Using inclusive language to connect with communities
In conversation with:
Ettie Bailey-King, award-winning inclusive and accessible communication educator
Some people approach inclusive language as a way of ‘covering their backs’, says Ettie Bailey-King. But if you use it to involve people, reflect diverse world views and share people’s stories, everyone’s a winner.
How has your background shaped your work?
I’m a word person to my core. I’ve always felt an enormous passion for writing and language, and I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t set out to work in comms. It was accidental.
At the same time, social justice is the single strongest theme in my life. Since childhood, injustice has deeply troubled me, and I knew that whatever I did would involve working towards social change in some way.
How did you move into communications?
While finishing my masters in 2015, I volunteered in a comms role for a start-up charity called the Schools Consent Project, which teaches young people about sexual consent. Then, I applied for a graduate scheme called Charity Works that matches candidates with roles. I was assigned to a comms role, so, again, it was very serendipitous.
After that, I took on generalist comms jobs, mainly in NGOs focused on international development and gender equality. Over time, I felt I was decent in general comms, but I craved the satisfaction of being better at my job.
There was also a massive social justice element to my dissatisfaction. I’d noticed that many charities inadvertently replicate the very problems they’re trying to solve. I saw a huge amount of structural racism in the international development world, for example.
My motivations for being there – justice and equity – clashed with how we were working and what we were delivering.
So, in late 2019, I went freelance. I’d been thinking about inclusive, accessible communication for a decade. At last, it could become my whole job.
What’s the most important principle in your work?
Respecting the power of language. This work is so often dismissed. People say ‘It’s just semantics.’ But the difference between, say, ‘an autistic person’ and ‘a person with autism’ represent profoundly different worldviews.
Language matters deeply. It shapes people’s attitudes and behaviours, their perception of reality, their memories and their thoughts.
What’s the biggest misconception you see in your work?
That there’s a rulebook for inclusive language. If you care about inclusion, dictating how people should talk about their own identities will go against a lot of your values, because shaping language to describe one’s experiences is one of the ways people fight for their rights.
But you can share facts, like the difference between gender and biological sex , or offer guidance (for example, referring to people’s pronouns as ‘their pronouns’, rather than ‘their chosen pronouns’, or saying ‘sexual orientation’ not ‘sexual preferences’, because those terms are generally more accurate and appropriate).
But it’s nuanced. The word ‘queer’ and the ‘N’ word were originally slur terms, and both have been reclaimed in certain contexts, but their appropriateness depends entirely on who’s communicating.
It’s not about covering your back or ticking boxes. You’re not trying to avoid criticism or a lawsuit. If you’re an inclusive communicator, you’re trying to bring people in, reflect their worldviews and showcase diverse stories.
What trends are you seeing in health communication?
People tend to generalise a lot about minoritised groups (like people of colour, disabled people or anyone who is not heterosexual), while being super specific about majoritised groups (white, middle-class, richer, heterosexual people).
We always need to be as specific as possible – and when in doubt, to ask people and let them tell their own stories.
Something that gives me a lot of hope is that inclusive and accessible communication is more and more seen as a mainstream part of communications. It’s great to see. I hope that one day very soon, this won’t be a specialist field – it’ll simply be woven into everything we do.
What’s on the horizon for you?
Most of my work is focused on delivering training on inclusive language and accessible communication.
Through the coming year I’m delivering one-to-one coaching, content audits and providing on-call support for organisations. I’m also gearing up for the next Bold Type: my live CPD-accredited 12-week group programme that brings together communicators to learn about topics from disability to gender, neurodivergence to anti-racism.
I’m also offering some shorter courses in 2025, including ADHD-friendly communication and autism-friendly communication.
Three tips for inclusive, accessible comms:
1. Make inclusive language a priority. The way we talk about people massively impacts whose needs get met, how seriously we take their needs and what actions and policies get support. Loaded language perpetuates negative stereotypes, limiting people’s opportunities and access to support.
2. There’s no such thing as ‘right’. Even if you choose a particular approach, such as identity-first language rather than person-first, it won’t work for everyone. Root your decisions in relevant people’s experiences, then take a call and be willing to explain why you made that choice. There’s no perfect answer for everyone, but there is a right answer for you, your organisation and your context.
3. Find the joy! It’s easy to overthink inclusive language and worry about every little word choice. Instead, focus on simple principles: be specific, be accurate, and put the wants, needs and perspectives of relevant people at the centre. Language is important, but treating people with respect is about more than agonising over your word choices.