“Greatly enjoyed the presentation from Dr. Cox. I've attended several bias reduction trainings in the past for work and this, by far, was the most educational one. This evidence based approach provided factual information and provided us with tools to reduce this.”

“[I appreciated] When Dr. Cox used real-life examples in the workplace. You can have someone talk about these type of biases and it can be completely educational, but you lose the connection with the crowd and it does become quite boring. Also, giving solutions or other way on how to overcome these biases was helpful. In most of these trainings/presentations, we are taught what they are called, how we can identify it, and how it is hurting the culture, but never a strategy/tools to reduce bias.”

“I appreciated how much of the training was founded on social psychology principles and evidence-based approaches. DEIA efforts can be seen as a politically charged topic, so I appreciate the more objective approach that focuses on broader principles that can be more widely accepted and applied.”

“[My biggest takeaway was that] There are actual and practical actions I can take to break my own biases as a lifelong learner and someone committed to inclusion for all students.”

“Examples given were helpful in pointing out how to take steps to address your realized biases, and how your actions can help others.”

“The facilitator's numerous examples and colleagues' shared experiences during breakout sessions provided valuable insights.”

“I really appreciated the examples and relaxed approach.”

“Overall great pacing and very interactive!”

“It was a great workshop!”

“The workshop was great”

[What about the workshop could be improved?] “Can't think of any improvements.”

“I liked everything, the style, content, structure, examples, tools.”

“the trainer was dynamic and kept my attention”

[What went well?] “Everything, literally.  It went very well. The bias presentation was engaging.  Very good.”

“People were engaging in constructive conversations during the discussion breaks. People were even discussing parts of it at the [police department] afterwards.”

“That was amazing! I learned so many things.”

“A lot of what he discussed resonated with my lived experience. I appreciated the discussion of how to break habits, and how this is something everyone has to work on because of how society has ingrained these thoughts in us.“

[What was your biggest takeaway?] “So many…it is hard to narrow down!”

“Love the specific tools that are so practical”

“[I learned that] Bias is a habit that is transformed through intentional detection and reflection, and through applying tools that reject bias.”

“[I learned that] Bias is a habit and the way to counteract it is the same strategy to break any habit - notice it, disrupt it and replace it with a better behavior.”

“Wonderful examples to operationalize the tools shared.”

“So many takeaways!!”

“Bias CAN be addressed in a way that respects individual ideals.”

“Dr. Will did an excellent job explaining the tools and providing real life examples of how & when to apply the habit breaking tools. Thank you!”

“[My biggest takeaways were] That everyone has implicit bias and you don’t necessarily need to be embarrassed or ashamed if you catch yourself having it, but you should acknowledge it and work to do better. The tools of the session are very practical. “

“[My biggest takeaways were that] unintentional bias happens in some way to all of us and accepting that and working on them can lead to change. Many of the ideas are like cognitive behavioral therapy where awareness and mindfulness of your actions is really important. The actions aren’t technical or difficult but take practice.”

“Humor and thoughtful stories/anecdotes help to open up windows for discussion… all these opportunities to sit back and reflect will open conversation and to me that is where change is going to take place.”

“Loved the sticky narratives! Definitely helped to cement the concepts! Element still rolling around my brain: our cognitive, espoused values don’t protect us from committing harm. “

“So, the next morning when I was at a meeting with colleagues, I made my first intentional bid to move a relationship with a valued colleague of color beyond the collegial. That relationship may or may not flourish, but I am certain that I will continue doing this more often in the future, thanks to what I learned in this presentation. It's hard to overstate how meaningful this has already been to me along this dimension alone.”

“Very dynamic speaker, I also appreciated learning about the speaker's own research and the presentation of evidence based research from other researchers (including the citations included with each slide)”

“Very useful examples. Scientifically based. Excellent tools to transfer to work.”

“The biggest takeaway for me was practical ways to work on the bias. Many times we know something is biased but we do not know a way to work on them without coming off as continually racist/bias.”

“It was well structured, concise, great examples, and immediate break out sessions to talk about it and enhance learning. More importantly, it's research backed.”

“I enjoyed the real people/ life examples because it makes all concepts seem less abstract. The organization of the presentation also made all the information easier to digest. Dr. Cox was enthusiastic and I was appreciative for his guidelines in the first slide. It set a great tone for the rest of the training.”

“I like this training because I think he presents good examples and provides realistic, achievable, tips for people to change their behavior. “

“I liked having the discussions breaks and being able to talk through real examples of situations that have occurred.  It was also very informative about stereotypical thoughts and how common they really are and examples of how to try and break those habits.”

