On trying new things, again.
Public speaking, skills for executives, and disability pride.
Screenshot selfie of Leanna Manning on a video conferencing platform. She has shoulder-length brown hair and she’s wearing a dark sweater with a pair of glasses with black frames. She’s waving at the camera.
I’ve had the absolute pleasure of speaking at 2 engagements in the last 2 months.
The first was my session on creating accessible digital content for neurodivergent audiences at the University of Guelph.
And second, I was invited to speak as a plain language expert at Untapped Accessibility’s webinar on What BC’s draft accessibility standards mean for you.
You might not know this, but public speaking never used to be my strong suit. I was raised in a public school system that assigned a lot of weight and value on speaking in front of others successfully.
Year after year, I had to prepare a speech on a topic of my choice and present in front of the class. It was a school district-wide competition. One year, I’m pretty sure I wrote a speech about my dog Mitzi, and a classmate’s speech was on illiteracy…
These are disjointed memories from my childhood when I realize I interpreted neurotypical instructions incorrectly. “Pick something you’re interested in! That you’re passionate about!” really translates to, “Choose a topic that’s unique and interesting for others, that will score points with the judges. Don’t talk about your dog for 20 minutes straight.”
“Executive” skills
Public speaking is of course more than just communicating. It’s memorizing. It’s time management. It’s thinking on the spot. It’s being flexible and adaptable to real-time feedback. And it’s accurately interpreting social cues to be an engaging and confident speaker.
As I covered in my talk at the University of Guelph, these are called executive function skills. A set of skills, as I like to imagine, that executives and office folk are expected to have to be effective leaders in the work force.
And when we’re communicating, plain language techniques can help level the playing field when there are differences in these skill sets—differences you’ll find in every audience. I recently learned that anywhere between 15 to 20% of the world’s population diverges from neuronormativity. But I bet it’s higher than that considering how broad the neurodivergent umbrella is.
“Thank you, Leanna, for preparing an informative (and so peaceful/easy to listen to) session!”
At these talks, I got a lot of questions—and some really kind feedback! The questions gave me a lot of inspiration for content, so I hope to pass along some insights in future iterations of this newsletter and over on my LinkedIn.
Please email me if you’d like a copy of my slide deck on creating accessible digital content for neurodivergent audiences. I would love to share it with you.
Read the summary if you’d like to catch up on the webinar all about BC’s draft accessibility standards and what they mean for your organization. I’m also happy to answer any questions you have.
A painting by Leanna Manning. Lines and dots in a rich deep blue-violet watercolour paint. Monochromatic and currently untitled. It’s part of a series of 4 paintings to help process some big health changes happening in my life.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely keen to address and improve the accessibility of your language and messaging.
You also understand that it’s not just as simple as changing a few words here and there. You want to get it right, because you believe it needs to be right.
Well, I’d love to help you with that.
Here are some ways we can work together:
Start the process by filling out my contact form and we’ll connect! Also feel welcome to reach out by email.
The disability pride flag, which has a dark grey background with diagonal lines in the colours red, gold, white, blue, and green. It was a collaborative design effort by Ann Magill, a disabled woman, with feedback within the disabled community.
Things I like
Disability Pride Month. Disability Pride first started as a day of celebration in 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. Now, we celebrate it all month long and across the globe. Disability pride is complicated; it’s okay to celebrate our disabilities and hope for a world with less ableism. If you haven’t already, I recommend watching the film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.
Last Woman by Carleigh Baker. Floods and wildfires. Billionaires in outer space. Abandoned homes awaiting gentrification. Last Woman is a collection of short stories that may help you feel less alone.
ohHey Community. Community care. An online space to gather, pause, linger, bumble, be curious. Supportive conversations with creative care practices.
Retrophiliac. Owned and operated by Margaux, an Autistic and Non-binary entrepreneur in Vancouver. They design pins, patches, and stickers to break down barriers and remove stigma.
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