Engaging young people: Open Voice Lab podcast episode 3 (two‑parter now live)
Updated: Sep 30
Episode 3 of the Open Voice Lab Podcast is now live. The conversation was so rich we’ve released it as a two-parter.
We’re joined by Scott Williams, a youth engagement practitioner with more than 20 years’ experience working directly with young people in the public sector. Scott has spent two decades designing and delivering youth led projects and developing creative engagement methods that genuinely bring young people into decision making.
Alongside his youth work background, Scott now works in the NHS, where he continues to champion youth voice in service design. He’s also spent 11 years chairing Wigan Pride, supporting young people to co design one of the borough’s most successful community events.
Scott shares real examples from his practice: group agreements instead of rules, arts based methods, and the importance of early engagement, trust building and power sharing. If your organisation is serious about engaging young people, this two part conversation offers advice you can start to apply immediately.
Listen now
Questions we explore about engaging young people
What’s the first thing organisations should do when engaging young people?
Scott is clear: start early and start by listening. He says organisations often arrive “already down the road of concept design” and only then ask young people what they think. Instead, he advises:
“Engage with young people. Get out there. Find out what young people think about that idea and that concept, and grow that idea with somebody.”
If you don’t have a dedicated youth engagement team, as most public sector organisations don’t, this should start with mapping out the organisations already doing youth work in your area. Contact them. Talk to them about your ambitions and how you get there.
Why is early engagement even more important with young people than adults?
Because young people are honest, brutally honest. Scott explains:
“Young people are extremely honest… they live within that risk activity where they don’t really consciously think ‘I can’t say that.’ They’re just there.” Early relationship building creates trust, reduces power imbalance, and makes participation meaningful. This is also relevant to adults of course.
How should organisations prepare before entering a youth space?
If you are working through an established youth organisation to reach young people, Scott emphasises pre work with youth workers:
“Working with the youth workers to understand the dynamics of the group… all that pre work is really important.” Youth workers often warm the group up long before you arrive and they will advise you on the best way to structure and approach a session.
Should you set rules at the start of a youth engagement session?
Yes — but call them group agreements, not rules. Scott says:
“I love the term group agreement… you’ve got that collective discussion.” It frames the work as a shared project, not a top down instruction.
How do you handle incentives, rewards, or reimbursement?
Public sector organisation often don’t have the resources to offer incentives or rewards to get people involved. Scott is realistic:
“We’re being paid to be there — and they’re not.”
If you have money to pay for trips and pizza parties, that’s wonderful. If not, you can think of ways to use your time and energy to offer additional things. In the NHS we have offered work experience, mock interview practice, 1:1 time with clinicians for young people interested in a career in medicine, and giving young people the opportunity to shadow campaign work.
At the very least, don’t turn up to a session empty handed. Some snacks can go a long way. Relevant to all ages groups we say.
Do organisations need DBS checks to engage young people?
Not always. Scott explains:
“You can enter a space with young people and that’s okay… the youth workers in that space are DBS.” DBS becomes essential only for one to one work so you do need to make sure you are clear on what you are doing and what you need. It isn’t a barrier though if you are working through organisations.
Is online engagement the best way to reach young people?
Not unless young people create the content. Here at Open Voice Lab, we’ve warned against trying to play “cool mom” online.
“Young people don’t trust corporate information… they tap it away.” Effective digital engagement must be youth led, peer delivered, or influencer based.
What methods work better than surveys?
Surveys are “dead” for young people. You need to come up with more creative ways and be willing to accept insight and feedback that doesn’t look like answers to survey questions.
How do you reduce power imbalance when engaging young people?
Scott says:
“Walking in with your lanyard and a suit… is not the level you need to be hitting.” Dress simply, sit with them, arrive early, chat informally - and share ownership of the process. It can be really easy to forget something as simple as this. First impressions matter.
How Open Voice Lab can help
If your organisation is thinking about engaging young people, reworking your digital engagement strategy, or improving how you listen to communities, we can help.
At Open Voice Lab we support teams with:
youth engagement strategy and planning
stakeholder mapping and relationship building
digital engagement and social media approaches
creative, non‑survey methods for listening
delivery support for workshops, sessions and campaigns
We work with public sector organisations across the UK to design engagement that is meaningful, ethical and genuinely useful — for you and for the people you’re trying to reach.
If you’d like to talk about how we can support your team, explore our services, explore our training or get in touch.
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