presentation and respect

Respect Presentation

Character Ed / SEL presentations for grades K-4

What is Respect? Presentation

Help kids understand what respect it is and how to show respect for people, places and things. Presentation shows children how pay attention to how their actions impact others.

Grade Level

Character / sel topics.

• Self management, Self-awareness
• Positive relationships
• Good decision making
• Traits: Respect

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Our presentations are free to print or share for non-commercial use, meaning you are welcome to link to our pages for educational purposes, add our PPT presentations to your Google classroom or print for in-class use.

This presentation is supported by a full Respect Lesson Plan here . The presentation also includes speaker notes for each slide.

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Respect Lesson and Activities

In some of the educator/counselor Facebook groups I’m a part of, there has been a lot of talk about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. People complaining their students are disrespectful, people wondering how they can teach respect to their students, and people worried that their faculty and students have differing ideas of what respect really means. As human beings, we all have an innate need to feel respected by others. Everyone is happier and more productive when people show respect to one another at school. So how can you teach students about respect in a meaningful way?

Laying the Groundwork

The first step is getting students thinking about their own beliefs and ideas about respect. Four corners is a great movement-based way to do this. Ask your students questions about respect, or ask them to finish sentences about respect, by going to one of four designated corners. For example, “I feel respected at school…” A) All of the time, B) Usually, C) Sometimes, or D) Not very often. As you read the answer choices, move to different corners of the room so students know where to go to show their answers.

Next, come to some sort of an agreement with your students about the definition of respect . Here are the two I provide them:

Ask them what they think about the definitions. What would they want to change or take away or add?

Then work together to get a clear picture of what respect actually looks like, sounds like, and feels like within the school. I recommend tackling one section at a time, letting students chat with a partner about their ideas and then sharing out whole group. Or, have students work on their own mini-anchor chart  independently first.

And then comes the discussion that might make some folks a little uncomfortable. The discussion about WHO deserves our respect and HOW we decide to respect someone. In my experience, there’s more disagreement here than there is in defining respect. Often times, faculty feel disrespected by students when there’s a mismatch between how someone gets respect. Here’s a quick script for how you can facilitate some student reflection here:

“We know what respect is and what it looks and sounds and feels like. Now let’s talk about who we give our respect to, and how you decide whether or not to give someone your respect. I’ll read an idea about how someone might get your respect and you give me a thumbs up if it’s something that makes you choose to respect someone. (if students need more movement, consider asking them to stand to show their agreement, maybe even included a crouch/half stand for partial agreement)

• Does someone get your respect…because of their intelligence? Do you give someone respect because their smart?
• Is it about them being a certain age? Like you choose to respect someone because they’re older versus younger?
• Does someone need to earn your respect? (if students give a thumbs up for this one, ask them how someone would earn their respect)
• Does someone get your respect by showing respect to you first?
• Or does someone get your respect just for being human?”

You likely won’t come to a consensus about this with the group, but it’s important for students to reflect on their own beliefs about this and for faculty to see where the students are coming from.

Getting Specific While Teaching about Respect

Once the main ideas behind respect are clear in your students’ minds, you can work with them on some specific examples. One way to do this is by having students examine different actions or words to determine if they’re respectful or not AND why or why not. Use pre-made example cards  or come up with ones that fit your group best. You can do this whole class, or put students in groups to have them go through different examples. Cards can just be pulled one at a time from a pile, or they can do something more structured like a “pick a card!” where they take turns having different “jobs”: fanning the cards, selecting and reading a card, answering, and adding on or agreeing/disagreeing.

There are lots of different ways to show respect in different types of situations. Some students are champs at being able to generate ideas on their own. Some need some more scaffolding. I made a set of “types of respect” puzzles ; ten different things or places to show respect with two examples each. They were created to be put together and talked about in groups.

Reflecting and Moving Forward

Once students have a firm grasp of what respect is, what it looks like, and how it’s applied in schools, it’s helpful to include some more self-reflection pieces. You can do an activity where students mix, find a partner, then both respond to the same “finish the sentence” prompt, then mix, find a new partner, finish a different sentence about respect, etc. You can incorporate questions like:

• My teacher respects me when they…
• I respect my teacher by…
• My classmates respect me when…
• I show respect to my classmates by…

Students can also reflect with a simple exit ticket, sharing an example of how/where/when they feel respected and how/where/when they wish they were respected more at school. I also believe (and research has shown!) that peer reinforcement is really strong. Simply having students give “Kudos Cards”  when they notice their classmates showing respect can help keep these ideas on their minds.

