The audience numbers for ING’s presentations and training seminars have been growing steadily and dramatically since 2012, as shown by the accompanying charts. The audience for the Islamic Speakers Bureau has grown more than threefold, while the audience for Interfaith Speakers Bureau panels has grown by a factor of almost three and a half in the same period. This demonstrates a sharply growing public interest in both Islamic and multifaith education—good news as we look to the challenges ahead in a multifaith nation and a multifaith world.

It’s worth noting that ING has not done any marketing of our presentations in the past three years; this growth in audience numbers is due largely to word-of-mouth recommendations by those who have experienced ING presentations, which testifies to the quality of our work.

The evaluation form filled out by audiences after Interfaith Speakers Bureau panels asks audience members to evaluate the overall quality of the presentation on a scale from 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent). As shown in the chart below, audience ratings have on the whole been improving over the past four years.

Requesters of presentations also have the opportunity to evaluate the quality of both content and speakers. In both those areas, requester ratings have shown an upward trend over the past four years, as shown by the charts below. The first chart below shows how well requesters felt the content conveyed what they hoped to convey, the second their rating of speakers’ overall effectiveness, and the third their evaluation of how well the speakers connected with their audience.

In short, ING’s reach extends well beyond the San Francisco Bay Area, and even beyond the areas reached by our Affiliates; our audience and impact is nationwide.

 

The ultimate test of ING’s effectiveness in combating bigotry and promoting interreligious and intercultural understanding is the power of our work to change attitudes. ING’s record here is consistent, as shown by the surveys of audience attitudes toward Islam and Muslims that we administer before and after school presentations of the ISB’s introductory presentations, Exploring Muslim Traditions and Practices (for middle school) and Getting to Know American Muslims and Their Faith (for high school and adults).

The surveys ask five questions about attendees’ understanding and perception of Islam and Muslims, with a total of 30 possible answers and no limit on the number of answers selected. ING designed these questions to track audience attitudes about six areas that are often stereotyped by the general public. Of the 30 responses in the survey, 15 are “Muslim positive” (for example, “Islam promotes peace”) and 15 are “Muslim-negative” or Islamophobic (for example, “Islam promotes terrorism”).

ING presentations over the past two years have brought about a sharp reduction— over 86%—in the frequency of Islamophobic responses, as shown in the accompanying chart.

ING presentations have proven effective at dispelling common stereotypes about Muslims and their faith. Survey data from the past two academic years shows that after an ING presentation:

• The percentage of those believing that Islam promotes terrorism falls by 60%.
• The percentage of those believing that Islam promotes violence falls by 66%.
• The percentage of those believing that Muslims are intolerant of other religions falls by 60%.
• The percentage of those believing that Muslims are not true Americans falls by 43%.
• The percentage of those recognizing that Muslims have long been part of the history of our country rises by 33%.
• The percentage of those believing that Islam promotes the oppression of women falls by 53%.
• The percentage of those believing that Muslims view women as inferior falls by 55%.

ING Audiences Testify to the Power of Our Work

New Volunteer Speakers Join ING