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Home › Express Yourself Better: A Guide to Self Expression

Express Yourself Better: A Guide to Self Expression

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Knowing how to express yourself is crucial for living an authentic life. It helps you to keep in touch with who you really are, and is a key component of confidence.

Therefore, it is important that you take time to understand yourself and find ways you can express yourself comfortably.

Page Contents

Self Expression Meaning

Self-expression is the ability to convey your thoughts, feelings, and ideas effectively, authentically, and without fear of judgment or rejection. There are various channels of self-expression, including speech, writing, music, art, fashion, etc.

Many people hide their true feelings and who they are. Avoidance and hiding are also learned behaviors due to negative responses you might have received from others when you authentically expressed yourself. Therefore, you hold back from expressing yourself due to fear of emotional hurt, being shamed, ridiculed, disapproved, or rejected.

However, suppressing who you are, your feelings and your ideas inhibit your ability to live authentically . It can also lead to communication problems or strained relationships.

Self-expression is crucial for personal development and growth and living a happy life . It requires you to explore your thoughts, emotions, values and needs leading to self-awareness and a deeper understanding of yourself. It also allows you to own your identity be authentic.

Furthermore, self-expression can inspire creativity, connection with others, and foster a sense of belonging. Ultimately, it promotes mental and emotional well-being.

How to Express Yourself

Here are some tips on how to express yourself better. Not everyone will feel the same about them, or even choose to do all of them, but that’s ok!

We all express ourselves in different ways, which is part of the fun of living and learning.

1. Understand the Ways You Can Express Yourself

There are many different forms of self-expression, including:

Verbal Communication

It is a powerful form of self-expression that includes both speaking and writing. This channel of communication allows you to express your thoughts, feelings, and ideas through language.

Verbal communication can be structural or creative. It can be used in a variety of settings, including personal conversations, public speaking, and online communication. It is also a powerful tool for establishing a deeper level of connection with others as it enables you to share your perspectives, communicate your needs, learn from others, etc.

Verbal communication allows you to convey information and expresses your personality, values, and emotions.

Improving your verbal communication skills enables you to interact and engage with others more effectively. Speak clearly and concisely . Take time to enunciate your words and avoid speaking too fast. Make eye contact with other people and use your body language effectively to support what you are saying. Practice active listening and make an effort to understand the other person’s point of view.

Although verbal communication is one of the most commonly used channels for self-expression, some people are uncomfortable with it. If it is not your preferred method of self-expression, explore other forms of expression and identify what you’re comfortable with or which is most effective for you.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication involves using your body language, facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, and silence to convey your attitude and emotions that may not be explicitly stated. Sometimes, non-verbal communication expresses more than the actual words being said.

You can intentionally use non-verbal communication to express yourself. However, be aware that non-verbal communication carries the risk of misinterpretation. It is also culturally influenced, and different gestures and expressions may have varying meanings in different contexts and cultures.

The use of non-verbal communication also varies depending on personal factors such as mood, past experiences, and personality. For example, if one has experienced trauma, their non-verbal communication can indicate defensiveness or fear.

Artistic and Creative Expression

Some people prefer to express themselves artistically or creatively through various art forms such as drawing, painting , dance, sports, martial arts, sculpting, music , theatre, etc.

For some people, artistic expression is their way of communicating their inner thoughts and emotions in ways they cannot, either through verbal or non-verbal communication.

Although artistic expression can be aligned with your career or purpose, it could also be simply an interest or hobby. Furthermore, artistic expression has numerous benefits, including improved mood, reduced stress, and enhanced cognitive functioning. It can be used as a therapeutic tool for personal growth and healing.

Personal Style

Your personal style concerns how you dress, groom, and present yourself to the world. Different factors influence it, including culture, personal preference, and self-identity.

Your style tells a lot about your personality, self-identity, values, and interests. For example, if you like to dress in brightly-colored clothes, it may communicate that you are confident and outgoing . On the other hand, if you like to dress in simple designs and muted tones, it may indicate that you are reserved.

Some people’s personal style includes unconventional hairstyles and clothing to express their desire to break free from societal expectations or as a way of expressing their unique identity. You can use your personal style to challenge social norms and express your individuality. It can also be a source of self-confidence and personal empowerment.

Lifestyle Choices

Your lifestyle can also be a form of self-expression. The people you associate with, how you spend your time, and where you spend your money can reflect your priorities, values, interest, and worldview.

For example, becoming a vegetarian can express your commitment to environmental sustainability and animal welfare. On the other hand, travel can be a way to express your desire for exploration and your curiosity about new experiences. Overall, your lifestyle choices should be in alignment with your personal values.

2. Understand Yourself

When you understand yourself, you express yourself better. Understanding yourself enables you to identify your thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, opinions, perspectives, and preferences so that you can communicate them to others more effectively. It fosters authenticity and confidence.

Therefore, take time to reflect on who you are. What are your values and beliefs? What motivates you? What does success mean to you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your personality traits? When do you feel empowered and confident? Which activities do you enjoy? What is your life’s purpose?

Introspection, journaling, and self-inquiry are great tools for self-discovery. They will help you to gain insight into your emotions, thought patterns, and behaviors.

Other ways to better understand yourself include practicing mindfulness, taking a personality test, and seeking feedback from friends, family members, and colleagues.

Practicing mindfulness can help you to cultivate self-awareness. On the other hand, taking a personality test will enable you to better understand your personality traits, how you relate with others and your behaviors.

3. Choose Your Preferred Means of Expression

The best forms of self-expression vary from person to person. There is no one right way; it all depends on your preference and what resonates with you. This is why going on a self-discovery journey is important to understand who you are, what you like, and the best ways to express yourself.

When deciding on the best ways to express yourself, consider your interests and what comes naturally to you. Perhaps you are talkative and like to engage with people directly through words. Or, you prefer to write, e.g., journaling or poetry. Maybe you are good at playing instruments or drawing.

Write down the different ways you like to express yourself. Also, experiment with other forms of self-expression. You may discover a new form of self-expression that you enjoy.

4. Acknowledge Your Anxieties and Risks Toward Self-Expression

It is normal to feel anxious about expressing yourself. However, don’t let it hold you back. You can overcome the anxiety and fear. To overcome these anxieties and fears, identify what is holding you back from authentically expressing yourself. Perhaps you worry that you are not good enough. Or you fear being judged or rejected.