Tell me about your school. What are some ways you or your faculty help students understand and demonstrate more respect? How do faculty and administration help  faculty show more respect? What other suggestions do you have for how to teach students about respect?

• Filed Under: MTSS/PBIS/Behavior , SEL and Guidance Lessons , Social Skills

11 Responses

This was really helpful the students had fun

Yay, thank you for sharing that!

Great ideas and very helpful. Thank you so much!

You’re welcome, Serenity, I’m glad it was helpful!

I’m an elementary SSW employed by a public school district and also a business owner. I tried this lesson with a class and it went over well! Thank you!

Yay, I am so glad to hear that, you are very welcome!

I appreciate how your post provides a variety of activities and lesson plans that cater to different age groups and learning styles. These resources are especially helpful for parents and educators who may be looking for new and engaging ways to teach respect to their children or students.

It was really helpful! Thank you

You are very welcome!

I am wondering what other questions did you use at the beginning of this lesson? A list of quetions would be wonderful. I am buying this lesson.

Hi Beverly! There are three “four corners” questions/prompts included in the lesson, and there is a slide for each of them. You’ll see them in both the PDF lesson plan as well as the slideshow included!

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What middle schoolers can teach us about respect, teens are developing a nuanced understanding of what respect means. here are some ideas for cultivating more of it in the classroom..

What teacher does not want a more respectful classroom? Days are packed full with new content to teach, tests to give and grade, and unexpected demands on teachers’ time and attention. Students’ respect for teachers can go a long way toward reminding teachers why they went into teaching in the first place. 

Yet rude seems to be in style—we see unruly passengers on airlines, hurtful comments online, and impasses among legislators. Can the pendulum swing in the other direction for this next generation? We think so, and we see educators making this happen.

We partnered with EL Education , an organization focused on the development of ethical character in youth, including respect, for a two-year study of their school-wide model. Conducting interviews and focus groups with 58 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders at nine middle schools in the U.S., we asked students, “What do you think respect means?”

We chose respect in middle school for an important reason. By age 13, most youth have experienced a surge of pubertal hormones that lead to intense sensitivity to hierarchy and status . They know if adults respect them. Given this sensitivity, middle schoolers can teach us a lot about what respect means to them. Here we share insights from culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse students, and we offer research-based recommendations to cultivate deep, authentic respect in your students.


What do youth say about respect?

Most youth defined respect as caring actions and showing kindness. For example, one student described respect as “showing courtesy and that you will help them along, make sure they’re OK.” Another said, “to be able to care for one another,” and yet another said, “helping someone . . . and making their day.” Just a few students described respect as showing honor: “Having respect is admiring someone” or “If someone was in the military and they fought in the war, then we’ve got to show respect for them and you honor them because they helped you out.” 

Some students took a different approach by focusing on compliance with authority. For instance, one student said, “Just listening to people who are older than you.” Another said, “​​When you obey them, and like when they tell you something you just do it that first time. They shouldn’t have to ask you again.” 

Still other youth described respect in very exciting ways that gave us great hope for the future. One theme present was reciprocal respect . Some youth understood that respect goes both ways—if they respect others, they know that others will respect them back. For instance, one student said, “My friends do deserve my respect because they’re really good friends, they show me respect.” Another theme matched the Golden Rule: “Respect is treating others the way that you think they should treat you.”

The most powerful responses were those that talked about respecting people who were different from them. One student shared, “Respect means to respect other people’s culture and don’t judge them by their food, their clothes, what they wear.” Another explained, “Respect is respecting somebody for their culture, or race, their beliefs, and their traditions, and without respecting somebody, I don’t think anyone would really feel good about themselves.” Yet another said that respect means that “everyone has different rights and traditions and just still be fond of that.”

As we think about our goals for youth and our desire to create a better future, we target reciprocal respect and respecting those who are different from us as what we hope to teach.

The science of respect

The students’ responses illustrate two types of respect identified in research: “ought-respect” and “affective-respect.” Ought-respect comes from a way of thinking, not feeling—it’s what we think we ought to do to show respect. Ought-respect is a general idea about showing regard to others. Youth often learn ought-respect from parents or teachers. In contrast, affective-respect comes from how someone feels toward another person. With affective respect, a person is noticing a behavior or trait of another person and expressing esteem for them.

Put simply—respect involves both head and heart ; ought-respect is mostly head and affective respect is mostly heart .

