Is your target audience all made up of exactly the same people? No, right? But do you take that into account enough in your communication to your target group? That question is probably followed by a less convincing no. Sure, you have the best intentions, but inclusive communication is unfortunately not yet a given.
While it is actually so simple. Communicating inclusively is nothing more than making your communication understandable to the largest possible group. This means that you:
- choose understandable language;
- add explanations in images;
- and make your communication accessible to people with disabilities.
It starts with the right language level
You communicate on the basis of what you know. And that is immediately a big challenge between sender and receiver. Especially when it comes to written communication. Take the language level in which you write. Often that is a level you understand well yourself. But the language skills of readers vary. A large majority understands texts at language level B1. But for 20% of the population that is too difficult. For that group, you write at A2 level. Or, better still, you also provide the text in another form, such as an information video.
Don’t forget recognisability either
What word is recognizable? Right, there it is again, recognize. Communication should be recognizable for everyone. But you write on the basis of what is recognizable to you. As a result, bias lurks. And you may unconsciously exclude people in your communication. Whereas your text should be recognizable to everyone. That is what inclusive communication is all about. You write for readers of all ages, genders and cultures.
Why inclusive communication is also important within your own organization
Not only your target audience, but also your colleagues are not all the same, right? Like society, organizations are also increasingly multicultural. Organizational psychologist Hofstede saw this years ago. That is why it is also important to communicate inclusively within one’s own organization. We call it intercultural communication.
It is about understanding each other’s norms, values and codes of conduct. And speaking a language that everyone understands. By knowing mutual cultural differences in the workplace (and acting accordingly), you prevent your own interpretation from influencing your expectations of others. This is necessary to communicate efficiently and get your message across properly to your colleagues. It makes for better collaboration and helps to achieve results faster.
Inclusive communication
Comprehensible language, avoiding bias and recognizable writing… It all sounds so easy. But is it? Unfortunately, it isn’t. Unless you don’t turn down a little help. Because at Textmetrics, we have the solution for you. As text improvers, we know exactly how to communicate inclusively and thus effectively.
We developed the platform for text optimisation. A simple approach, for a challenging task. The platform gives you suggestions and advice that make writing more fun and more efficient. You write good, inclusive texts in understandable language, appealing to your entire target group.