Three moves
exampleAgree with the intent, redirect to the outcome, offer a concrete next step.
- 'Absolutely — the goal is fewer errors in the form.'
- 'Slides alone won't move that. Here's what will.'
- 'Give me two days for a 1-page plan.'
Journey dashboard
Day 29 / 60Week 3 · Performance ConsultingPractice lab
Consulting conversations
Learning goal
Handle pushback without losing the relationship.
Estimated time
25 minutes · self-paced
Warm-up
What do you say when a stakeholder says 'just make the slides'?
Main lesson
Scope guardrails
Written objectives + agreed metric + change log. Scope creep is a documentation problem as much as a personality one.
Examples from practice
- — A designer trading a 90-minute course for a pilot plus a job aid.
Interactive quiz
Reflection
Which conversation do you avoid most?
Daily challenge
Write your three go-to phrases for pushback and rehearse them out loud.
Portfolio task
Add a short 'How I work with stakeholders' note to your portfolio about-page.
AI design tools
Ten assistants for this lesson
AI Mentor
Instructional design questions only
Hi! I'm your ID Mentor. Ask me anything about consulting conversations — or instructional design in general.