Recognize and acknowledge that self-expression comes with a risk of disapproval, rejection, or misunderstanding. Yet, deliberately choose to express yourself in ways that are comfortable for you.

You may also notice that your mind is bombarded with self-criticism or negative self-talk. Challenge the negative thoughts and reframe them with more positive and empowering thoughts.

Ease into self-expression in small ways that feel safe and comfortable to you. For example, talking to a trusted or expressing your thoughts and emotions through journaling. Then, over time, try other forms of self-expression.

If you have difficulty managing and overcoming your fears and anxieties of self-expression, seek support from a professional such as a therapist or coach. They will help you identify your core anxieties and fears and their source and offer coping tools.

5. Accept That Not Everyone Will Accept You

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone accepted and approved of us? Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Beliefs, values, personality, and preferred methods of self-expression vary from person to person, and so do what we consider as acceptable ways of self-expression.

Therefore, it is okay that not everyone will accept you or how you express yourself. You cannot control other people’s actions, thoughts, or how they respond to you. However, their acceptance, disapproval, or rejection does not define your worth.

You are worthy and enough just as you are. Furthermore, the most important acceptance and approval is from yourself. Also, surround yourself with people who value and accept you just as you are.

6. Put Yourself Out There

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. ” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Despite the risks and anxieties, choose to show up authentically. Express yourself in ways that resonate with you. Own who you are and show it. Self-expression is a gift to yourself and the world. It takes self-belief and courage.

Putting yourself out there can build your self-esteem and confidence, especially if you receive positive feedback. It is also an opportunity to establish healthy boundaries with people around you for what you can tolerate and not tolerate.

7. Be Considerate of Others

Be respectful and considerate of others when choosing ways to self-express. Effective self-expression is learning to safely translate your thoughts, emotions, ideas, preferences, and personality without hurting others.

For example, if you are angry with your boss, journaling about your raw, unedited emotions may be more effective than yelling at them. Once you have decompressed, practice different ways to explain your feelings to your boss without risking being fired. Similarly, overt sexual expression may be inappropriate and disrespectful to others.

It takes practice and time to find a balance between authentically expressing yourself and being respectful and considerate of others.

Start Expressing Yourself

Self-expression is multifaceted. It takes different forms, and the best method of self-expression varies from person to person. When choosing how to express yourself, consider what you are good at and forms of self-expression that you feel comfortable with. Also, explore other forms to identify if there are new forms of self-expression that you resonate with.

Self and personal expression is a life-long journey that ebbs and flows with life. Sometimes you may find it easy to express yourself, yet other times it may be difficult. Recognize and honor each phase and commit to discovering the best and new ways to express yourself creatively and authentically.

Quincy Seale

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Home » Blog » General » Mastering Everyday Speech: How to Effectively Express Yourself

Mastering Everyday Speech: How to Effectively Express Yourself

Effective communication is a fundamental skill that plays a crucial role in our personal and professional lives. It allows us to express our thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and connect with others on a deeper level. One aspect of communication that often goes overlooked is everyday speech. Mastering everyday speech can significantly enhance our communication skills and improve our overall ability to express ourselves.

Understanding Everyday Speech

Everyday speech refers to the language we use in our day-to-day interactions with others. It is the language we use at home, with friends, and in casual social settings. Unlike formal speech, which is more structured and follows specific rules, everyday speech is more informal and relaxed.

However, mastering everyday speech can be challenging for many individuals. It is common to encounter difficulties such as unclear articulation, limited vocabulary, and struggles with word retrieval. These challenges can hinder effective communication and lead to frustration and misunderstandings.

Key Strategies for Mastering Everyday Speech

Active listening.

Active listening is a crucial skill for effective everyday speech. It involves fully engaging with the speaker, paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues, and responding appropriately. By actively listening, we can better understand the speaker’s message and respond in a meaningful way.

To improve your active listening skills, try the following tips:

• Maintain eye contact with the speaker
• Minimize distractions and focus on the conversation
• Ask clarifying questions to ensure understanding
• Reflect on what the speaker is saying before responding

Vocabulary Expansion

A robust vocabulary is essential for effective everyday speech. It allows us to express ourselves more precisely and accurately. To expand your vocabulary, try incorporating the following techniques into your daily routine:

• Read books, articles, and other written materials
• Use a dictionary or a vocabulary-building app to learn new words
• Engage in conversations with a diverse group of people
• Practice using new words in different contexts

Clear Articulation

Clear articulation is vital for ensuring that our message is understood by others. It involves pronouncing words and sounds accurately and distinctly. To improve your articulation skills, consider trying the following exercises and techniques:

• Practice tongue twisters to improve speech clarity
• Record yourself speaking and listen for any unclear or mumbled words
• Work with a speech-language pathologist to target specific articulation difficulties

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in everyday speech. It includes facial expressions, body language, gestures, and tone of voice. Being aware of and effectively using nonverbal cues can enhance our communication and help convey our message more effectively. Here are some tips for improving your nonverbal communication skills:

• Pay attention to your body language and facial expressions
• Practice maintaining an open and welcoming posture
• Use appropriate hand gestures to emphasize key points
• Match your tone of voice to the message you want to convey

Empathy and Perspective-Taking

Empathy and perspective-taking are essential skills for effective everyday speech. They involve understanding and sharing the feelings and perspectives of others. By developing empathy, we can better connect with others and respond in a compassionate and understanding manner. Here are some strategies for developing empathy and perspective-taking abilities:

• Practice active listening and putting yourself in the speaker’s shoes
• Read books or watch movies that explore different perspectives and experiences
• Engage in discussions and debates that challenge your own beliefs
• Volunteer or engage in activities that expose you to different cultures and communities

Overcoming Common Challenges in Everyday Speech

Speech anxiety.

