In(sightfully)clusive: Elevating Audience Engagement by Engaging the Entire Audience
In(sightfully)clusive: Elevating Audience Engagement by Engaging the Entire Audience
“Inclusion” is a popular term these days, appearing everywhere in our industry, and beyond. Does it represent a meaningful change in the way we go about our work and our lives? Or is it yet another trend, designed to grab attention and increase clicks? How does it work to our benefit in engaging audiences? And how do we create a sense of actual inclusion, rather than the echo of an empty buzzword?
The history of events is the history of engaging audiences:
From the ancient Romans’ architecturally brilliant Colosseum designed to address accessibility for crowds of thousands, to their encouragement of audience participation by voting on the fate of their favorite gladiators
From Elizabethan theatergoers cheering, booing and throwing fruit at actors, to William Shakespeare’s deliberate inclusion of clowning scenes in his plays designed as breaks for his attendees’ attention spans—the success of events has always stemmed from an understanding of who the audience is, and then grounding all aspects of the event in that understanding.
While today, our audience demographics and expectations are largely different from those of our ancestors, the necessity for understanding them is much the same. In fact, with such intense competition for the attention of every individual—from unrelenting notifications, to interruption advertising, to doomscrolling—understanding our audiences, and crafting experiences based on this knowledge, is more important than ever.
Why is it important? Studies have shown that when people are humanized, they can see themselves as part of the process of transformation, instead of just spectators of it (1). With agency comes investment, and when audiences are invested, they are paying attention. But it’s not enough to segment audiences; we have to then actively engage those groups with experiences that speak to the group identity.
While diversity comes in a dizzying array of forms—age, educational, linguistic, physical, neurologic, cultural, racial, ethnic, industry, role, etc.—it is helpful to approach the inclusion of these diverse characteristics by collecting them into a few categories:
Representation
Accessibility
Wellness
“Inclusion” is a popular term these days, appearing everywhere in our industry, and beyond. Does it represent a meaningful change in the way we go about our work and our lives? Or is it yet another trend, designed to grab attention and increase clicks? How does it work to our benefit in engaging audiences? And how do we create a sense of actual inclusion, rather than the echo of an empty buzzword?
The history of events is the history of engaging audiences:
From the ancient Romans’ architecturally brilliant Colosseum designed to address accessibility for crowds of thousands, to their encouragement of audience participation by voting on the fate of their favorite gladiators
From Elizabethan theatergoers cheering, booing and throwing fruit at actors, to William Shakespeare’s deliberate inclusion of clowning scenes in his plays designed as breaks for his attendees’ attention spans—the success of events has always stemmed from an understanding of who the audience is, and then grounding all aspects of the event in that understanding.
While today, our audience demographics and expectations are largely different from those of our ancestors, the necessity for understanding them is much the same. In fact, with such intense competition for the attention of every individual—from unrelenting notifications, to interruption advertising, to doomscrolling—understanding our audiences, and crafting experiences based on this knowledge, is more important than ever.
Why is it important? Studies have shown that when people are humanized, they can see themselves as part of the process of transformation, instead of just spectators of it (1). With agency comes investment, and when audiences are invested, they are paying attention. But it’s not enough to segment audiences; we have to then actively engage those groups with experiences that speak to the group identity.
While diversity comes in a dizzying array of forms—age, educational, linguistic, physical, neurologic, cultural, racial, ethnic, industry, role, etc.—it is helpful to approach the inclusion of these diverse characteristics by collecting them into a few categories:
Representation
Accessibility
Wellness
Representation
Representation is the act of reflecting our audience back to itself. As simple as this sounds, it’s amazing how entrenched old ways of doing things are, and how hard it can be to move the needle. For instance:
Sales teams in the technology industry have increasingly higher numbers of female constituents, but the inclusion of female guest speakers at sales conferences has lagged far behind.
Likewise, the numbers of female executives have also been slow to shift across organizations that are seeing growing numbers of female employees.
We at TENCUE believe that not only recognizing the disparate groups but also representing them at our events, on multiple levels, is crucial for audience buy-in. At one of our recent conferences for 18,000+ members of a Fortune 500 tech company’s sales team, we crafted our opening experience to respond to the shift in the sales team to a younger, more racially, culturally, and gender diverse audience.
Some inclusive tactics we used aimed at representation were:
Hip hop as a younger musical medium
Flying in performers from across the world
Incorporating instruments from various global cultures
Showcasing different languages in song lyrics
Intermingling varying genders among performers
Highlighting multi-cultural faces and places in our opening video
Through these methods we set an inclusive tone that was then carried through the rest of the event. Speakers, additional performers, conference content, inclusive language and optional badge pronouns all continued this inclusive approach at representation.
Accessibility
There is a tendency to consider only physical ableness when we hear the term “accessibility.” And while, yes, that is a large (and varied) part of the equation, accessibility applies to so many more groups whose needs should be considered. In fact, we recently piloted a program with our client to address the experience of neurodivergent attendees. We offered headsets to folks to help minimize the distraction and overwhelm expressed by a survey of neurodivergent-identified individuals in group contexts. The program was hugely successful: the number of headset requests grew steadily each successive day of the event and feedback from participating attendees was extremely positive.