“The presenter was extremely captivating, the information was tangible and the amount of interaction was great!”

“I thought it was very in depth, but not so much that it was difficult to get through. The discussions we had in our small groups were good too.”

“I liked that the training offered ideas on how to see your own bias, rather than assuming what biases we might have.  The chances we had to self reflect were very useful. Small group breakouts were great for discussion in a safe environment.”

“It was great that he related real life examples and not just text book answers when referring to terminology.  Presenting and speaking about topics and life changes you are passionate about is a gift and he is great at what he does.“

[How could the training be improved?] “Excellent training, no improvements at this time.“

“Awesome job. Very engaging session.”

“The was an exceptional training. I wish all State of Wisconsin employees could attend this training. It was so impactful and I learned a lot from the training.”

“Please make the course a requirement for all State Employees”

“I thought that it was a good class.  It provided strong examples and ways to use tools to improve to view situations.  It was a good pace.”

“The speaker was great.  High energy, passionate about his topic.”

“I thought Dr. Cox was exactly what we needed as he was a stakeholder in our community and presented factual evidence based teachings compared to previous Bias trainings held in the past.”

“Presenter was very knowledgeable in the topic. I appreciated his approach of story telling to describe the data findings.”

“The Bias Reduction Training was both relevant, useful and interesting, and it was presented in an engaging manner as well.”

“Overall, I thought the training was good. I like it compared to other bias related training I have went and the department has hosted. This training didn't focus on pointing fingers … or give the illusion that all white people are racist. It was nice to have information based off of research with tangible facts and information to help change biases.”

“the manner in which the topic was presented was refreshing.  Dr. Cox is clearly very competent in this area, it was nice to hear about some of his research work as well.  The science side was informative”

“Bias training was informative and interesting.  Three hours went fast.”

“I went to this workshop because I thought it was the right thing to do.  I did kind of dread it, having been at diversity trainings before that told you that biases are bad, they exist and made you feel like you were complicit. I was pleasantly surprised and appreciated the suggested concrete steps you can take.”

“I LOVE the examples. It was so helpful to hear examples and that made me think more about my own behavior: "Oh that's right, I do that, too" and ways I could change.”

“The trainer did a fantastic job related the topic to the group and was engaging with his content.”

“I was not asked to memorize a single useless mnemonic -- it brought me so much joy.”

“The whole presentation was great. I especially liked 1) discussing the things we try do that are ineffective (e.g., suppressing stereotypes - I've tried this and felt guilty when it doesn't work), 2) learning about effective tools to break our bias habits (along with real examples), and 3) backing everything up with evidence/data.”

“[What about the workshop could be improved?] Nothing. This was sincerely the best DEI presentation I've been to. I was so excited to see it go past the "awareness" phase of discussion (where most presentations end) and into implementation.”

“Dr. Cox shared several examples of how bias researchers still have biases! That helped put me at ease. We can all improve and rather than act like biases don't exist, let's get them into our awareness so we can change them. The video with the "just one time" boxes really hit home.“

“Real world examples (from the presenter and colleagues) helped make a conversation like this more judgement free and honest.”

“[I learned a lot about] How typical bias is, that you don't have to feel bad about it. That bias accumulates. The power that allies have. All of these observations were new to me.”

“I liked that this focused more on reducing bias at an individual level rather than an institutional level. I think DEI talks/trainings can often seem like they aren't really helping anything because they are focused at the institution level and telling employees what to do rather than training them on how to reflect on behaviors and practice new ones to change their future behaviors. This was more of the later, which I liked.“

“The 6 tools/strategies are very concrete. I can see them being applied in the workplace. I hope to see organizational-level changes as individual staff start intentionally applying these strategies.”

“Much of what Dr. Cox shared was digestible, and I appreciated the evidence and examples presented along the way.”

“[The training was] based on sound research and focuses on ways that each person could change, not preachy and no over generalizations, describes how negative effects of bias occur for both parties”

“I think this presentation excelled at helping bring back mindfulness to how I approach DEI in the workplace and in life. I plan to implement "checking my biases" as much as possible to maintain this.”

“I appreciate that this training was not just about racial bias, and acknolwedges (sic) all types of bias. Also, while Dr. Cox provided us with ample anecdotes and real life examples, I felt that there was room for each of us to reflect and choose how we want to incorporate/prioritize the concepts in our work context (and personal context)- and that I was part of the agent of change.”