Speech anxiety is a common challenge that can hinder effective everyday speech. It is the fear or nervousness associated with speaking in front of others. To overcome speech anxiety, try the following techniques:

• Practice deep breathing and relaxation exercises before speaking
• Visualize yourself speaking confidently and successfully
• Start with small speaking engagements and gradually work your way up
• Seek support from a therapist or join a public speaking group

Speech Clarity

Speech clarity issues, such as mumbling or speaking too quickly, can make it challenging for others to understand our message. To address speech clarity issues, consider the following exercises and techniques:

• Practice speaking slowly and enunciating each word clearly
• Work with a speech-language pathologist to target specific speech clarity difficulties

Word Retrieval Difficulties

Word retrieval difficulties can cause frustration and hinder effective everyday speech. They involve difficulties in finding and recalling the right words to express our thoughts and ideas. To overcome word retrieval challenges, try the following strategies:

• Use visual aids, such as flashcards or mind maps, to help trigger word recall
• Practice word association exercises to strengthen word connections in your brain
• Take your time when speaking and allow yourself to pause and think before responding
• Work with a speech-language pathologist to develop specific word retrieval strategies

Mastering everyday speech is a valuable skill that can greatly enhance our communication abilities. By actively listening, expanding our vocabulary, improving our articulation, enhancing our nonverbal communication, and developing empathy and perspective-taking skills, we can become more effective communicators in our daily lives.

Remember, practice and consistency are key to mastering everyday speech. Don’t be afraid to seek professional help if you’re facing significant challenges. A speech-language pathologist can provide personalized guidance and support to help you overcome any obstacles you may encounter.

Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial today and take the first step towards mastering everyday speech and becoming a more confident and effective communicator.

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The Power of Expressing Yourself

Talking about your fears can help get rid of them..

Posted September 19, 2012

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People always say it’s good to put “your feelings into words.” But is it true? If you think about it, the advice seems somewhat counterintuitive. If you are anxious, scared, or worried about something, is it really going to make you feel better to dwell on this anxiety by speaking or writing about it?

The answer, it turns out, is yes. New research published this month in the journal Psychological Science shows quite clearly that, when it comes to the phobias we have, simply talking about them helps curb negative responses to what we fear.

UCLA scientists Katharina Kircanski, Matt Lieberman, and Michelle Craske demonstrated the power of words for people with a professed spider phobia. The experiment went something like this: First, the spider phobics were asked to stand outside next to a Chilean rose-haired tarantula (don’t worry, it was in a container). People were encouraged to approach the spider little by little. On the first step people took, they were about five feet from the spider. On the last step, they had to touch the spider continuously with the tip of their index finger. Not so fun for spider phobics, but the experiment was only getting started. Next, people were randomly assigned to take part in one of four treatment groups while they sat about two feet from the spider.

In the affect-labeling (i.e., putting your feelings into words) group, people were instructed to speak a sentence that included negative words about the spider and their feelings—for example, “I feel anxious the disgusting tarantula will jump on me.”

Those in the reappraisal group were instead told to speak about the spider in non-emotional terms—for example, “Looking at the little spider is not dangerous for me.”

People assigned to the distraction group had to say something unrelated to the spider—for example “There is a television in front of my couch at home.”

A fourth, a control group, received no particular instructions.

Everyone went through the exercises for their specific treatment group several times in a row spanning a two-day period. A week later, folks were invited back to interact with a new spider.

So, what did the researchers find? Interestingly, there was no difference in reported fear toward the spider. People were afraid of the spider, and this self-professed fear didn’t change over the course of the experiment, regardless of what treatment they had completed. However, there was a difference in both physiological measures of fearful arousal (skin conductance) and willingness to approach the spider. The affect-labeling group showed less arousal and was also generally more willing to interact with the spider one week after the treatment than the other groups. And the more fear and anxiety words people in the affect-labeling group used to describe their spider phobia during the experiment, the more they seemed to get over their fear of spiders .

It might seem odd that talking about your worries would actually lessen negative arousal and help you act less fearful, but there is a growing body of work showing the power of speech. In a paper my graduate student, Gerardo Ramirez, and I published last year in the journal Science , and that I blogged about here , we showed that simply getting high school students to spend 10 minutes before a high- stress exam putting their worries down on paper led to increased test performance—boosting the grades of those students who professed to have the most test anxiety from a B- to a B+.

Ironically, when we label our fears, they are less likely to pop up in mind at a later date and lead us astray. Verbalizing our anxieties seems to help us manage our behavior. This is true whether we are trying to get over our fear of eight-legged creatures or ace a high-stakes test.

For more on how to curb fears and anxieties so you can perform at your best, check out my book Choke !

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Kircanski, K. et al. (2012). Feelings Into Words: Contributions of Language to Exposure Therapy . Psychological Science

Sian Beilock, Ph.D. , is a cognitive scientist and the President of Barnard College at Columbia University. She's an expert on why people choke under pressure and how to fix it.

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How to Express Yourself Better in 7 Steps

Do you have ideas you’re trying to convey to others, and you just can’t seem to express yourself?

Do you ever feel like you can’t even tell a story? You could be in the middle of telling a story, and you keep overexplaining and using way too many words. Or you never can get to the end, and you already forgot the moral?

Sometimes you’re in the middle of expressing yourself, it’s going awry, and then someone cuts you off to express their views? “What the heck?! I’ve just been interrupted while telling my rambling story. Oh, well, I guess I got saved.”

Do you know people who seem able to express themselves well in any situation?

Then there are those folks who can express themselves quite well.

You know people who can express themselves to a fare-thee-well. They speak clearly and confidently . It takes them almost no time to get to the point. And they can change your views quickly.

These folks have executive presence and an incredible verbal brand. They’re assertive, yet warm . They can tell stories, answer difficult questions, and know how to say “no” without hurting anyone’s feelings. They can express themselves during tense meetings, interviews, and on stage.

Don’t worry; they don’t have an extra gene that you don’t. People who express themselves well have the essential techniques necessary to get their point across well.

We’ll start with the basic techniques and then delve deeper.

How to Express Yourself Better

People who can express themselves well don’t have a different gene; they have the techniques.

• Formulate your ideas in advance until you don’t need to anymore.
• Don’t overexplain & avoid redundancies.
• Speak in bullets.
• Don’t be afraid of the pause while speaking.
• Start with the bottom line & don’t use too many details.
• Be relaxed. 
• Use a voice that’s warm & authoritative (not aggressive.)

These are the steps you’ll want to practice to get people loving your ideas and following your suggestions. Read on to learn how to implement these steps when you’re expressing yourself.

Many people have trouble expressing themselves.