The most basic ought-respect is compliance, meaning that someone knows they should listen and follow the rules. Youth show ought-respect by tuning into someone who is speaking because they know they ought to do so, not because they feel an emotion that leads them to stop and listen.

More advanced ought-respect stems from the reality that all humans share a common humanity and, for that reason, everyone has a right to be respected. In this way, ought-respect has elements of justice, equity, and fairness—all themes that become more prevalent in youth in the middle school years. 

Affective-respect is positive regard for other people based on an emotional state from within. When a teenager sees a best friend stand up for herself against someone acting mean, she may experience affective-respect toward that friend. When a teacher has a conversation with a struggling middle schooler, listens carefully, offers encouragement, and shows high yet realistic expectations, that teacher is showing affective-respect, which, in turn, may support students’ development of reciprocal respect.

We talk about these two types of respect to anchor our recommendations for teachers. Healthy development in youth needs to incorporate both types of respect, and here’s why. Most people naturally show homophily in their choice of friends: We tend to befriend people who are similar to us. In friendships, youth find it easy to show respect to friends who share many attributes with them—like age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and religion. The motivation for this type of respect emanates from the feelings that youth experience toward these people around them.

But what kind of world will we have if youth only respect the people who are similar to them? Not a very good one. We need to help stretch students so that they care about others outside of their immediate circle of friends. In doing so, we can help them learn and practice being respectful to people when the initial feeling they have toward them may be judgment, questioning their choices, or even opposition.

How do we do this? We start by teaching students that all people deserve respect and that there are good reasons to appreciate and understand the people with different worldviews . Then, in supportive environments, as a result of ought-respect and the respectful relationships that follow, youth will start to experience positive feelings toward those people, resulting in affective-respect .

Five ideas to cultivate respect

Among the middle schools we studied, five were using the EL Education school-wide model and the other four were not. During analysis, we discovered that EL Education students were more likely to talk about reciprocal respect and respecting people who were different from them than students at comparison schools. This finding led us to ask what unique strategies EL Education teachers were using to teach these special types of respect.

Here are recommendations from the respect research literature and EL Education on what teachers can do to create more respectful classrooms. In these efforts, keep in mind that the goal of respect is not compliance. The goal is to support youth’s healthy development of reciprocal respect and respect of people who are different from them.

Create a culture of respect. All schools have a school culture. Truly great schools spend time and energy, especially in the beginning of the year , to explicitly plan what the school culture will look like. Spend time with your students talking about how you want your classrooms to look and feel, and integrate respect into those norms. Next step: Keep those norms alive during the year.

To do that, in elementary school, teachers can remind students about ways to show respect in their day-to-day behavior, notice situations that have gone well, and point out how mutual respect was important in those situations. When things do not go well, you can unpack these situations, explore what emotions interfere with respect for others, and identify ways that showing respect could have made the situation better.

In middle school , you can co-create classroom norms and embed regular opportunities for self-reflection. EL Education teachers often ask students to complete a short survey offering them an opportunity to self-reflect on their academic performance. If the assignment included group work, the survey includes questions that ask students if they were respectful of the other members of their team, even if disagreements came up.

I See You. Everyone Matters

Members of the classroom or meeting stand and respectfully acknowledge each person in the group.

Model respectful behavior and hold yourself accountable when things don’t go as planned. Every interaction with a student or teacher creates an opportunity to enhance (or detract from) the development of respect. Students, as we know, are watching us constantly. Yet we know we are far from perfect. So, if situations arise where we didn’t show respectful behavior—perhaps because of the heat of the moment or frayed nerves—acknowledge that aloud, be vulnerable, and use that as an opportunity to teach.

For example, if that moment of disrespect occurred with an individual student, it is OK to have a brief one-on-one with that student and say, “I wish I had handled that situation with more respect.” Keep in mind that youth learn respect from our moments of glory as well as those “oops” situations that we’d rather sweep under the rug. 

Leadership matters. We discovered that school leaders at the EL Education schools created a unique experience for teachers and other school staff. School leaders were friendly and approachable but also were treating teachers as their equals and demonstrating a willingness to make changes based on teachers’ suggestions. The adults at these schools were treating each other with respect and promoting equity by showing care and respect for every single student at the school. Yet again, we are reminded that teachers can do so much more in their classrooms if they feel respected and listened to by their school leaders .

Integrate examples of other cultures, races, and ethnicities into instruction in ways that lead to perspective-taking and respect . Take a strengths-based approach to discussing culture, race, and ethnicity, especially when discussing cultures that may be different from your own or those of your students. Instill curiosity, not judgment .

