In this document, we summarize some general guidelines that you can follow to make sure the language of your presentations is more inclusive. We don't yet provide guidelines for all possible scenarios, and sometimes the proposed language might not work for your presenentation. In that case, remember that good judgement is always critical, and that this document serves only as a guideline.
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When welcoming, referring to or interacting with your audience:
- ❌ do not use: ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, men and women of the audience, brothers and sisters, he or she, sir/ madam
- ✅ instead, use : esteemed guests, that person, friends and colleagues, students, siblings, everyone, the participants, faculty members.
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When presenting, you might have to talk to or about people in the LGBTQ+ community. Avoid outdated terms when referring to them. Some terms might be offensive because they could imply criminalization or pathologization or they could simply be misnomers.
❌ outdated ✅alternative "lifestyle" or "preference" "orientation" or "identity" transsexual transgender (to mean a broader umbrella category) "biological man" or "biological woman" "cisgender man" or "cisgender woman" or perhaps "non-transgender man" or "non-transgender woman" "feminine/female pronouns", "masculine/male pronouns," "she/her pronouns" or "he/him pronouns" "preferred gender pronouns" "personal pronouns" "transvestite" "cross dresser." "hermaphrodite" "intersex" "homosexual" "gay" or "lesbian" -
Avoid inherently sexist words: avoid using different words for men and women who perform the same job, and avoid using a masculine noun to encompass both; instead, use a non-gender specific title.
❌ do not use ✅ alternative mankind, man (general) people, human beings, humanity mailman, policeman letter carrier, police officer chairman chair person
- In your presentation, make sure not all the subjects are of the same gender. Even better, don't assume a gender, unless it is necessary:
| ❌ do not use | ✅ alternative |
|---|---|
| "When a student writes a paper, he must proofread carefully" | Refer to the subject in plural: "When students write their papers, they should use the spellcheckers on their computers." |
| "Ask him to define the thesis" | Substitute a noun subject instead of a pronoun : "ask the writer to define the thesis" |
| "Who dropped his ticket?" | drop the pronoun altogether and substitute a nondescriptive article: "Who dropped a ticket?" |
| "Somebody left his sweater" | instead, use the singular they: "Somebody left their sweater" |
If your work studies a subject (or includes data) that is related to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation, we strongly suggest you review this work with people who might be represented in your data, and/or colleagues from sociology, gender studies or queer studies departments, even before publishing.
The use of generalization from the data to characterize or stereotype any of the groups mentioned above is not recommended. Be specific, stay fact based and use inclusive language when talking about them.
- Using generic masculine words or titles to refer to all persons, or to refer to an abstract "person" whose gender is not known is not a good idea.
- Using terms or expressions that reinforce inappropriate, outdated, or demeaning attitudes or assumptions about persons or groups based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion or sexual orientation.
Most of the ideas summarized here come from resources from different private and public institutions. Please refer direclty to the links shown below if you want to learn more.
- Avoiding Sexist Language, by Jennifer Klein '93, Hamilton College.
- Good Practices: Inclusive Language, by University of Maryland.
- LGBTQ-inclusive language DOs and DON'ts, by The Safe Zone Project.
- An Ally's guide to therminology, by GLAAD