How to implement these techniques:

Formulate your ideas in advance until you don’t have to anymore. My suggestion is to record yourself or at least talk to yourself in the mirror. 

The advantage of recording yourself is you can hear when you make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to become aware of your mistakes. It’s the only way you can get better.

You wouldn’t tell your tennis pro not to video record you because you don’t want to see your swing. You  want  to see your swing! You know that doing so will improve your game! And unless you have sponsors for your tennis games, improving your tennis won’t make you any money. But learning to express yourself better will. So let’s get back to it, shall we? Don’t make me come over there!

Learning to express yourself better is well worth the effort.

Right now, you’re cringing listening to yourself talk (Best to not be subjective but like a scientist.) But in a couple of weeks, people will be loving your ideas and following your suggestions.

You’ll love listening to yourself on a recording!

9 Secret Steps to Influencing Others

Want to be more influential? We all want to communicate our most important messages in a way that encourages others to take action. Whether that action is voting for our candidate or picking up milk from the store, the words we use and how we speak play a huge role in getting the job done.

Expressing yourself well is about getting your message across easily.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news; nobody wants to listen to a long rambling story. (Don’t hate! You’re in this to express yourself well and have people love your stories and concepts and follow your call to action. So let’s break some eggs. Is that the expression?)

People who express themselves well use pauses & speak in bullets.

Be not afraid of the pause. Some people really hate the pause because they know it allows others to interrupt them. It gives them that space they’re looking for. Remember, if people are interrupting you frequently, it means you’re not speaking very clearly & concisely.

Use your pauses like parenthesis around your bullets. Formulate your ideas into a few bullets. Take out the non-essential words. Eliminate redundancy and then surround those bullets with pauses.

Expressing yourself in high-stakes situations.

Master the ability to express yourself in low-stakes situations first. Talking to yourself is the easiest; telling stories to your pets comes next. (Unless they’re very judgemental.) You’ll probably need to focus in these areas for a week or two.

Once you’ve mastered the low-stakes situations, move on to the medium-stakes ones. Maybe talking to a colleague or friend and speaking in friendly meetings.

All the while, you are recording yourself and seeing significant strides. And now you’re feeling proud! Good for you!

Express yourself using a warm & authoritative voice.

Your voice plays an enormous role in how people perceive you. It impacts your credibility. Once you learn to express yourself using a warm yet authoritative voice, you’ll have people eating out of the palm of your hand.

If you don’t want to influence others and express yourself well, definitely don’t take  The Voice Spa .

All these influential, authoritative people you know have worked on their ability to express themselves well. They didn’t think it would magically happen, and they certainly didn’t put up with telling ineffective stories and not having people follow their call to action.

Go from rambling, filler word user to fluent speaker.

You can do this by measuring your success. If yesterday you used 15 filler words and non-essential words and today you only used 10 pat yourself on the back.

If last week you couldn’t get to the point but this week your stories are short & succinct, be proud!

Assess each skill minutely and expect incremental progress. I can’t say enough how you should be an objective scientist recording data.

How to express your opinions.

Now that we’ve gone and made every single topic political, expressing yourself becomes more challenging. Perhaps you mention how much you like cheese, and someone wants to blame you for climate change.

Or perhaps you did want to discuss something that may be inflammatory. You may want to start by addressing the things that you and your conversational partner have in common. 

You can say, “You and I are very similar. We both feel really strongly about ___. We both want to make the world a better place. If we take politics out of the discussion, I think we can make some progress toward our goal. We don’t have to agree on everything we just have to keep our eyes on the end goal.”

Grab attention & inspire action!

Imagine possessing incredible communication skills—the kind that not only grab attention but also inspire action. When you speak, people listen and follow your lead. That’s the power of exceptional communication.

Now, you can either bootstrap your way there or fast-track your success by hiring a coach. Whichever path you choose, just make sure you get there!

Don’t shy away from investing in a speaker coach. Think about it: You’ve likely spent tens, if not hundreds, of thousands on college and grad school. You’re probably shelling out hundreds every month for music lessons, gym memberships, personal training, or nights out with friends. Yet, you’re hesitant to invest in the one skill that can multiply your earnings? The skill that could land you that dream job, secure a promotion, or close that big deal?

If you’re already successfully bootstrapping your communication skills, that’s fantastic! But if you’re struggling to improve on your own, know that you’re not alone. The majority of people find it tough to master this skill solo. Don’t be part of that majority—take action and invest in the one thing that can truly transform your future.

Want extra help? Take The Voice Spa

Hi Ita –

I made it through my Bloomberg interview yesterday, and I did well.

The perfect teacher shows up in life when I’m ready for it, and that teacher sure was you.

I was in total freak-out mode when I signed up for the Voice Spa. Not only is the Bloomberg Radio show live (yikes!), but it has 25.5 million listeners (double yikes!)

I’ve tried a number of public speaking courses over the years and even hypnosis. Your Voice Spa has been by far the most helpful thing I’ve come across.

I found it so helpful that the Voice Spa starts with relaxing and belly breathing. Those first few days, I did a lot of belly breathing. I was so nervous I was practically bouncing off the walls. Most relaxation programs have you doing meditation or counting breaths. There is no way I could have done those things – I was too agitated. But I could belly breathe -and it always calmed me down. Talking in phrases was also hugely helpful – it’s a great way to slow down without sounding mechanical.

 Thank you for what you do. The Voice Spa is so well thought out. You saved my sanity.

-Betsy Clark, Ph.D

  The Voice Spa  online video course will change your life!

Easily express your feelings.

Do you keep your feelings bottled up inside? Do they cause you stress and pain? That’s no good. You know it & I know it.

First, you want to decide if it’s worth it or let it go.

If it is worth it to tell someone your feelings, be sure to do so in private and when there isn’t too much going on.  You don’t want to express your undying love for someone and they reply with a cheer for their favorite football team who’s currently on the telly.

If you want to tell someone they did something wrong, phrase it from your perspective. You can say, “It hurt my feelings when you…”

Make sure you’re relaxed. It doesn’t hurt to practice with a recorder first! 🙂

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8 thoughts on “How to Express Yourself Better in 7 Steps”

Thanks This really helped me

Thanks This really helped me.

i dont know how to use phrases or word properly. how can i express myself without using the wrong phrases or words?

https://conveyclearly.com/2021/03/10/how-to-articulate-your-thoughts-into-words/

Very practical. Love the content!