Middle school students thrive from opportunities for meaning-making narratives as they discuss these topics because it increases relevance. For instance, in a conversation about xenophobia toward immigrants, teachers can lead students to think beyond the “here and now” about what national issues and broader contextual factors (e.g., perceived threats to their livelihood) led to harmful discrimination toward specific ethnic groups. This type of narrative helps students understand aspects of a situation that may not be directly observable, like the contribution of societal systems and historical or cultural context. These lessons help students develop a deeper understanding of the world around them, exercise their perspective-taking skills, and be inspires to create a better, and more respectful, future. Show students respect. Adolescents are keenly attuned to whether or not adults are showing them respect. How adults respond to middle schoolers is crucial. Youth need to feel like they matter and need more voice and choice in their day-to-day experiences.

One way to show respect is to use alternative approaches to assess student learning. For instance, the New York Performance Standards Consortium offers performance-based approaches that are more likely to lead to reciprocal respect between students and teachers. Likewise, EL Education recommends student-led conferences instead of traditional approaches to parent-teacher conferences.

Each and every generation faces new challenges. Improving racial equity, protecting the environment, and preserving democracy are just a few of the projects that lie ahead for today’s youth. Success on these thorny problems rests on youth’s ability to develop mutual respect with people who are different from them. We believe that respect is essential for children and youth to contribute to society now and in the future.   

About the Authors

Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman

Sara Rimm-Kaufman, Ph.D. , is the Commonwealth Professor of Education at the University of Virginia. She engages in research on social and emotional learning to create more equitable school experiences. She is deeply committed to sharing new research findings with educators, as evidenced by her new book for teachers, SEL from the Start .

Lia E. Sandilos

Lia E. Sandilos, Ph.D. , is an assistant professor of school psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. Lia conducts research exploring classroom interactions that facilitate students’ learning and social-emotional development, as well as school conditions that support teachers’ own well-being.

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Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, developing a strong voice: how to command attention and respect.

Whether you are contributing to a team meeting, presenting in a board meeting, or delivering a conference keynote, you are seen as a leader the moment you step up to speak. So, how do you assume that role as a speaker? How can you speak in a way so that others listen? There are many ways speakers can elevate their vocal presence in a way that makes them sound self-assured and successful. There are both verbal and nonverbal communication cues that can help you command attention and earn the respect of your audience. Let’s take a look at some of these ways you can strengthen your position as a speaker and captivate your audience. 

Display Confidence and Control

Confidence is the single most important quality of a great speaker. People will be willing to believe what you say and buy into your vision if they simply see you as confident. Confidence comes with a great deal of practice, preparation, and positive self-talk. After all, you have to believe in yourself before you can get others to believe in you. So, even if you are nervous about speaking in front of an audience, practice broadcasting confidence because that’s the best way to win over an audience. 

Have a Strong Opening and Closing

The most important parts of your talk are the opening and the conclusion. You have just a matter of minutes to captivate your audience and chances are, if you engage them right from the start, the rest of your presentation will be a success. Likewise, if you close your speech with something meaningful, your audience will respect and remember you. Think of these as the bookends to a commanding presentation. 

Exude Confidence Through Your Body Language

As stated before, confident people command attention and there are certain physical actions you can take to influence others and get them to respect you. By modifying your body language, you can alter how others perceive you both consciously and subconsciously. Merely acting confident will make others view you as self-assured. Start by standing with good posture and your shoulders back. Avoid pacing back and forth but rather stay still, making only small movements to emphasize your points. Avoid fidgeting with your hands and instead, use your hands to emphasize important points and engage your audience. Finally, make eye contact with your audience , as this helps you connect with them and demonstrates confidence and control. 

Speak with a Voice of Authority

Your voice is a powerful tool and you can really impact your audience with your voice. Learn how to use inflection, tone, and volume to influence your audience. A speaker that is meek and mild will come across as nervous and not nearly as credible as someone who speaks loudly, clearly, and with inflection. 

Show Your Passion

There are few things that command an audience’s attention as much as a speaker’s passion. It’s difficult for people not to respect someone who is speaking from their heart and soul. If you speak just normally, people will lose interest but if you speak with passion, your audience will not only listen, but remember.

If you are interested in learning more, contact us today at 1-800-501-1245 to  request information about training courses from the Management Training Institute as well as other corporate training programs offered through our parent company Bold New Directions.

