Speaking up

Written By Colēgia

Learning to speak up for yourself is one of the most crucial communication skills for a multitude of reasons. From expression to character building, we want to do a deep dive into why this is important along with some ways to build up this skill.

Communicating Your Needs

Our needs are extremely important for many reasons. For one, they help us recognize core things that matter to us. This can be something as simple as eating properly or even communicating a need for transportation. Finding ways to express ourselves better can help us with this and oftentimes it is best done when we are in a calm mindset. Being aware of what you're saying along with how you say it can be the deciding factor for someone else acknowledging your feelings. Communication is ultimately a two-way street and sharing your needs also needs to be done with consideration toward someone else. Practicing active listening for example is one such way to do this since it's a give and take when it comes to speaking up for yourself.

“Our needs are extremely important for many reasons.”

Having Healthy Boundaries

Boundaries are another vital area to think about when we think about speaking up. It's good to consider how close you are with someone since this does have an impact on the way you talk to others. Regardless of this form of closeness, healthy boundaries are a necessity as it can prevent things such as bullying or miscommunication. A good example of this could simply be the way someone talks to you. If you notice that someone is consistently making personal attacks against you, it's good to say something about that in a diplomatic way. This lets someone else know that their behavior is unacceptable. This is difficult because while harmony is important it shouldn't come at the cost of feeling disempowered around someone. Chances are that someone else may be experiencing the same feelings but they aren't quite able to share how they feel about it.

“Boundaries are another vital area to think about when we think about speaking up.”

Standing up For Someone

Speaking up for ourselves is important along with standing up for someone as well. This topic is complex for several reasons. On the one hand, people need to be able to speak up for themselves at a point but different situations can often complicate things at times. A great example of this would be someone being pressured by multiple people to do something they may not want to. This situation is extremely difficult for that person because nobody wants to feel they are the only person in the room like this. Learning to stand up for others can help people who are in this position along with building up confidence. As always it's good to be mindful of the situation and know when to get help for this kind of thing since it is sometimes beyond the scope of our abilities. With that in mind, speaking up benefits not just ourselves but others in general. Letting people know your feelings about something can help you build trust along with being more authentic which can lead to a more satisfying life.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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