Wow! Kudos from the famous news anchor! I do appreciate it, Dong! Hope you’re doing well!

What I learned from this is you must know your content very well. From there you can then learn to speak to it adding magnetic bells and whistles, reduced redundancies and be concise with it.

Yes! Very well said. And that’s the thing, most people do know their content very well. When they’re at work, they know their stuff. Talking about their own background, well who would know more than you when you’re talking about yourself? But the problem is we aren’t taught to communicate well in school. And we should be. So parents out there, make sure you teach your kids the content in this website. 🙂

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What is self-expression and why is it so important?

Does expressing who you are come naturally to you? Are you confident in connecting and communicating with others, or do you feel a bit awkward, tongue-tied, and perhaps worried about what others might be thinking of you? We know that self-expression is far more than how we communicate what we think and feel, but not being able to express ourselves fully can have a negative impact on our mental health and well-being. Research suggests that the correlation between loneliness and well-being depends heavily on the extent to which we can express ourselves authentically (Borawski 2019).  So, when we have the freedom and confidence to say what we truly believe and feel, and when our actions align with our own beliefs and values, we are more likely to experience good mental health, connection, and well-being.

This article takes a deeper look at what self-expression is, why it is so important, and why it can feel so difficult to achieve at times.  I will also share some useful tips for adopting authentic self-expression. 

What is self-expression and why is it so important to our mental health?

What we say or don't say, how we dress, how we style our hair, how we behave, what we choose to do with our time, who we choose to hang out with and how we communicate our thoughts, emotions, and attitudes, are all part of our unique self-expression. How we choose to express ourselves tells others information about our interests and our character. At the same time, other people’s self-expression provides vital information to us about them. But why is the need for self-expression so important?

In evolution, humans have an inherent need to belong. A sense of belonging stems from a need to survive (Over 2016) and survival relies heavily on the ability to access food, shelter, and protection, which is achieved through group membership and the ability to co-operate with each other (Tomosello et al 2012).

Take the family unit, for example. If a baby is lucky, they are born into an environment that offers protection and shelter and they are able to communicate their needs through different cries in the hope that the caregiver will co-operate and learn how to meet those needs. The infant is completely dependent on the caregiver for survival. As the infant grows, they learn to identify socially and culturally with the family group. With little autonomy, they will be expected to abide by social norms and participate in rituals such as positive behaviours, respect for authority and cultural festivals and celebrations, to strengthen the family group identity. Self-expression for young children is likely to be influenced, firstly by how the family identifies its social and cultural position and, secondly, by their psychological and physical need to belong to the family group or whoever is caring for them.

So if, for example, abiding by the family social rules means that a child is expected to be seen and not heard, then the child's ability to express their thoughts and feelings through verbal communication is likely to be compromised. In a family system full of rules, authority and high relenting standards, a child may give up their own identity in a desperate attempt to fit in. This may lead to the child not even forming their own opinions and being heavily agreeable to others. This kind of adaption or conditioning may result in the child disconnecting from their true or authentic self-expression. Instead, self-expression may involve being quiet, indecisive, a lack of confidence and being unsure of themselves or the world around them. 

Conditioned self-expression may also show up as controlling, aggressive, rebellious, or even being the "class clown" to make people laugh, as a way of fitting in and coping with the psychological tension of being denied their authentic self-expression. I’m not saying that children do not need guidance, boundaries or emotional self-regulation, but validating their self-expression so that they feel heard and understood, and offering explanations as to how behaviour may be a cost to themselves and others, provides vital information to help them make better-informed choices moving forward.

Group membership and the need to belong also extends outside of the family unit. We can see this within child development where children as young as two are innately primed for social categorisation. By two years old, they can recognise similarities in preference between themselves and others. Between four-six years old, friend selection is based on criteria such as similar play interests like dinosaurs, constructive play, books and games (Rekalidou and Petrogiannis, 2012). 

We are programmed from birth to express ourselves in order to meet our survival and social needs. Self-expression offers a way of deciding who we want to connect and belong with. But, here is the rub...We can often lose sight of and become disconnected from our own authentic beliefs attitudes, and values, especially if we have not been encouraged particularly in western society to express our own uniqueness whilst growing up. 

When we are unable to express ourselves authentically, we may feel quite lost, fearful or even frustrated with the way we do or don’t express ourselves.  It is quite common to wrestle with thoughts such as: how we 'should' behave, what stereotypes we 'should' conform to, who we 'should' spend our time with, what gender we 'should' be, and the type of person we 'should' be attracted to, to name a few examples.  Turning our back on the family's social and cultural identity, for many, can mean being ostracised and living in isolation outside of the family unit. Therefore, claiming back our authentic self-expression can feel impossible and contribute to feelings of depression , anxiety and suicide ideation . 

Self-expression and well-being

Authentic self-expression, rather than adapted and conditioned self-expression, is vitally important to our psychological well-being. When individuals are confident with authentic expression, this can lead to healthy connections, communication and respectful boundary setting within relationships. Without it, we tend to say "yes" when we mean "no", we fear speaking our mind, we enter into people-pleasing behaviours, withdraw when things get difficult and find making decisions hard. Or, on the other hand, our self-expression can become so independently focused as a rejection to childhood conditioning, that independence also becomes a strategy for disconnection (Cooper and Knox). In counselling personality theory, we understand that when a client is disconnected from their own self, they deny their awareness of their own experience, which makes it extremely difficult to make sense of the world and others (Rogers 1957). This disconnection can therefore be a large contributor to poor mental health and well-being.

Why can authentic self-expression be difficult?

As we have seen, a sense of belonging involves a need for acceptance and validation. Developing authentic self-expression as a child may be particularly difficult if we have experienced any of the following within the family:

• Overprotection
• Emotional neglect
• Addiction 
• High levels of authority and control
• Domestic violence
• Mental health issues 
• High levels of anxiety 

We know that in order for our self-expression to grow, to be able to build positive connections and relationships, we need an environment where our true authentic self and self-expression can be validated. 

How do we validate self-expression?

