InklusivComm™
Speaking Tips

“Offer options to audience members by providing them with textual versions of presentations either in slide notes or in a handout accompanying slide decks.”

“At the start of the presentation or event, take a moment to verbally describe the room layout and location of emergency exits, food/beverages, and restrooms.”

“Share an outline as you get started, so your audience can set proper expectations and decide if they want to commit their brain power to focus on your content.”

“Never depend on colour as the only means to convey information in your printed or digital content, as some audience members can’t perceive colours the way others do.”

“Recognize that audience members with reading difficulties may not have enough time to finish reading text-heavy slides before you move on to the next one.”

“Use people-first language in your material and delivery, such as ‘people with disabilities’ instead of ‘disabled people’, as people are more than just their disabilities.”

“Avoid displaying content at the bottom of your slide or screen, as that area is more likely to be harder to see for audience members sitting towards the back of the room.”

“Go out of your way to set clear expectations for your audience, be consistent in your instructions, and always follow through with what has been announced or promised.”

“Make it a point to offer your audience members permission to physically move, walk around the room or even walk away from the group if they feel compelled to do so.”

“Don’t rely exclusively on auditory content such as audio cues or music to signal information, as those can be unusable for someone who can’t easily perceive sounds.”

“Make sure that the statistics, demographic data or trends presented to your audience members are diverse-conscious, when possible and appropriate.”

“Keep the use of slide transitions to an absolute minimum, as some audience members can easily find them distracting, disturbing, and may even become ill from them.”

“Go beyond colours to also employ patterns, shapes, text, positioning, hierarchy, and animation to create dynamic content that will work better for all of your audience.”

“Resist the urge to design massive, eye-straining blocks of content, as those can feel both off-putting and daunting for some of your audience members.”

“Educate yourself on disabilities and etiquette, to ensure that your material and the delivery of your material are not offensive to some of your audience members.”

“Speak clearly, at a normal pace, and include pauses after presenting complex points or visual elements to allow audience members to process information.”

“When asking if anyone has questions, be patient and keep in mind that some people with cognitive disabilities might need extra time to form their thoughts into words.”

“Don’t bottom-align slide text unless you know that the bottom of the screen will be located well above the audience, or the audience seating will be tiered.”

“Help audience members adequately prepare for planned transitions, by providing ample advance notice and reminders about what is expected to come next.”

“Keep in mind that hand held microphones, facial hair and other mouth obstructors can add significant challenges to the experience of lip reading audience members.”

“Keep switching back and forth repeatedly between screens to a minimum, as it can create cognitive overload for some attendees, and even make some of them feel ill.”

“Consider offering a digital copy of your materials in PPT or PDF, so audience members can follow along on their devices while leveraging their own accessibility settings.”

“Identify any potential information loss related to insufficient contrast or colour combinations in your printed or digital content by running it through a grayscale filter.”

“Recognize that any approach to diversity, equity and inclusion that fails to factor in disability and ageing will be inherently flawed and will lead to exclusion.”

“Optimize readability and reduce overall cognitive load for your audience members by sticking to lower case, sentence case, or camel case text presentations.”

“Don’t ever make assumptions about the people in your audience, their needs, their characteristics or their abilities, based on stereotypes or limited information.”

“Always provide audience members with elegant ways to opt-out of engagement activities involving movement when they can’t physically take part in the request.”

“Before asking audience members to take any sort of action, make sure sufficient instructions have been clearly provided and everyone truly understands the expectations.”

“Provide audience members with opportunities to re-energize as needed, by introducing opportunities for physical interactions that will get their blood flowing.”

“Make sure to include images, graphics and visual aids that display reflection of culturally and ethnically diverse groups and the communities in which they live.”