I don’t agree with your premise that communication is more important in a BA than a developer.
As often as not, BAs just add to the chaos.
If I could sum up the BA role in one sentence, it would be this: We deal with the ambiguity so others don’t have to.
Fact is, SOMEONE has to nail down what the client actually NEEDS and document it in such a way that the developers have a CLEAR understanding of what success will look like. That is the BA value add. And BA’s need to be able to speak the language of the business and IT. They are also, in a very real way, using sales and marketing skills in their job - something in which I’ve had extensive training and success.
A good BA is a great person to have. Good ones are about as rare as good developers.
One thing I’m seeing more lately, that’s pissing me off, is people who used to be “devs” now doing PM or BA work. You understand why, yes?