• Encourage making decisions and positively channel self-expression in our children, even when it doesn't fit with the story.
• Replace judgement, criticism or shaming about the way someone chooses to express themselves with openness in listening and understanding where they are coming from, what they need, and how they want to identify themselves.
• Encourage self-expression as a form of communicating where all is not okay in the young person’s world, rather than them being harshly judged as 'lazy', 'selfish', 'insolent', 'ungrateful', 'useless', 'problematic' or worse.

This can all go a long way in building the resilience a young person needs to navigate life's challenges and connections and being able to choose healthy peer groups and relationships through each life stage position.

When we identify with someone who is non-judgemental and non-authoritative, it is likely that, with this validation, our authentic expression can grow. By offering this kind of environment in therapy, clients can begin to understand how they are relating to themselves and others, what dynamics are going on that prevent them from expressing themselves fully and explore ways for authentic self-expression moving forward. 

How to build authentic self-expression

This is a great opportunity to go back to the drawing board and re-discover your beliefs, moral values and what you stand for. This helps to gain a clearer vision and perspective of who you are, instead of others people’s ideas of who you are.

1. Make a list:

• What are your likes and dislikes?
• What are your world views, your political views and concerns?
• What does a healthy relationship look like to you?
• What does respect mean to you and where do you draw the line with what's not OK with you when in relationships with others?
• What are your non-negotiables in a friendship or partnership and where might you be able to compromise?

Often, it can be useful to think about the 'miracle question'. So, if you were to wave a magic wand and all your problems were solved, what would you and your life look like, what would be different and what might stay the same? This again helps to separate your beliefs and values from others. Once you can separate them, you can begin to focus on how your behaviour can begin to align with them. 

2. Listen to your own language 

Every time you tell yourself that you "should", "ought to" or "must" do something, it is likely that this has come from an inherent belief or attitude from someone else. For example, "I must never get upset" or "I should just go and apologise" may come from a family system that demanded that it was weak to cry or that you would be given something to cry about if you didn’t stop. You may have had to apologise as a child, even if you felt you didn't do anything wrong, or you learnt it was just easier not to rock the boat. This way of thinking becomes a cognitive distortion when you put unreasonable pressures and demands on yourself and it can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety and non-authentic self-expression. Instead, take a pause and think about the need to apologise. For example, what you are apologising for and is it something that you 'want' to do because it aligns with your values, rather than past conditioning or the demands of the family identity?

3. Tune into your senses

Start to tune into your felt sense when you are talking and hanging out with others. Notice if you feel any tension or uncomfortableness that results in you questioning yourself and how you are expressing yourself. Is this based on a desire to fit in? Why is it so important to fit in with this person? Are you worried about what they may be thinking of you and why? Are you fearful of their responses to you? It may be really helpful to journal about this and explore why you feel that you need to adjust and compromise your authentic self to fit in. Remember that authentic self-expression is likely to lead to positive well-being whilst non-authentic self-expression can lead to feelings of loneliness .

Understanding your self-identity and authentic self-expression can be a great journey towards a sense of freedom and connection. Understanding your own beliefs and values, saying no and setting boundaries that align with your beliefs, values and needs are key to authentic living and self-expression. Perhaps this is worth thinking about if you are looking for positive healthier relationships with yourself and with others.  

Counselling for self-expression

If you are struggling to express yourself more authentically, counselling can be a really helpful tool. A counsellor or therapist will listen to your thoughts and feelings, and help you understand your true self in a safe and non-judgmental space. If you would like to connect with a counsellor , you can contact me via my profile below. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Counselling Directory are reviewed by our editorial team .

Janine Hodge is the founder of Courage2Be Counselling Services and is a qualified counsellor, psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor. She specialises in supporting children, adolescents and families with their relationships, communication, mental health, and well-being. She also offers strategies to support clients in finding self-expression.

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How to Write a Speech Introducing Yourself

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,818,312 times.

First impressions have a big impact on how others perceive you, so how you introduce yourself to others is extremely important. Many people call an introductory speech an elevator speech, because it should be succinct enough that you could introduce yourself and tell someone about your goals or interests in the time it takes to ride an elevator. It may also be called an "icebreaker" speech, as it breaks the ice and lets others get to know you. [1] X Research source Consider your words carefully when you write a speech introducing yourself. Crafting a good self-introduction can either build or harm your credibility.

Sample Speeches

Preparing Your Speech

• State your name in the very first sentence of your speech. This can be very straightforward: "Good afternoon!/Good morning! My name is Deshawn Smith, and I am a computer programming student at the University of Arkansas."
• If the introduction is work-related, mention your interests and your career goals together in the same sentence. This will save on time and convey that your personal interests can serve your professional goals. For example, "I am working on an app that allows people to order pizza from their Twitter account."
• You may want to mention your education or professional training background, if it is relevant and appropriate. "This is the fifth app I've designed. My second app, which helped people locate dog parks near them, won an award at my university."

• If you are explaining your passion or goal and how it helped formed your progression up to this point, that can help you tell a compelling story about yourself. For example, if you're writing a speech for your college speech class , you might want to explain how you got into computers at an early age and why they're important to you now as you pursue your career goals.
• If, however, you are introducing yourself to potential clients at a business lunch, they are probably not interested in your hobbies. They will want to know what you are doing right now and what your skills are.
• Try writing one draft with your experience/hobbies and one without, and run both versions by an objective listener who can give you feedback before your speech.

• Highlight the qualities, skills and experience you have that are most relevant for the audience and occasion. For example, "Because of my background in app writing and my extensive network of professional connections, I have a strong grasp of what today's young professionals are looking for. My apps offer convenience and immediate gratification."
• You are trying to present yourself as a professional while making a strong and lasting impression.
• If you're trying to sell yourself to a group of new colleagues, you probably won't need to tell them about your family life, or anything outside of work that isn't directly relevant.

• You can simultaneously demonstrate your skills and experience, while presenting yourself as a forward-looking person who is always learning and developing. For example, you could say, "I spend a lot of time attending app conventions and conferences so I can learn what audiences are looking for. I pride myself on staying on the cutting edge of app design."
• Try to tie this into your broader outline of your career goals and personal development.

Revising and Practicing Your Speech

• Make sure that if this is an assignment, you stay within the assigned guidelines.
• If your speech is supposed to be 3-5 minutes, a 7-minute speech and a 2-minute speech are equally inappropriate.
• If you are giving a brief introductory speech in an interview , be certain that you don't go over the recommended time.