“Every year we bring in national leaders to conduct grand rounds and colloquium seminars, and Dr. Cox’s training was the highest rated training we’ve had in the last 5 years.”

“This was the best training on diversity we have ever had.”

“Dr. Cox made the content accessible and meaningful in a way that I have never experienced before.”

“The truly incredible thing about this training is that it gave me hope. As a white person, I often feel stuck, not knowing the best place to start without offending someone, while also wanting to make a difference. Dr. Cox empowered us with practical steps in a non-shaming and inclusive way.”

“I wanted to say thank you for sharing information about bias in a way that allows us to enter the conversation with our own lived experiences and you gave so many parallel experiences for us to relate to without causing direct shame or accusations. Conversations around changing "who we are '' can be really hard to hear. Of all the conversations I've had to make me more aware and inclusive, this one has been the most influential. So thank you for your time and your knowledge!”

“I just wanted to reach out to let you know, while I think I have participated in [the bias habit-breaking training three times previously], I truly enjoyed the session today. It was so well coordinated and presented in a way that was easy to understand while also connecting the neuroscience of our brains to our behaviors that influence related to biases. Great job and looking forward to more.”

“Just excellent, Dr. Cox. I thought your presentation style, the way in which you artistically wove various marginalized groups throughout, sprinkled with your personal examples/experiences, was incredibly well done. Thank you!”

“Thank you so very much for this webinar. This has been by far the best webinar I have participated in, in years! This was excellent!”

“Your training is extremely relevant and provided me with valuable tools to get comfortable with as I examine my own role in systemic discrimination.”

“As a woman of color I am not exempt from having my own implicit bias and it is an eye opening exploration once you start.”

“Today I had the very fortunate opportunity to participate in a virtual workshop entitled: “Empowering People to Break the Prejudice Habit: Evidence-Based Approaches to Reducing Bias and Creating Inclusion” presented by Dr. William T. L. Cox. I was taking notes fast and furiously so as not to miss any of the valuable information. I now look forward to reviewing all my notes to further process everything that was brought up today in this workshop. So much enlightening information! This type of workshop while certainly very valuable in terms of the topic discussed… had the potential to be dry… but it was anything but!!! The presenter was clearly passionate about his subject matter and enthusiastically incorporated many visuals throughout… cartoons, graphs, still photos, short video clips and more to make his points. He also illustrated the messages he wanted to drive home through engaging personal stories. We were assigned to break-out rooms several times throughout his presentation, which gave all of us a chance to discuss and further process all the information by both expressing our viewpoints and hearing those of others. Not only did I learn all about the topic and tools and strategies to “break the prejudice habit, reduce bias and foster inclusion”, but I also learned about what makes for a terrific, and engaging presentation!!! As I know well from my education background, the best way to communicate effectively is to first “engage your learners”. If you can’t sustain people’s attention, it’s hard for them to learn and expand their knowledge. The fact that for 3 hours I was completely engaged is to me a testament of super interesting subject matter and a terrific presentation. I would highly, highly recommend Dr. Cox for other organizations that are looking for a presentation on the topic of “breaking the prejudice habit, reducing bias and creating inclusion”!!! 

“I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. The 3 hours flew by. It made me reconsider how I approach people, things.”

“This was absolutely one of the best trainings I've ever been to. The finale with the "tool box" was outstanding”

“This is one of the best trainings that we have had at this agency in a long time. I loved the specific tools and see how there are many ways that we could connect this to the hiring practices here at [redacted].”

“I liked how the approach was for everyone, not based on job title here at [redacted]. Talking at the opening about things that this talk would not address. Which is eye opening in it's self. When hiring, to come to an agreement on what is needed in a candidate, before the interview starts.”

“Great examples, bringing our attention to the pervasiveness. And then such good tools at the end”

“Dr. Cox provided the most engaging webinar I've attended thus far….”

“The delivery of information was at a quick pace and easy to digest. I appreciated his tempo and his ability to connect with the audience. The breakout sessions were perfectly orchestrated! Smooth transitions, wonderful facilitators - excellent!”

“I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the presentation, the focus on data, and the practical tools for breaking bias habits, which were particularly helpful.”

“Thank you so very much for this webinar. This has been by far the best webinar I have participated in, in years!”

 “This was excellent!”

“I really appreciated the clarify and specificity in the tools.”

“excellent material and accompanying handout was concise and easy to follow”

“Very engaging & excellent presentation of material in a very organized, well understood format”

“I would suggest that ALL county leaders be REQUIRED to take this course at least once”