How far does your inclusive speaking megaphone carry?

In last week’s post, we described the different parts of the Inclusive Professional Speaking (IPS) model, a concept that maps out the different stages a speaking professional inevitably goes through as they progress towards becoming more acutely aware of the considerations that are required to truly connect with all of their audience.

As I was initially putting together the IPS model for my upcoming book, “Inclusive Professional Speaking” (working title), the idea of a megaphone with different powered rings representing how far it carries naturally came to mind. After all, it makes sense. If your megaphone only carries a little, you’re only going to be heard by so many people. But if it carries far and wide, you’ll be heard by a lot more of them! So, in this IPS model, the more powered rings your inclusive speaking megaphone possesses, the more your message reaches out to folks, including those who have disabilities. The more inclusive you become.

We saw that the IPS model takes us through five stages from instinctive (1 ring), to inspired (2 rings), to involved (3 rings), to invested (4 rings), to inclusive (5 rings), which form the 5INs of inclusive professional speaking.

While only you can determine at which stage you currently operate when it comes to how inclusive you are as a speaking professional, whether or not you are satisfied with how you’re doing is entirely up to you. The less you’ve considered the impact of disabilities in your delivery in the past, the more likely it is that you find yourself firmly rooted in the instinctive phase.

And you know what? That’s ok. Because in order to know where we’re headed, we first need to understand where we come from. This is another one of those “Come-to-Jesus” moments.

The idea of a spectrum such as the one defined in the IPS model implies that we are, again, on a continuum of connectedness and consciousness. Connectedness with the audience at risk of systemic exclusion, and consciousness about tips, techniques, and principles that can be leveraged to make them feel welcome.

It could be that due to whatever considerations, you find yourself more deeply rooted in one stage than another, with varying levels of consciousness and connectedness. Or you might feel that for certain aspects, you operate at one level, and for other aspects, at a different level. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. What matters is to be mindful of the situation, and why it matters, and actively take steps towards bridging these gaps for some of our audience members, in some of those circumstances.

Remember, this journey is your journey. Everyone’s journey is different, but we can all help one another by sharing thoughts, ideas, and care. Ultimately, you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to how you communicate your message, and to who you communicate it to. Your keynote presentation, your training deck, those are your vehicles, just as much as your voice is.

You are in control. How many of your audience members are you willing to bring along for the ride?

People are not, and should never be viewed as, edge cases

Whether you speak at local events in front of a handful of people, or internationally in front of thousands of people, think about the energy, time, effort, and resources you put into building and delivering your presentations. Whether you make a comfortable living monetizing the spoken word, or you aspire to one day gain recognition and fame in your field through your talks, you genuinely care about your message getting through to your audience. Every time your message fails to come across is a wasted opportunity for your audience, for you, for your business, and for your brand.

If you aren’t already firmly established as an inclusive speaker, how does it feel to discover that a significant part of your audience may be missing out on your message, just because of these edge cases – let’s call them extreme cases, shall we? – you had no clue you were supposed to think about? Throughout these posts, I’ve talked a few times about “the extremes of the human experience”, but not once did I refer to these experiences as “edge cases”. There’s a reason for this.

You see, edge cases are, by their very definition, situations or scenarios we can afford to ignore. In the context of a product lifecycle or its development, it might mean a particular situation that was not initially planned for. Edge cases are fine when we talk about a product or a feature. But when it comes to public speaking, referring to edge cases is a much more slippery slope. After all, as Evan Henſleigh famously tweeted, “edge cases define the boundaries of what and who you care about“.

In our case, with these conversations, what we’re talking about are people. Actual human beings. Relegating human experiences that are different from our own as “edge cases” implicitly defines the boundaries of who we care about. Trust me, that’s not a good look. For you, or for your brand.

When every edge case that we dismiss is a potential person that could be missing out on your message, and consequently, someone you may lose as a client, or as a follower, the impact is much more real. Just how many people in your audience can you afford to lose in such a way, due to a one-size-fits-all approach to communicating in public? That question is always what I come back to.

If the answer is “not as many as I currently do”, then know that there’s still a road ahead before you reach your destination. Join us. As I said in our very first blog post months ago, this journey begins with a single step.