Other initiatives addressing inclusion through accessibility include:
Sign-language interpreters and assisted listening devices for those with hearing impairments
Open captioning for those who speak English as a second language and those with hearing impairments
Simplified language in oral presentations for those who speak English as a second language
ADA ramps and seating areas for those who are differently abled
Presentation font size minimums, and contrast and color guidelines for folks with low vision
Color scheme environmental design for those with color vision deficiency
Nursing Rooms for nursing mothers
Gender-neutral bathrooms for gender fluid and non-binary folks
Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and halal food options for differing dietary restrictions
Non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails for those who don’t consume alcohol
Increased wayfinding for everyone
Representation
Representation is the act of reflecting our audience back to itself. As simple as this sounds, it’s amazing how entrenched old ways of doing things are, and how hard it can be to move the needle. For instance:
Sales teams in the technology industry have increasingly higher numbers of female constituents, but the inclusion of female guest speakers at sales conferences has lagged far behind.
Likewise, the numbers of female executives have also been slow to shift across organizations that are seeing growing numbers of female employees.
We at TENCUE believe that not only recognizing the disparate groups but also representing them at our events, on multiple levels, is crucial for audience buy-in. At one of our recent conferences for 18,000+ members of a Fortune 500 tech company’s sales team, we crafted our opening experience to respond to the shift in the sales team to a younger, more racially, culturally, and gender diverse audience.
Some inclusive tactics we used aimed at representation were:
Hip hop as a younger musical medium
Flying in performers from across the world
Incorporating instruments from various global cultures
Showcasing different languages in song lyrics
Intermingling varying genders among performers
Highlighting multi-cultural faces and places in our opening video
Through these methods we set an inclusive tone that was then carried through the rest of the event. Speakers, additional performers, conference content, inclusive language and optional badge pronouns all continued this inclusive approach at representation.
Accessibility
There is a tendency to consider only physical ableness when we hear the term “accessibility.” And while, yes, that is a large (and varied) part of the equation, accessibility applies to so many more groups whose needs should be considered. In fact, we recently piloted a program with our client to address the experience of neurodivergent attendees. We offered headsets to folks to help minimize the distraction and overwhelm expressed by a survey of neurodivergent-identified individuals in group contexts. The program was hugely successful: the number of headset requests grew steadily each successive day of the event and feedback from participating attendees was extremely positive.
Other initiatives addressing inclusion through accessibility include:
Sign-language interpreters and assisted listening devices for those with hearing impairments
Open captioning for those who speak English as a second language and those with hearing impairments
Simplified language in oral presentations for those who speak English as a second language
ADA ramps and seating areas for those who are differently abled
Presentation font size minimums, and contrast and color guidelines for folks with low vision
Color scheme environmental design for those with color vision deficiency
Nursing Rooms for nursing mothers
Gender-neutral bathrooms for gender fluid and non-binary folks
Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and halal food options for differing dietary restrictions
Non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails for those who don’t consume alcohol
Increased wayfinding for everyone
Wellness
At first, wellness might not seem to dovetail with inclusivity. However, when we look at Inclusion as the incorporation of all aspects of our attendees’, it makes sense to view wellness as an extension of inclusivity. Audiences can’t be fully engaged if they aren’t comfortable, calm, and cognitively prepared. Offering various wellness programs to attendees helps recuperate and reset audiences so that they’re in prime physical, emotional, and mental states to fully engage with an experience. It also demonstrates consideration for their entire experience as a conference goer.
Some options that address attendee Wellness include:
Mediation Rooms
Virtual Reality Meditation
Yoga Classes
Stretching Breaks
Dog Therapy zones
Puppy Cams
Quiet or Sensory Reduction Spaces
Reusable Water Bottles and plenty of Hydration Stations
On-Demand Workouts
Giving Pods for charitable and community-focused activities
Strategic Agenda Design for optimal session lengths, adequate breaks, and realistic travel times
Inclusivity isn’t static. Audiences are always changing, and their needs and experiences are always evolving. Evolving with them takes constant work and re-strategizing. But crafting experiences that speak to all participants, and all facets of those participants, results in attendees who feel as though they are part of the conversation. And creating an audience that is fully invested, engaged, and empowered is well worth the effort, because those are the audiences that are moved to action.
Wellness
At first, wellness might not seem to dovetail with inclusivity. However, when we look at Inclusion as the incorporation of all aspects of our attendees’, it makes sense to view wellness as an extension of inclusivity. Audiences can’t be fully engaged if they aren’t comfortable, calm, and cognitively prepared. Offering various wellness programs to attendees helps recuperate and reset audiences so that they’re in prime physical, emotional, and mental states to fully engage with an experience. It also demonstrates consideration for their entire experience as a conference goer.
Some options that address attendee Wellness include:
Mediation Rooms
Virtual Reality Meditation
Yoga Classes
Stretching Breaks
Dog Therapy zones
Puppy Cams
Quiet or Sensory Reduction Spaces
Reusable Water Bottles and plenty of Hydration Stations
On-Demand Workouts
Giving Pods for charitable and community-focused activities
Strategic Agenda Design for optimal session lengths, adequate breaks, and realistic travel times
Inclusivity isn’t static. Audiences are always changing, and their needs and experiences are always evolving. Evolving with them takes constant work and re-strategizing. But crafting experiences that speak to all participants, and all facets of those participants, results in attendees who feel as though they are part of the conversation. And creating an audience that is fully invested, engaged, and empowered is well worth the effort, because those are the audiences that are moved to action.
(1) Lyon, Cherstin, M., Introduction to Public History: Interpreting the Past, Engaging Audiences.