How do you communicate with diverse stakeholders?

?? In my experience, understanding your audience's depth is multifaceted. Delving further: ?? Cognitive Empathy Grasp stakeholders' perspectives. Realize their informational needs and frame your message resonating with their cognitive standpoint. ?? Cultural Sensitivity Beyond obvious customs, understand subtle nuances. Familiarize yourself with non-verbal cues, symbolism, and local etiquette to avoid inadvertent missteps. ?? Clear & Precise Language Ambiguity can hinder understanding. Ensure your language is direct and free from jargon unless the stakeholder is well-versed in that terminology. ?? In conclusion, to resonate with diverse stakeholders, meld empathy with cultural awareness, maintaining clarity.

Some stakeholders are motivated by oppotunity to gain while others are motivated by fear of loss. It's important to include both sides in messaging.

Another way to understand the interests of stakeholders is to anticipate the most important information so that each of them can give a preliminary opinion on your project. If you only share the final result without knowing the prior opinion of your stakeholders, you may not receive the support you need. It's also possible that you'll proceed with a project that could have been done differently if you had considered the specific suggestions of each stakeholder. It's important to know their opinions beforehand, even if it's just an informal conversation, but some early feedback on what you're planning to do is essential.

Meeting with diverse stakeholders requires an empathetic and inclusive approach, actively listening and adapting to various perspectives help's to ensure clarity and mutual understanding on the value you want to create. It involves the view towards different cultural, professional, and social contexts, often facilitated by leveraging multiple channels to meet (see) stakeholders where they are or often see them self, sometimes of the topic. The more you know about your audience, the better you can spin the stories, and, often you need to have different stories for different audiences.

I play my own Perspective game of “Who, Why, What” for every seat at my table. I draw three columns on a sheet of paper and put myself in the the shoes of my audience. Who they are with respect to education level, geography, cultural norms, etc. Next Why they would want to (or not want to) listen to my presentation. Lastly, What would give them a call to action (or pause). Keeping it simple, writing it by hand, and being thoughtful goes a long way.

There is a generational aspect to communication modality as well. Younger stakeholders may be more comfortable with digital communication will older stakeholders are likely to prefer face to face interactions.

It's important to understand what the purpose of your particular communications efforts are. We chose to present the Circularity Gap Report 2023 via various channels to optimise reach and engagement but we found that channels that allowed for conversation were the most impactful. We used YouTube to livestream the official presentation of the Circularity Gap Report 2023, and we found this a great way to encourage two-way conversation. It's all about tailoring your communication to meet the specific goals and needs of your audience.

Choosing the right communication channel isn't enough; significant effort is needed to improve communication between a company and its stakeholders. Often, companies use multiple channels but fail to promote them effectively or use them appropriately. If stakeholders are unaware of these channels or how information is shared, the communication strategy falls short. The key is not just having multiple channels, but ensuring the quality, consistency, and transparency of communication. This is crucial both externally and internally. If internal team members are not fully aware of the information to be shared, there's a risk of confusing or losing the message, affecting stakeholder reception.

Let go of jargon. You get it. Not everybody else does. They are letters that people have to decipher. Spell out the words. It will be appreciated.

Language is how we communicate, expressing both facts and our identity. This identity is shaped by values like authenticity, consistency, innovation, and reliability. Effective language must align with these values. If authenticity is key, be genuine in your words. Consistency calls for uniform messaging to build trust. Innovative brands might use dynamic language, spotlighting new ideas. When reliability is crucial, clarity and precision are essential. In short, language is not just for conveying information; it aligns with a company's identity to deepen stakeholder connections.

Some stakeholders might be inherently visual learners or they may only have a limited amount of time to absorb the information presented. Others prefer precise descriptions and reasoning. Some might value both. It is important that we use both methods to effectively communicate to the whole group.

Two things happen in a one-to-one dialog: (1) what is said and (2) what is heard. As you add more people to the dialog, this dynamic becomes more complex - what is said can often be interpreted in multiple ways by different people. You have to be clear and ensure that what you say is understood correctly by everyone.

Dialogue is by definition a two way activity. Make sure that engaging includes real listening, not just head-nodding. One of my favorite approaches to show respect to others is a simple expression, delivered sincerely: "Tell me more..." It encourages engagement, at least in my experience.

More than just the ability to listen is the ability to repeat back your understanding of what was said. It shows immeasurable respect.

Listening to and engaging with stakeholders is crucial, but it's equally important to be clear when suggestions, recommendations, or opinions can't be implemented. Without effective feedback management, particularly when certain input can't be acted upon, there's a risk of creating false expectations if the importance of knowing how to say "no" is underestimated or misrepresented. This could lead to the opposite of engagement, fostering mistrust and feelings of neglect among stakeholders. Being clear about the inability to implement certain suggestions is just as vital as listening and engagement, requiring absolute transparency and assertiveness.

Being respectful is a code that should be followed not only with stakeholders but in any kind of relationship. Empathy, on the other hand, is a skill that some people can apply positively and assertively, while others may not know or have not learned how to do so. Some may have been taught that being authoritarian, grumpy, angry, or disrespectful yields good results, but this is untrue as it only fosters fear, distrust, and apathy. An effective way to practice empathy, even without innate skill, is by finding common objectives, mutual interests, and shared strengths that unite people in achieving results beneficial to all. The pursuit of the common good generates the necessary empathy to bring out the best in each stakeholder.

Depending on who you need to communicate with - give yourself overnight to reflect on your plan. Often times, you’ll reflect on your intended message, and adjust after remembering an important tidbit you may have left out. I find the closer you are to the topic, the more essential this “breather” is.