I've been having conversations all week about representation - it saddens me that so many people feel like it's an unrealistic, impossible goal.

I'm by no means a paragon of virtue on this front, but here are a few things you can do to encourage diversity & inclusion:

1. Rather than lean on your networks, advertise new posts or roles. (And if someone asks you for contacts, gently suggest they put a call out instead.)

2. If you're invited to speak on a panel or at a conference, ask who else is on the list. Refuse to be in all white, middle class, abled panels.

3. Question your own patterns of consumption. Do you consume diverse media? It's so easy to try something new.

4. Address gaps in your knowledge. I've just signed up to this Digital Inclusion workshop run by @TheStayingInn because I know I'm not nearly following best practice on this front, and I need help to improve. It's okay to not know the answers yourself.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/x/digital-inclusion-workshop-tickets-137921341445?utm_campaign=order_confirm&utm_term=digitalx&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&app_cta_src=order_conf_email&ref=eemailordconf

5. Go directly to source. Read and listen to the words of minorities rather than absorbing information second-hand.

6. But remember that it's not their responsibility to set you straight. You set *yourself* straight by consuming what they've already put out there. Don't demand things of people.

7. Pay exactly the same for the work of disadvantaged groups that you'd pay for the work of people who look like you.

8. Minority groups are not interchangeable. The issues we deal with are different, and may overlap in ways you don't understand or expect.

Listen to everyone individually. Accept their chosen language. Ask for the correct means of address if you're not sure (btw I'm autistic).

9. This is not a competition. You probably have some privileges, and that's okay. It doesn't help to say 'yes but' when someone explains their difficulties (e.g. 'yes you're disabled but I had a difficult childhood and you don't know my pain!'). Breathe. Listen.

10. You don't know what other people need. Ask them rather than guessing. Be prepared to hear needs that make you uncomfortable. Take some time to work out how you can adapt. You might need to discuss your own needs as part of that conversation. We can handle that.

11. People mask. People pass. People push themselves too hard to make sure you don't think they're any less valuable. Your work is not to ask them to reveal their struggles to you. Your work is to believe them when they state their needs.

12. What you learned in university or diversity training might be wrong. Sorry about that. Listen to the people who live it rather than the people who teach it from a distance.

13. Minorities are not your motif, or your plot point, or the quirk that makes your work feel fresh. If you're going to include us, you need to give us the range and depth you give to the mainstream. Do your research - properly, with actual people.

14. Normalise sensitivity reads.

That's the tweet.

15. Does language seem to be changing in a way you don't recognise? Yes, ouch. That can be unsettling. Rather than battling against the change, take some time to adapt. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to ask if you're getting it right. It's not okay to carry on as usual.

It appears I can go on forever like this. I won't. But you get my point. Tiny adaptations. Learning to listen. Show respect. Don't be afraid to change.

And the next time you get ruffled feathers because you think some minority or other is excessively angry - think back to the time you threatened to blow up the world because the gas board overcharged you by 50p, and come down off your high horse.