The Stakeholder Whisperer

About the Event

Your stakeholders don’t know what they need. Not really.

What they ask for is shaped by habit, assumption, and the limits of what they think is possible. Your job isn’t just to deliver the brief, it’s to decode it.

In this one-hour Mastermind, author, educator, and information designer Bill Shander shares a practical framework for getting from what people ask for to what they actually need.

Bill will show you how to have smarter conversations with clients, colleagues and stakeholders, on what they ask for and how they ask for it, and how to deliver products and services that meet those needs.

In this session Bill will cover: 

• Why stakeholder whispering is a skill every in-house creative needs
• How to tap into a user-experience and curiosity mindset 
• How? The Socratic Method
• How? The Dance of the Six Ws
• Why it doesn’t always work, but how to increase the odds

Whether you’re navigating complex client relationships, managing up, or trying to get more meaningful briefs, this session will change how you listen to, and engage with, stakeholders.

Who is this for?

This Masterclass is for in-house creative leaders who want to play a more strategic role, improve collaboration and stakeholder management. 

About our speaker

Bill Shander is an author, educator, and information designer, helping clients turn their data into compelling visual and often interactive experiences. He teaches data storytelling, information design, and data visualization on LinkedIn Learning (2M+ learners reached!), and in workshops around the world. He is a keynote speaker and has lectured for graduate and undergraduate students and staff at Harvard, Northeastern, Stanford, and more. His first book, Stakeholder Whispering, was published by Wiley in 2025.