Mindful Presenting – 9 Ways to RESPECT your Audience

Apr 08, 2018 by maurice decastro in communication skills , leadership , presentation skills , public speaking.

The first commandment of mindful presenting is, to respect your audience.

The most precious resource we all have, is of course time. Each time we present we are using peoples most valuable asset, time.

We live in such a fast-paced world with so many demands on our time that we scarcely find moments to value the minutes that pass us by so furiously.

It’s no wonder than one of the greatest sources of anxiety is our fear of wasting our audience’s time. We all inherently know that no one has time to listen to us unless we have something worthwhile to say. That’s often why so many presenters speak so quickly, telling their audience everything they know rather, than what their audience actually need to know.

The following 9 principles will help you to respect your audience.

1. Humility

A couple of years ago I spent a sizable sum of money to attend a full day conference organised by one of the most established networking organisations in London. Their promise was to show me how to, ‘ Harness technology for business growth ’. I spent the entire day listening to some of the biggest and most successful brands in the world tell me how fabulous they were.

As I was already a customer of most of the them, I learned nothing new and nothing aligned to their promise.

Respecting our audience means that we have to leave our egos at home and not use their time to tell them how much we know and how great we are. Our job is to tell our audience how we can help them. How what we have to say will make a difference to their professional or personal lives.

2.   Research

Respect means doing whatever it takes in advance to learn as much as you possibly can about your audience.

Don’t make assumptions that what you have to say will be of interest or value to them. Ask them.

Phone them or send them an email telling them what you have in mind and ask them how helpful that would be. More importantly, ask what they want, need and expect from you.

I used to have a boss who was always generous in telling me what a good presenter I was but how what I presented wasn’t what he wanted. My polite response was that I wasn’t a mind reader. How could he possibly expect me to know what he wanted?

After that conversation he told me in advance what he wanted and expected. I learned from my own mistake and now I always ask.

3. Preparation

I once created for myself the very unfortunate and unintentional situation of upsetting a delegate on one of our workshops. During the section where we were discussing and exploring bad habits, she told me that her bad habit was that she doesn’t prepare for a presentation.

I replied saying, ‘ I don’t think that’s a bad habit.

She smiled thinking that all was well.

I then went on to say that ‘I think it’s more of a bad attitude’,  stressing that, I was only being serious if she was. I explained that if she genuinely didn’t prepare then she was disrespecting her audience and had no right to present to them.

Not preparing is not a way to respect your audience.

We all have to prepare. No exceptions.

4. Completeness

The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ is a little misleading. You can practice something exhaustively but that doesn’t necessarily make you good at it. We owe it to our audience when presenting to practice our presentation by.

– Internalising our message.

– Understanding, how do we actually sound when we speak. What works and what doesn’t work when we express ourselves vocally.

– Knowing how we look when presenting. How do we stand, how much eye contact do we make, how do we gesture?

5. Involvement

I don’t know many people who enjoy sitting through business presentations. Everyone I know (myself included) likes a good conversation.

Don’t be the one who is doing all of the talking.

Ask your audience questions and give them time to respond. Challenge and stimulate their thinking by crafting a conversation rather than a lecture.

Don’t overwhelm them with data.

They don’t need it all, won’t remember it and won’t thank you for it. Imagine you are are panning your data for gold and give them only the big shiny nuggets.

6. Consideration

The best way to not respect your audience is by reading your slides to them. The moment you do so you are telling them that they can’t read. Despite what we have been led to believe, your audience can’t read and listen to you effectively at the same time.

Use images, make them clear, creative and compelling.

Stick to one idea per slide, make it bold, make it relevant and make it matter.

Respect your audience visually as well as verbally.

Anyone can present with varying levels of confidence and clarity. Millions of us are doing it every single day in businesses all over the world. Our greatest challenge and the mistake many professionals make is not being explicitly clear in our own minds how we want our audience to feel.

The greatest way to connect with your audience is to help them to feel something.

The very first thing we have to do is to decide exactly what we want our audience to feel when we have finished speaking.

In the absence of that clarity your audience are unlikely to feel anything positive.

Have you ever sat through a business presentation and left the room not knowing exactly what the presenter wants you to do with all of that information they just shared with you?

If you have, you’re very lucky as it doesn’t always happen.

It doesn’t matter how rich your content is, how stunning your slides are or how compelling your message is. You have to tell your audience what you want them to do next.

Don’t leave them guessing.

9. Connecting 

Your audience to connect with you and your message.

