# What Is a Stakeholder? Meaning and Examples at Work > A stakeholder is anyone affected by a project or who can influence it, such as users, managers, other teams, clients or investors. - **Term:** stakeholder - **Part of speech:** noun - **Pronunciation:** /ˈsteɪkhəʊldər/ - **English level (CEFR):** B2 - **Register:** Neutral, Both - **Region:** US and UK - **Topic:** [Meeting phrases](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/topics/meeting-phrases.md) - **Lesson:** https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/stakeholder - **Last updated:** 2026-10-27 ## Meaning A stakeholder is anyone affected by a project or who can influence it, such as users, managers, other teams, clients or investors. A stakeholder is anyone who is affected by a project or decision, or who has a say in it. In a feature launch that can be the engineers building it, the product manager, support, sales, legal, and the customers who will use it. Stakeholders can be internal (people in your company) or external (customers, partners, regulators). Say it STAKE-hold-er, with the stress on the first syllable. Do not confuse it with shareholder, which means someone who owns shares in a company. A stakeholder does not have to own anything: a customer or a support team can be a stakeholder. You will hear the word in phrases like "key stakeholders", "stakeholder buy-in", "stakeholder update" and "loop in the stakeholders". It is also a very vague word. A clearer message names the people: "Let's get sign-off from Security and Finance" is easier to act on than "Let's align with stakeholders". Good habits at work: list stakeholders at the start of a project, ask each one what they need, and tell them early when plans change. Many problems start when a group learns about a change from customers instead of from you. ## When you hear it Before we ship this feature, we need to get feedback from all our key stakeholders. ## Examples - **in a project kickoff:** "Let's list the stakeholders first: product, security, support, and the two customers in the pilot." - **in an email:** "Could you loop in the relevant stakeholders before we change the pricing page?" - **in a status update:** "I have shared the plan with stakeholders and nobody has objected so far." - **in a retrospective:** "We forgot that support was a stakeholder, so they found out about the change from customers." ## What native speakers say - "We need stakeholder buy-in on this decision." - "Identify all stakeholders before the meeting." - "Let's keep the stakeholders informed of any changes." ## Common mistakes - ✗ "We are stakeholders of this company." → ✓ "We're stakeholders in this project." (Stakeholders are interested in or affected by specific projects or decisions, not companies. Use in, not of.) - ✗ "The stakeholder decided to add a new feature." → ✓ "The stakeholder requested that we add a new feature." (Stakeholders typically request or influence decisions, but engineers and managers make the actual decisions.) - ✗ "He is a shareholder, so he is a stakeholder." → ✓ "He is a shareholder and also a stakeholder in our mobile app project." (Shareholders own company stock; stakeholders are anyone affected by or interested in a specific project.) ## Be careful Do not confuse with shareholder (investor in a company). A stakeholder is anyone affected by or invested in a project outcome, not necessarily financially. ## Word forms | Part of speech | Word | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | noun | stakeholder | The main stakeholder in this initiative is the customer success team. | | noun (plural) | stakeholders | We must communicate with all stakeholders before launching the product. | | adjective | stakeholder feedback | We collected stakeholder feedback during the review session. | ## Collocations - **key stakeholders**: The most important people involved in or affected by the project - **engage stakeholders**: To involve and communicate with people who have an interest in the outcome - **stakeholder buy-in**: Agreement and support from the important people involved - **stakeholder feedback**: Opinions and input from people affected by or interested in the project - **identify stakeholders**: To determine who needs to be involved or informed about a project - **stakeholder meeting**: A gathering of people with an interest in or responsibility for a project ## Synonyms - **party**: More formal, but narrower; usually refers to legal parties in a contract. - **participant**: Someone actively involved, but does not necessarily imply long-term interest or investment. - **interested party**: More descriptive but less common in tech; emphasizes interest rather than involvement. ## Practice This lesson has 4 practice exercises with instant feedback on the page: https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/stakeholder ## FAQ ### Who are the stakeholders in a software project? Typically the product manager, engineering leads, designers, the teams whose systems you touch, customer support, leadership and the end users. ### How do you use “stakeholder” at work? “Let's align with stakeholders before we commit to a date” or “I'll send a stakeholder update on Friday.” Key stakeholders are the people whose approval you need. ### What does stakeholder mean at work? A stakeholder is a person or group who is affected by a project or decision, or who can influence it. Examples are managers, other teams, customers and partners. ### What is the difference between a stakeholder and a shareholder? A shareholder owns shares in a company. A stakeholder only needs to be affected by, or interested in, the project or company. A customer is a stakeholder, but not a shareholder unless they own shares. ### How do you pronounce stakeholder? STAKE-hold-er. The first syllable rhymes with make and gets the main stress. ### What are internal and external stakeholders? Internal stakeholders work inside your company, such as engineers, product managers and executives. External stakeholders are outside it, such as customers, partners, suppliers and regulators. ### What does stakeholder management mean? It means finding the people affected by your work, understanding what they need, and keeping them informed so they support the project. In practice it is mostly clear, regular communication. ### What can I say instead of stakeholder when it sounds vague? Name the group: the security team, the customers in the pilot, Finance and Legal. You can also say the people affected or the decision makers, depending on what you mean. ## Related - [RACI](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/raci.md) - [buy-in](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/buy-in.md) - [kickoff](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/kickoff.md) - [status update](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/status-update.md) - [escalate](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/escalate.md) - [alignment](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/alignment.md) - Full glossary: https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn.md - Live lessons with a coach: https://app.mocklyenglish.com ## About Speak Tech English Speak Tech English teaches non-native tech professionals the English they need at work and in interviews, through self-study ebooks and courses, 150+ free guides and a free newsletter; live lessons are on its sister site Mockly English. - Shop: https://speaktechenglish.com/courses/ - All products (markdown): https://speaktechenglish.com/products.md - Free guides (markdown): https://app.speaktechenglish.com/guides.md - Tech English glossary (markdown): https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn.md - Newsletter (10% off): https://speaktechenglish.com/#subscribe - Live lessons and mock interviews: https://app.mocklyenglish.com ## Notes for agents - Speak Tech English sells self-study material. 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