Linux Foundation and NCWIT release free Inclusive Speaker Orientation course

At the Open Source Leadership Summit in Tahoe today, the Linux Foundation and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) announced a free new online course for event speakers. 
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At the Open Source Leadership Summit in Tahoe today, the Linux Foundation and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) unveiled a free new online course for event speakers. LFC101 - Inclusive Speaker Orientation was developed to help speakers promote inclusivity in their presentations and communications.

According to the announcement, the course is offered in three 20-minute, self-paced modules, and it includes topics on subconscious communications as well as more practical advice for crafting presentation messages and presenting media. “The course is based on NCWIT’s ‘Unconscious BIas’ messaging, which encompasses the ideas of ‘Realize, Recognize, and Respond’,” the announcement says.

Linux Foudation employees will be required to take the free course, and Linux Foundation event speakers will be encouraged to take it and offered incentives for completion. Because the course is freely offered, other events can use it for their speakers, or individuals interested in improving their diversity skills can take advantage of the new offering.

Enrollment is open now, so check out the course and let us know in the comments what you think.

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Rikki Endsley is the Developer Program managing editor at Red Hat, and a former community architect and editor for Opensource.com.

1 Comment

I think that inclusivity begins with expanding the range of topics under discussion. You can't expand the range if you aren't canvassing the breadth of your audience for ideas. Sometimes it may not be the topic itself but rather the perspectives of addressing the topic that are important.
So if women aren't involved in the planning process, a bias has already been introduced.

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