The best way to respect your audience is by making the effort to really connect with them

– Smile

– Make eye contact

– Be honest

– Be open

– Tell them stories

– Be authentic

– Be passionate

If you would like to learn more about how to respect your audience:

– Book yourself onto a powerful  public speaking course .

– Invest in some really good one to one  public speaking coaching .

– Get yourself some excellent  presentation training

Image courtesy of: istockphoto.com

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• Published November 20, 2022
• 4 Minute Read

The Power of Respect

What Does It Mean to Have a Culture of Respect at Your Organization?

A little respect goes a long way.

In fact, when it comes to addressing conflict or tensions, our researchers have found that treating people with respect on a daily basis is one of the most helpful things an individual leader can do. And organizations must intentionally build a culture of respect if they want to attract, retain, and leverage the contributions of all their talent.

“Yet at work and in our communities, we are often faced with uncertainty or tension around our differences,” says researcher Kelly Hannum, co-author of our casebook on Leading Across Differences .

It can be a challenge for leaders to establish and nurture respectful relationships among many different groups, but effectively collaborating across boundaries is a key leadership skill. It’s important that leaders work to build an organizational culture of respect and create a climate of psychological safety at work .

3 Indicators of Respect

Our research survey of over 3,000 individuals across 10 countries revealed that being respectful is not just helpful when addressing conflicts between groups; it’s also viewed as a critical leadership responsibility.

“Treating people with respect seems obvious, but it may not be as intuitive as you think,” Hannum explains. She notes 3 key factors from the research that indicate what a culture of respect really means to people.

1. Respect is about listening .

People feel respected when they’ve been heard and understood. Being genuinely interested in and open to others strengthens relationships and builds trust. You don’t need to agree with or like the other person’s viewpoint; just listen to it closely.

Taking the time to actively listen to understand someone’s experiences, ideas, and perspectives is respectful — even if you ultimately choose another path.

2. Respect isn’t just the absence of disrespect .

Eliminating active disrespect — such as rude, insulting, or devaluing words or behaviors — doesn’t create respect.

Respect is an action : We show respect; we act respectfully; we speak with respect.

“Leaders need to know that the absence of disrespect doesn’t have the same positive impact in resolving disagreement, conflict, or tension as does the presence of respect ,” says Hannum.

3. Respect is shown in many ways.

The perception of respect is influenced by culture and family, peers, and social relationships. Status, power, and role all create the context in which respect is interpreted. Leaders need to take the time to understand how aspects of social identity affect the way they lead and how respect is given and received in cultures and groups other than the ones they think of as “normal.” Cultural intelligence is especially critical when leading a multicultural team .

“You may not need to make huge changes in your behavior to be more effective,” Hannum says. “Just understanding and acknowledging as valid what others expect from you will make a difference.”

How to Cultivate a Culture of Respect in Your Organization

You can help cultivate a culture of respect at your organization in the following ways:

• Exhibit an interest in, and appreciation for, others’ perspectives, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Express recognition and show sincere gratitude for the efforts and contributions of others.
• Openly communicate information about policies and procedures so everyone has access to and is operating with similar information.
• Clarify decision-making processes, and when appropriate, seek input into those processes, erring on the side of inclusive leadership .
• Consider whether you are in a position to serve as an ally on behalf of others. Make sure you understand allyship and focus on advocating with , not just for others — because advocacy should be done in close partnership with those we intend to serve.
• Take concerns seriously; if someone or a group shares that they feel wronged, show sincere empathy as you seek to better understand that perspective and offer a genuine apology. Recognize that empathy and inclusion are imperatives for diversity initiatives to be successful.

At its core, creating a culture of  respect is a continuous process of paying attention to people . Leaders must avoid making assumptions that, if unchecked, can lead to misunderstandings and ineffective behaviors. Cultivating a culture of respect requires intentional actions from every leader and the organization itself.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Partner with us to build a strong culture of respect at your organization. We can work with you to create a customized learning journey for your leaders using our research-backed modules. Available leadership topics include Beyond Bias™ , Boundary Spanning Leadership, Collaboration & Teamwork, Conflict Resolution, Emotional Intelligence, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety & Trust, and more.

Based on Research by

In addition to directing an international group conducting research about leadership and leadership development, Kelly co-authored our casebook on Leadership Across Differences , the guidebook Managing Your Whole Life , and the books Evaluating the Impact of Leadership Development and The Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation .

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Related Topics

What to explore next.