• Avoid long rambling sentences, and use direct and concise prose as much as possible.
• Think about your sentence structure carefully. Reading your speech out loud will help you determine when you have overly long sentences that need to be restructured.

• Practicing in front of other people will enable you to gauge whether your speech captures the interest of your listeners.
• Think about which parts of the speech were successful and which parts weren't.
• Try to get as much detailed feedback as possible by asking specific as well as general questions after your speech.
• As well as saying "how did you like the speech?", ask specifically what parts were the strongest and weakest.
• Check that you delivered a clear message by asking your practice audience what they took away from the speech.

• If you are staring down at a piece of paper all the time, the audience might struggle to truly engage with what you are saying.
• You can, however, bring an index card with bullet points, just in case you freeze up. You shouldn't write your whole speech on the card, just the main points you hope to cover.
• Think of the card as a point of reference, rather than a backup for your speech.

Planning Your Speech

• Who is the intended audience?
• What is the purpose of my introduction?
• What are the expectations others may have?

• Stick to one or two main points you want to convey about yourself. You can always add more if time allows it.
• Depending on the audience and function of your speech, you shouldn't allow the focus to become too narrow. For example, if you're introducing yourself to a crowd of prospective investors, you'd focus on your skills to build their confidence in you. If you're introducing yourself to a general audience -- say, for a speech class in college -- you can be a bit more wide-ranging.
• Remember that you're introducing yourself in general, and you want to present yourself as an interesting and rounded individual. [12] X Research source
• That doesn't mean you should spend time talking about your love of baseball when you are introducing yourself in a professional scenario.

• Are you hoping to win someone over to your point of view with this introduction, or to inspire/motivate someone to work hard under your leadership?
• All of these will affect the things you say in your introduction and the way you say them. [14] X Research source

Delivering Your Speech

• You can also try some visualization techniques to help ease your nervousness and give you confidence for your speech.
• Imagine the way you will feel when you have finished delivering your speech and are met with smiling faces and resounding applause. Then channel that confidence into the actual speech you are about to deliver.

• Avoid crossing your arms or clutching your hands.
• Don't stare down at the ground or cling to the table or lecture in front of you.
• Make eye contact across the room in a measured and controlled way. Avoid lingering on one person, but also avoid darting your eyes back and forth restlessly.
• Try making eye contact with one person on the left side of the room, then one person on the right side of the room. Shift across the room, but in a controlled way that feels natural and relaxed.

• Aim for a comfortable, conversational pace of dialogue.
• Practicing your speech in front of other people, or recording it and listening back are great ways to judge the tempo of your speech.

• Self-deprecating humor can help you come across as humble and likable. For example, if you've accidentally skipped forward in your speech and have to circle back, you could say something like, "And now I'm going to cycle back and tell you something I forgot before. If you wanted to get to know the "real me," you're seeing it now!"
• You can also make a quick, humorous nod to your mistake and move on. For example, if you come out and you mess up the very first line, you could say something like, "Wow, excuse me. Here I am so excited to tell you about myself that I've mixed up all my words. Let me try that again."
• Don't be too self-deprecating, however. You are still trying to ensure people remember you for your strengths and competencies. Move on quickly.

Expert Q&A

Reader Videos

Share a quick video tip and help bring articles to life with your friendly advice. Your insights could make a real difference and help millions of people!

• Improve eye contact with the audience. Be direct and move confidently during the speech. Thanks Helpful 21 Not Helpful 3
• Do not be afraid to make yourself sound good. After all, this is an introduction, and the first impression you will make. Thanks Helpful 24 Not Helpful 4
• If the introduction is too long, you will lose your audience's attention. A good introduction should be short and to the point. Thanks Helpful 20 Not Helpful 6

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://courses.p2pu.org/en/groups/public-speaking-2/content/icebreaker-introduce-yourself/
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/publicspeakingprinciples/chapter/chapter-8-outlining-your-speech/
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/how-to-give-an-elevator-pitch-examples
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/serenitygibbons/2023/05/31/3-tips-to-set-yourself-apart-with-unique-branding/?sh=5421a3b03baa
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/shortening-a-speech
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/speeches/
• ↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/speech-delivery
• ↑ Lynn Kirkham. Public Speaking Coach. Expert Interview. 20 November 2019.
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-publicspeaking/chapter/methods-of-speech-delivery/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/oral-comm-lab/audience-analysis
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/writingforsuccess/chapter/6-1-purpose-audience-tone-and-content/
• ↑ https://pac.org/content/speechwriting-101-writing-effective-speech
• ↑ https://sps.columbia.edu/news/five-ways-improve-your-body-language-during-speech
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-speaking
• ↑ https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/10-tips-for-improving-your-public-speaking-skills/

About This Article

To write a speech introducing yourself, start by organizing the information you want to include. When writing content, consider the purpose of the speech, your intended audience, and your goals for the introduction. You can speak about your education, professional background, career/career goals, and outside interests, but keep things brief and to the point. Only include information that is important and relevant to your listeners. Don't forget to state your name in the first sentence of the speech. To learn more from our English Ph.D. co-author, such as how to practice and memorize your speech, continue reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Communicate More Effectively

Learn communication skills: express yourself.

• Learn to express yourself in a way that helps you get what you want.
• Learn to avoid common problems with verbal communication in professional settings.
• Learn to use non-verbal communication to help convey your message. 
• Learn to avoid common problems with non-verbal communication.
• Learn to bring attention to your needs.
• Learn to manage your professional image.

In communication, the words you choose to convey your message are important, and equally important is the accompanying body language, tone of voice, rate of speech, etc. There is no perfect way to express yourself. Often it comes down to choosing which option will best help you meet your goals.

The key to achieving your communication goals is recognizing how to use verbal and non-verbal messages to best bring attention to your needs. What you choose to say, how you choose to say it, and the way you carry yourself in a conversation can strongly influence the outcome of your interaction. 

However, saying nothing, walking away, or avoiding a direct conversation can also influence the outcome of your interactions because avoidance, inaction, and failing to communicate a message are still forms of expression. 

This module will help you to bring attention to your needs and manage the nonverbal issues that may influence how your communication is received.

