correct
1:28 formatting there and that you're using
1:30 the appropriate tone which which is
1:32 likely to be quite formal okay so tip
1:34 number two is to follow the point
1:35 evidence explain structure for real
1:38 written responses what that looks like
1:39 is we're going to start with making a
1:41 clear point to answer the question
1:43 that's generally the central idea that
1:46 you have we're going to then back up
1:48 that point or that idea with some
1:49 evidence so if we're thinking about a
1:52 case study as we are in the Acca exam
1:54 that is likely to be some data um it is
1:57 likely to be some examples or some
2:00 further references to the casee study so
2:02 that's how you have your point and your
2:04 evidence and then you need to explain it
2:05 so when we're explaining something
2:07 obviously we give greater depth but we
2:09 also need to try and Link it back to the
2:11 question and the case study itself
2:12 thinking about the task requirements and
2:15 thinking about that company's objective
2:16 the benefit of this structure is that it
2:18 forces you to include some depth in your
2:20 answers which means that you have a
2:21 really in-depth demonstration of your
2:23 knowledge pretty much by accident if
2:25 you're following the structure and
2:26 that's really effective for getting
2:28 those marks so for example instead of
2:30 saying um rodim could improve staff
2:32 training which is correct but is quite a
2:34 sort of brief sentence instead you could
2:36 say rodim staff survey revealed that
2:38 lots of staff were dissatisfied with the
2:40 onboarding process um and that rodim
2:41 need to make adjustments to this to
2:44 align with their goal of improving their
2:46 operations tip number three is to align
2:48 your Solutions with the prene and
2:50 Exhibits so the best way to write is to
2:51 make sure that you're consistently
2:53 referencing the prene and the exhibits
2:55 the best things to be thinking about are
2:57 specific data to think about stakeholder
3:00 concerns or strategic objectives that
3:02 might have some impact on your answer
3:03 and the reason that we do that is that
3:06 it highlights your ability to um analyze
3:07 critically the material you've been
3:08 given and to be able to apply
3:10 theoretical knowledge to a practical
3:13 example so for example when discussing
3:15 the integration of AI you could then
3:17 reference rodim stagnating net promoter
3:20 score um or their strategic objective of
3:23 improving Innovation as some key ways to
3:25 sort of back up your argument there and
3:27 your reasons for suggesting it so tip
3:28 number four is to have a balance of
3:30 analysis and recommendations
3:32 so when we're thinking about a
3:33 discussion of benefits and risk that
3:35 needs to be quite balanced and then we
3:37 need to follow that with actionable
3:38 suggestions based on the data in front
3:40 of you the reason that we think about
3:43 doing that is because we know that the s
3:45 exam values a holistic approach so
3:47 providing both sides of the argument um
3:48 can show that you have critical
3:51 evaluation skills while also providing
3:52 practical solutions to those can show
3:54 that you are rooted in the business
3:55 needs and that you're able to understand
3:57 those really well so for example if we
3:59 were again to think about AI integration
4:00 you could start with thinking about some
4:02 potential benefits such as the potential
4:04 cost savings um and increased
4:05 operational efficiencies and then you
4:07 might move on again to it sort of have
4:09 that balance there to thinking about um
4:11 some issues with it so perhaps that
4:13 could be something like implementation
4:16 costs or the risk of some data security
4:18 concerns and then you can end that
4:20 discussion by thinking about having an
4:22 implementation plan for the use of AI
4:24 that mitigates the risks involved tip
4:26 number five is to tailor your
4:28 professional skills to the task so if
4:30 the task is asking something specific
4:31 make sure that the skill you
4:33 demonstrating is appropriate for that
4:34 task so that could be analysis that
4:36 could be communication that could be
4:39 skepticism that could be evaluation any
4:40 one of those things you need to be able
4:42 to demonstrate and it's good to show a
4:43 variety of those things a lot of the
4:46 marks in the ACC exam come from
4:47 demonstrating these professional skills
4:48 so it's really important to be showing
4:51 them um demonstrating these effectively
4:53 can also make a difference between
4:55 having a good answer and an excellent
4:57 answer so one example of this could be
5:00 um for a presentation slide task it
5:01 would make sense to have visually
5:04 concise slides with more detailed notes
5:05 to accompany them to demonstrate that
5:07 sort of reality there of what a
5:08 presentation is like and to reflect your
5:10 excellent communication skills in that
5:12 particular area our bonus tip and the
5:13 way that we're going to end this video
5:15 is to think about practicing good time
5:18 management we know that the Acca exam is
5:20 really time pressured and therefore the
5:21 best way that we're going to show
5:23 ourselves in our best light is to use
5:24 really good time management to make sure
5:26 that we get through all of the questions
5:27 effectively so make sure you're
5:29 allocating your time based on the number
5:31 of marks available for each task and
5:33 subtask I would say allocate no more
5:35 than 1 and 1 half minutes to a mark to
5:37 ensure that you are able to finish on
5:38 time the reason that we suggest doing
5:39 this is because we know that a
5:42 comprehensive but unfinished answer is
5:43 going to lose marks and the best thing
5:45 that you can do is prioritize key points
5:47 to prare to pick up as many marks as you
5:50 possibly can um if you've got coverage
5:51 of all the required elements you're
5:52 going to do much better in that
5:54 particular question thank you for
5:55 watching I hope you found this helpful
5:58 best of luck with your Acca SPL exam [Music]