Understanding the various aspects of identity — both your own and that of others — can help you spot situations when you’re unintentionally shutting down diverse perspectives or taking actions rooted in unconscious bias.

Our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion experts share how practicing acts of empathetic leadership can unlock the power of diversity and increase inclusion in the workplace.

Are the pledges and promises made by your organization cosmetic platitudes, or authentic commitments to sustainable action? Learn best practices for an EDI statement and approach based on our research findings.

Inclusion is vital to your organization’s success. Use these 5 steps to build an inclusive work culture for your organization, and learn what things to watch out for.

In order to become better allies, we must focus on behaviors that help create more inclusive environments. Discover answers to commonly questions about allyship, and the role leaders can play.

Related Solutions

Overcoming bias in the workplace is challenging. Our unconscious bias training solutions help your organization move beyond awareness toward meaningful action.

Learn how our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion practice can help develop thoughtful leadership to tackle EDI challenges and grow your organization forward.

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)® is a top-ranked, global, nonprofit provider of leadership development and a pioneer in the field of global leadership research. We know from experience how transformative remarkable leaders really can be.

Over the past 50 years, we’ve worked with organizations of all sizes from around the world, including more than 2/3 of the Fortune 1000. Our hands-on development solutions are evidence-based and steeped in our work with hundreds of thousands of leaders at all levels.

How to Demonstrate Respect in the Workplace

Create a Positive Work Culture for Your Employees

• Job Search Resources
• Hiring Best Practices
• Employment Law
• Employee Motivation
• Employee Management
• Management Careers
• Management & Leadership
• Employee Benefits
• The Meaning of Workplace Respect
• Determining Workplace Respect
• How to Show Respect
• Importance of Workplace Respect

Susan Heathfield is an HR and management consultant with an MS degree. She has decades of experience writing about human resources.

Respect is a key requirement for a healthy work environment. It promotes teamwork and increases productivity and efficiencies in the workplace. It lets employees know they are valued for their abilities, qualities, and achievements, and that their role is important to their company's success.

Being respected and valued promotes a positive work culture where employees are loyal, fulfilled, and motivated to perform at their best for their company. Those who are not respectful to others are unprofessional and a threat to the health of their company.

The Meaning of Respect in the Workplace

Always treat people the way you want to be treated—with respect. Recognize that, like you, your coworkers, reports, and superiors have rights, opinions, wishes, experience, and competence. They also make mistakes, which are simply lessons to be learned. They have similar concerns and insecurities and share the common goal of wanting to perform their jobs successfully.

Respect in the workplace breeds a healthy work environment. A professional, respectful work culture encourages productivity and growth. The staff works optimally knowing they are valued and respected for their ideas as well as their role within the company.

Respect in the workplace fosters productivity, growth, and success for your organization.

Determining Respect in the Workplace

Respect can be heard in a person's tone of voice, in their nonverbal communication, and in how they address you. It can be observed by how your coworker or supervisor listens to you and asks questions to make sure they understand your point of view.

You judge respect by the way your organization, superiors, and coworkers treat you . It is apparent in how your organization establishes new rules and policies and introduces them to employees, and how they compensate, recognize, and reward you .

Respect can be determined by how often workers ask your opinion, consult you about any changes that could affect your job prior to implementing them, and delegate meaningful assignments to you.

Watch Now: Workplace Etiquette You Should Know

Examples of how to show respect in the workplace.

Ideas for demonstrating respect in the workplace include:

• Treat people with courtesy, politeness, and kindness.
• Encourage coworkers to express opinions and ideas.
• Listen to what others have to say before expressing your viewpoint. Never speak over or interrupt another person. Listen and stop formulating rebuttals and responses in your mind when you need to focus on listening to the other person.
• Use peoples' ideas to change or improve work . Let employees know that you used their idea or encourage them to implement it.
• Never insult, use name-calling, disparage, or belittle people or their ideas.
• Do not constantly criticize, judge, demean, or patronize a worker. A series of seemingly trivial actions added up over time constitutes bullying .
• Be aware of your body language, tone of voice, and your demeanor and expression in all of your interactions at work. People hear what you're really saying in addition to listening to your words.
• Improve your ability to interact with coworkers and supervisors based on the awareness you've gained dealing with people and your emotional intelligence . This will help you to relate with empathy and better understand those with whom you work.
• Treat employees fairly and equally. Treating people differently can constitute harassment, discrimination , or a hostile work environment .
• Include all coworkers in meetings, discussions, training, and events. While not every person can participate in every activity, do not marginalize, exclude or leave out any one person . Provide an equal opportunity for employees to participate in committees, task forces, or continuous improvement teams . Solicit volunteers and try to involve everyone.
• Offer praise more frequently . Encourage praise and recognition among employees , as well as from supervisors.

