What you can learn from your audience members who have disabilities?

One of the most common questions speaking professionals often ask themselves as they begin their journey to become more inclusive speakers relates to why they should even bother with people in their audience who might have disabilities.

In fact, there are several reasons why this is important. First and foremost, it’s a matter of respect, dignity, and inclusion. Overall, it is important to care about our audience members who have disabilities because it is the right thing to do, but doing so also leads to a more engaging and fulfilling experience for everyone involved.

If you are reading this post, chances are you agree that people with disabilities should enjoy the same opportunities to participate and engage with events and activities as those without disabilities. But as it turns out, providing accommodations for audience members who have disabilities automatically makes the event or activity more inclusive, accessible, and enjoyable for everyone. As an example, providing assistive technology or alternative communication methods like live transcripts can benefit not only those with disabilities, but also anyone who may have difficulty hearing, or seeing in a large audience.

Moreover, creating a more inclusive environment can foster a sense of community and belonging.

When people feel welcome and included, they are more likely to engage with the event or activity and contribute their ideas and perspectives. This reflects positively on your brand, and sends a powerful message about your values, and what you care about.

Recognizing the value of diversity

As speaking professionals and a content creators, it’s important for us to recognize that our audience members come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences that may be very different from our own. This includes individuals who have disabilities of course, as well as anyone who may face unique challenges and obstacles in their daily lives. This also includes a lot of other individuals who are either just getting older, or end up being marginalized by our unabashed use of technology.

By engaging with – and more importantly, listening to – our audience members who have different needs and expectations, we can learn valuable insights and perspectives that can help us improve our products, our services, and consequently, the kind of content and experiences we offer.

By recognizing diversity, we can learn quite a bit from our potentially marginalized audience members! One very important thing we can learn from that audience is the ways in which our message and brand may be inaccessible to them. For example, if you have a website, your audience members with disabilities may have difficulty navigating it, or accessing certain features that depend on the use of a mouse, or the ability to perceive colours, sounds, or images. By listening to the feedback and suggestions of these audience members, we can learn what changes need to be made to make our sites and our content more accessible and inclusive of everyone.

In addition to improving the accessibility of our message, products and services, genuinely engaging with our audience members who have disabilities can also provide even more valuable insights, this time into the experiences and perspectives of this largely underserved community. For example, by listening to, and learning from, their stories, needs, expectations, and perspectives, we can discover more about the challenges and obstacles that individuals with disabilities face in their daily lives, trying to consume our materials. This can lead to creating more authentic and relatable content that will resonate with this audience just as much as it resonates with those who do not have disabilities.

Furthermore, as I alluded to in the intro to this post, engaging with our marginalized audiences can also help foster a more inclusive and diverse community, something that can prove very powerful in terms of projecting a more positive brand. By showing that we value the contributions and perspectives of everyone, we can create more inclusive and welcoming environments for all of our audience members.

What inclusion can teach us about ourselves

One such example of something we can learn from audience members who have disabilities is how to make our events more accessible. This may include providing accessible seating, offering assistive listening devices, or providing materials in alternative formats (such as large print or braille). A recent posts from a few weeks ago offered seventeen low-cost ideas to make your in-person events more inclusive. By asking for feedback and suggestions from audience members with disabilities, we can ensure that our events are accessible to everyone.

Another example of things we can learn from our audience members who have disabilities is how to communicate effectively with them. This may involve using clear and concise language, avoiding jargon, and providing additional support or accommodations as needed. By taking the time to understand the unique needs and experiences of audience members with disabilities, we can, again, create a more inclusive and engaging environment for everyone.

In conclusion, there are many valuable things that we can learn from our audience members who have disabilities. By listening to their feedback and perspectives, we can improve the accessibility of our products and services, create more authentic and relatable content, and foster a more inclusive and diverse sense of community. By taking the time to engage with and learn from these audience members, we can not only improve our business or content, but also make a positive impact on the lives of individuals who are otherwise marginalized and left behind.

So, the next time you hear someone question whether they should bother with individuals in their audience who have disabilities, challenge them to instead consider what is it that they might learn about their business, their values, and their audience’s needs (and how transformative that might turn out to be), if only they chose to initiate a dialogue with those in their audience who are currently left out. Chances are, there are quite a few valuable lessons just waiting to happen on the corner.