For me, communicating effectively means accepting that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The traditional evaluation report still has its place, especially for accountability and documentation purposes—it’s necessary and should remain part of the package. But to really reach different audiences, we need to go beyond that. Short, tailored products like one-pagers, infographics, slide decks, or even social media content can make a big difference. Depending on the audience, this might mean a Twitter thread, an Instagram carousel, or even a short TikTok reel summarizing key messages.
AI tools have also made this much easier. Platforms like Notebook LLM now allow you to create podcasts or other multimedia products from scratch, often at no cost. UN Women’s Evaluation Unpacked series is a great example of how evaluation findings can be turned into engaging, accessible content. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential in these newer formats to make evaluation results more relatable and widely shared.
One of the biggest challenges is that communication and dissemination often aren’t built into the evaluation process from the start. They’re usually treated as an afterthought—something to do at the end if there’s time or budget left. As a result, dissemination either happens in a very limited way or doesn’t happen at all.
Ideally, communication should be part of the planning and resourced properly, just like data collection or analysis. It should also be seen as something that continues beyond the final report—helping keep the findings alive and relevant. I think clients and institutions could give more importance to this, treating communication as a core part of learning and follow-up, not just the “last step” of an evaluation.
RE: Beyond the final report: What does it take to communicate evaluation well?
Uruguay
Cristian Maneiro
Evaluation Consultant
UNWOMEN, Plan Eval
Posted on 24/10/2025
Thanks Silvio for raising this important issue.
For me, communicating effectively means accepting that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The traditional evaluation report still has its place, especially for accountability and documentation purposes—it’s necessary and should remain part of the package. But to really reach different audiences, we need to go beyond that. Short, tailored products like one-pagers, infographics, slide decks, or even social media content can make a big difference. Depending on the audience, this might mean a Twitter thread, an Instagram carousel, or even a short TikTok reel summarizing key messages.
AI tools have also made this much easier. Platforms like Notebook LLM now allow you to create podcasts or other multimedia products from scratch, often at no cost. UN Women’s Evaluation Unpacked series is a great example of how evaluation findings can be turned into engaging, accessible content. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential in these newer formats to make evaluation results more relatable and widely shared.
One of the biggest challenges is that communication and dissemination often aren’t built into the evaluation process from the start. They’re usually treated as an afterthought—something to do at the end if there’s time or budget left. As a result, dissemination either happens in a very limited way or doesn’t happen at all.
Ideally, communication should be part of the planning and resourced properly, just like data collection or analysis. It should also be seen as something that continues beyond the final report—helping keep the findings alive and relevant. I think clients and institutions could give more importance to this, treating communication as a core part of learning and follow-up, not just the “last step” of an evaluation.