Michael UngarCEO of the Industry 4.0 Club

Creating Inclusive Spaces: The Power of Language and Recognition

3 Apr 2025 · 1 min

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1:06

In this excerpt from Michael Ungar’s video on creating inclusive spaces, the speaker shares personal experiences of feeling welcomed when colleagues took time to answer questions, explain concepts clearly, and listen to ideas. He emphasizes that across social contexts, people seek to be seen, heard, and recognized for their contributions rather than being highlighted for their differences. The speaker critiques gendered greetings such as “gentlemen and lady,” noting that even well‑intentioned language can other individuals and undermine a sense of belonging. He advocates for more inclusive salutations like “folks,” which treat the group as a whole without exclusion, underscoring how subtle language choices shape inclusive environments.

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It is difficult, but there's also a lot of pride. And I will say that the things that made me feel welcome or belong or felt like I belonged are probably very similar in a number of different situations. I remember, um, the folks, the gentlemen who were on the floor would take the time to answer my questions. They would take the time to explain things in a way that made sense to me. They would listen to my ideas. So I think that it's the same in a lot of different social situations, is that people want to be seen and heard and recognized for what they bring to the table and not marked for their difference. So when you, when you're in a room and somebody says, gentlemen and lady, it seems like it's coming from a good place, but it is actually very othering, right? Mm-hmm. And so you don't feel like you're part of the group when people do something like that. And so when people say Hi folks, or, you know, ladies and gentlemen, or whatever it is, and they just make it a whole group as opposed to othering. Even that little bit of language is important.