Audience Stakeholder Map

When to use

Use this when you know what you are arguing but not yet how to pitch it. It maps who decides versus who influences, what each person cares about, and where resistance will come from, so altitude and emphasis are right for the room.

Instructions

1. List every person in the room and tag each as decision-maker, influencer, or observer.
2. For each, capture their top priority, their default mental model, and the one question they will ask.
3. Identify likely skeptics and the specific objection each is prone to raise.
4. Note the right altitude (strategic vs operational detail) and any topics that are politically sensitive.
5. Translate the map into three implications for how the deck should be framed and sequenced.

Example prompts

• "Help me map the board audience for this strategy deck and what each member will push on."
• "Profile my exec audience so I know whose objections to pre-empt in the slides."

Output

A stakeholder table (role, priority, mental model, key question, likely objection) followed by three framing implications.