HTVB GUIDE: UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES TO PLAN BETTER EDI INTERVENTIONS

It’s tempting to try to speak to everyone. But impactful inclusion and wellbeing work is rarely one size fits all. Whether you’re planning a team workshop, a staff event, a policy update or a leadership programme, getting clear on who your work is really for will make it more meaningful and more effective.

This short guide is here to help you make more intentional choices about your audience, so you can create interventions that resonate, engage and lead to measurable impact.

Step 1: Recognise the differences that shape your audience
In most organisations, you’re likely engaging with multiple audiences at once, each with different experiences, levels of power and ways of working. These differences shape how people receive and respond to your work.
Here are four dimensions to pay attention to:

• Differences in awareness and understanding: from those newly exposed to inclusion concepts to those with deep lived experience or expertise
• Differences in power and decision-making: from individuals with formal seniority to those whose day to day realities are shaped by those decisions
• Differences in lived experience and identity: marginalised communities who may need safety, recognition or repair, alongside dominant groups who may need space for reflection, learning or unlearning
• Differences in working contexts: from front line and shift-based roles to office-based, hybrid or corporate teams, each with distinct working patterns, environments and communication norms

Recognising these distinctions helps avoid generic design and ensures your inclusion work meets people where they are, not where we assume they are.

Step 2: Narrow your focus
Before designing anything, ask:

• Who is most impacted by the issue this intervention aims to address?
• Who holds the power or influence to create change in this area?
• Who has been overlooked or left out in previous efforts?
• Who is most likely to benefit from this intervention right now?

This will help to create clarity about your primary audience and helps avoid broad approaches that try to do too much at once.

Step 3: Use data to spot who’s engaged and who’s being overlooked
Look at attendance, feedback, platform engagement or staff surveys to spot patterns.

• Who regularly shows up or speaks up?
• Who never seems to be in the room?
• Are some groups reporting higher levels of exclusion, burnout or disengagement?

This helps you shift from assumptions to evidence and identify where to focus attention next.

Step 4: Get to know your audience
Once you’ve chosen who to focus on, deepen your understanding so you can design with empathy and relevance. Ask:

• What are their specific needs and challenges when it comes to inclusion and wellbeing?
• What everyday problems could your work help address?
• What motivates or engages them?
• What level of influence do they hold, and how do they use it?
• What barriers (such as time, access, discomfort or fatigue) might get in the way of their engagement?

The goal isn’t to generalise but to empathise and meet people where they are.

Step 5: Communicate who your intervention is for and why it matters to them
When promoting your work, be clear about who it’s for and why it matters to them. Avoid generic language like “open to all” or “everyone welcome” unless the content truly reflects that.
Instead, say:
“This session is for line managers who want practical tools to support team wellbeing during times of political unrest.”
“This policy update matters to front line staff who’ve told us they’re not seeing consistent inclusion practices in day to day operations.”
Naming your audience helps them feel seen and helps others understand when a session or initiative might not be for them, and that’s OK.

Final reflection
Before you press send, launch your campaign or start your next planning meeting, ask yourself:
Who is this really for, and how can we make it matter to them?
That question alone will take your inclusion work from broad intention to focused impact.

If you want support planning your next intervention, reviewing your current strategy or reaching more people, HTVB can help. Contact us for support.