Importance of Respect in the Workplace

Respect is a requisite for a healthy, professional workplace where employees feel valued performing work that is meaningful to their organization. A healthy work environment can increase employee retention and boost an organization's reputation as a great place to work.

• 10 Tips for Dealing With Difficult People at Work
• Top Ideas About What Employees Want From Their Workplace
• How Employees Can Contribute to a Positive Work Environment
• How to Encourage Meaningful, Needed Conflict at Work
• Finding Meaning and Purpose in Your Role and Work as a Manager
• How to Show Employees That Your Company Values Diversity and Inclusion
• Employee Orientation: Keeping New Employees on Board
• How to Increase the Probability of Positive Downsizing Results
• How Great Managers Motivate Their Employees
• Food and Beverage Chain Mission Statements
• 10 Tips for Better Teamwork
• Top Department Store Mission Statements
• Sample Employee Thank You Letters
• Best Interview Questions for Employers to Ask Job Applicants
• Sample Human Resources Manager Job Description
• Reasons Why Your Employees May Hate You

• Message Maps
• Content Marketing
• Media Training
• Presentation Training

Crystal Clear Communications Blog

A collection of our experiences, recommendations, and best thinking to help you tell your best story.

Presenting? Follow these rules

Presenting is a great way to market yourself and get your message heard. But if you don’t follow some simple rules of presenting, you could waste the opportunity.

To ensure you make the most of your next presentation, follow these 5 rules:

• Respect your audience.
• Make a message map.
• Use visual aids well.

Respecting your audience when presenting

Have you ever attended a presentation where the presenter wasted the audience’s time? Respecting your audience is the golden rule of presenting.

Your audience members are just as busy as you are. If you don’t respect them, they won’t respect you, and you will lose the opportunity to get your story heard.

This means you need to know your audience. To whom are you presenting? Why would they come to your presentation? What are their demographics?

You can respect your audience by giving them the information they care about, engaging them rather than distracting them, and being present. For more on how to respect your audience, see this blog .

Make a Message Map

Even if you create your presentation at the last minute—which I strongly advise against—take the time to make a short Message Map . It will guide your presentation, keeping you on track and keep you from wandering off message and distracting your audience.

A Message Map focuses your presentation on your audience, so you tell them what they want to hear in words that will resonate with them. It also helps you speak their language—airlines offer low fares, but consumers search the internet for “cheap flights.” Make sure you’re using your audience’s language in your Message Map and presentation.

Use visual aids well

Since PowerPoint took over the world as the de facto visual aid for presenters, thousands of presenters have felt compelled to put almost every word they plan to say on their slides.

Instead of inspiring presenters to create proper visual aids, PowerPoint has become a crutch. If the words are on the slides, we don’t have to practice, we can just read the slides to our audience.

Avoid using your visual aids as a crutch if you want to respect your audience. Your visual aids are there to emphasize a point or help people visualize your point. Your audience should focus on you and not on trying to read your slides.

For more on using visual aids well, see this blog .

Practice presenting

There’s a reason Malcolm Gladwell wrote the book Outliers : practice really does make perfect. Yet too many presenters skip this rule.

While your audience does not expect you to practice for 10,000 hours (unless you’re a famous musician), they do expect you to know your presentation and respect their time.

As soon as you agree to give a presentation, block time on your calendar to do the following:

• Make a Message Map.
• Create your presentation.
• Refine your visual aids.

If you can practice on someone who is similar to or will be in your audience, even better. Their feedback can help ensure your presentation will resonate with your target audience.

Prepare for presenting

Preparing for your presentation is different from practicing. Preparing means you dress appropriately and arrive early at the event (or prepare the space you’re presenting from if you’re giving a virtual presentation).

Arriving or setting up early gives you time to ensure you have everything you need and that the AV equipment is working.

Here are some things to ask yourself during preparation:

• If you’re using your own computer, is it fully charged, and are all the notifications turned off?
• Have you silenced or turned off your mobile phone?
• Do you have a glass of water nearby?

The last thing I always do before I begin my presentation is repeat the home base of my Message Map to myself. That ensures I’m focused on getting my story heard.

For assistance with presenting, messaging, and other communications needs, email me at [email protected] .

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