This blog is a follow up to an earlier blog “When Advocacy Turns Dangerous: The Moment You Can’t Stay Silent”
Are you like me, someone who wants to speak up when you see or hear something unjust, but sometimes hesitates because you don’t want to make things worse, or make someone feel small?
That hesitation comes from care. Most of us don’t want to hurt people; we want to make things better. But we were never taught how. We were taught to keep the peace, not to have hard conversations with grace.
I recently watched Sarah Crawford-Bohl’s TED Talk How to Speak Up — Even When You Don’t Want To.
She shows that courage and kindness can live in the same sentence. You can hold your ground without pushing someone else off theirs.
The Four Phrases That Can Change Any Difficult Conversation
It doesn’t take a big speech. Sometimes it’s the smallest phrases that shift the whole tone of a conversation:
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Instead of “With respect…”, try “I see it differently.”
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Instead of “That’s wrong.”, try “Can we look at that another way?”
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Instead of “You can’t say that.”, try “That might land differently for some people.”
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Instead of silence, try “I’m not sure that sits right with me.”
These simple swaps are powerful. They keep people in the conversation rather than shutting it down.
Why Teaching Kids How to Speak Up Might Be the Most Important Lesson of All
Even after years of negotiation training, I still catch myself slipping into an overly forceful tone when something matters to me. It’s hard to unlearn. But that’s exactly why this work matters, because if we can teach young people how to use their voices with strength and empathy, maybe they won’t have to spend years unlearning the habits we did.
It’s the same truth behind that short film Justice, the moment when a teacher unfairly dismisses a student and everyone stays silent
and the playful How to Start a Movement clip, where the brave first follower turns one person’s awkward dance into a movement.
In both, the real change begins when someone chooses courage over comfort.
Speaking up doesn’t have to make anyone feel small. Done with care, it can make everyone in the room a little braver.
#SpeakUpKindly #EverydayActivism #CivicCourage #RespectfulCommunication #LeadershipStartsHere #EmpathyInAction #TeachThemYoung #ChangeTheConversation #FirstFollower #KindnessIsStrength