How can you present stakeholder feedback in a clear and compelling way?

1 Define your purpose

Before you start presenting stakeholder feedback, you need to have a clear purpose and objective for your communication. What are you trying to achieve with your presentation? Who is your target audience and what do they need to know? How will your presentation influence your operational planning decisions and actions? By defining your purpose, you can focus your presentation on the most relevant and impactful feedback, and tailor your message and tone to suit your audience.

2 Use visual aids

One of the most effective ways to present stakeholder feedback is to use visual aids, such as charts, graphs, diagrams, or images. Visual aids can help you summarize and highlight key findings, trends, patterns, or gaps in the feedback data. They can also make your presentation more engaging, memorable, and persuasive, as they appeal to the visual sense and emotions of your audience. However, be careful not to overload your presentation with too many or too complex visual aids, as they can also distract or confuse your audience. Choose simple and clear visuals that support your main points and messages.

3 Tell a story

Another way to present stakeholder feedback in a clear and compelling way is to tell a story. A story can help you connect the feedback data to the real-life experiences and challenges of your stakeholders. It can also help you illustrate the benefits and outcomes of your operational planning solutions and actions. To tell a story, you need to have a structure, a plot, and a message. A structure can be a simple beginning, middle, and end, where you introduce the problem, explain the feedback, and propose the solution. A plot can be a sequence of events, actions, or changes that show how the feedback influenced your operational planning process. A message can be a key takeaway, a lesson learned, or a call to action that you want your audience to remember or act on.

4 Provide context

To present stakeholder feedback in a clear and compelling way, you also need to provide context. Context can help you explain the background, scope, and limitations of the feedback data. It can also help you compare and contrast the feedback from different sources, perspectives, or time periods. By providing context, you can show your audience how the feedback relates to your operational planning situation and objectives. You can also show your audience how you analyzed, interpreted, and validated the feedback data, and how you addressed any issues or challenges that arose from the feedback.

5 Invite feedback

Finally, to present stakeholder feedback in a clear and compelling way, you need to invite feedback. Inviting feedback can help you engage your audience and encourage their participation and collaboration. It can also help you gather more insights, opinions, and suggestions from your audience, and improve your operational planning process and outcomes. To invite feedback, you can ask open-ended questions, solicit comments or ratings, or conduct polls or surveys. You can also provide channels and platforms for your audience to share their feedback, such as email, social media, or online forums.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?