By this time in your life, you have likely fallen into a pattern of expressing yourself that seems natural and doesn’t require a great deal of planning or forethought. Often you may express yourself to share your views with others, ask for something, tell someone what to do or what you expect from them, or to clarify something.

As you can see, the decision to express yourself can be a challenging one, especially when you’re faced with the possibility of getting an unwanted reaction. However, oftentimes the response we most dread is not as bad as we think it might be. 

We may not want to be turned down, judged, or rejected, but the long-term costs of not asking for what we want may be greater such as not finishing a graduate program, earning a lower salary, being given fewer opportunities and resources, or in some cases, even inviting the very response we attempted to avoid in the first place.  One hypothesis used to explain this phenomenon is that women are socialized to be humble, gentle, considerate, sensitive, and accommodating and, in turn, these qualities may interfere with the decisions required to make demands and express needs or concerns directly (Kugler, Reif, Kaschner, & Brodbeck, 2018)

10 Common Fears about Expressing Yourself

If I share, others will …

• Stop liking me.
• Criticize me.
• Disagree with me.
• Discredit my ideas or me.
• Argue with me.
• Won’t trust me.
• Think I’m incompetent.

While each one of these outcomes has the potential to occur if you do express yourself, they can also occur if you do not express yourself. In fact, we may be more likely to invite the types of situations mentioned above by not acting because others are left to their own assumptions about us, rather than hearing the facts of how we really think or feel. 

Being explicit about your thoughts, reactions, feelings, opinions, and ideas can give you credibility, respect, and clearer boundaries. At a minimum, it will leave less room for others to fill in the blanks with their own assumptions.

In order to complete a group research project by the deadline, your team divided the work equally according to team members’ strengths. You are the first to finish your task so your teammates ask you to gather everyone’s information and create a PowerPoint file for the presentation. 

They claim to be really busy and say that they don’t have enough time to get it done before it’s due next week. Normally, you would be happy to help the team out with this extra task, but you also have a number of other tasks pending that you worry may not be completed if you create the presentation file.

How can you respond in a way that expresses your needs?

• A. Agree to help them out this time, but state that you want them to help more on the next project.
• B. Explain that you have too much on your plate this week and suggest that Bobby do it instead because he had the shortest section.
• C. Agree to do it but mention all the tasks you’re juggling too so that at least they really appreciate how much you’re doing for the team.
• D. State that you have other stuff you’re working on and that everyone needs to make their own slides or work together as a group to create the PowerPoint presentation

While each of these possible choices has strengths and weaknesses, “d” is the most likely to protect your time because it expresses your situation directly while bringing attention to your own needs. Agreeing to take on the extra responsibility in the present with the hope that they will follow-through in the future (answer option “a”) may win you some friends in the moment, there is no guarantee that they will reciprocate in the future—and besides, it could set a bad precedent. Similarly, expecting others to appreciate your extra work (answer option “c”) can be problematic because there is no way to ensure that others will value the extra time you put in. Trying to pass the task to another member of the team is also an ineffective solution (answer option “b”) because it has the same essential problem: the work would be unevenly distributed. Thus, the best solution in this scenario is to suggest a fair and equal sharing of responsibility so no one person is expected to do all of the work.

The first things people often notice during communication interactions are non-verbal messages. However, we are often unaware of the nonverbal messages we send to others. 

Facial expressions, touch, movement, as well as voice tone, rate, and pitch, or even the physical distance between you and another person are each important parts of non-verbal communication. Most of us may be unaware initially of why we view conversation partners a certain way because our brains are programmed to automatically calculate and decipher non-verbal cues without thought. 

Becoming aware of your own non-verbal tendencies and how they may come across is therefore an important part of communicating with others. Your non-verbal messages may be saying something you didn’t intend to convey. 

Table 2 depicts various aspects of non-verbal communication that may create confusion or become problematic along with suggestions for alternative behaviors.

Cultural implications in nonverbal communication

The meaning of various nonverbal cues can become complicated when other cultures have different norms and/or interpretations from yours about expressions and behaviors. Direct eye contact, for example, is highly valued and emphasized in Western culture; it is viewed as portraying confidence, honesty, genuineness, and respect. 

However, in some Eastern cultures direct eye contact may be viewed as portraying arrogance, flirtatiousness, disrespect and/or inviting confrontation. This is not to suggest that one should automatically avoid eye contact with people from Eastern cultures, but rather it speaks to the nuances and variations of nonverbal communication across cultures. Being aware that different cultures view the same nonverbal expression differently can help you express yourself in ways that are culturally appropriate and valued by the other person.

Given the multitude of nuanced differences in nonverbal communication across cultures, the best way to learn about these meanings may be to observe objectively the person with whom you are communicating and consider matching their style of nonverbal behavior. For example, you may try speaking in a softer tone of voice with someone who is soft-spoken or attempt to mirror similar, although not exact, eye contact patterns used by the other person in the conversation. If it’s appropriate and if you feel you know them well enough, it also makes sense to simply ask what they prefer. 

Most people think of verbal communication as the main channel of communication. However, words can be laden with unintended connotations, implications, innuendo, or double meanings. 

Your choice of words can convey data about the content of your message as well as information about you as a person. The  impression you make is tied strongly to the ways in which you employ verbal communication. 

For example, using overly technical and formal language in more casual settings may give others the impression that you are arrogant, cold, pedantic, or unapproachable. At the same time, using overly informal language in professional settings may make you appear unprofessional, incompetent, inappropriate or even crude. 

Table 3 illustrates common problems with verbal communication and suggestions for alternative approaches.

Gender implications in verbal communication

Research shows that women second-guess themselves more than men and doubt whether what they have to say is of value. This same research also shows that society perpetuates this problem by holding women to higher standards than men and giving them less reward for their work (Williams & Phillips, 2016). 

Additionally, women tend to externalize success by attributing to an external cause and internalize failure by attributing to an internal cause (LaCosse, et al 2016). Portraying a lack of confidence can weaken your credibility in many situations. 

However, showing too much confidence in certain situations may be perceived as arrogant and can jeopardize your relationships. Some women tend to err on the side of expressing less confidence to avoid being labeled as bossy, domineering, or aggressive  (Kray & Kennedy, 2017) [see Gender ].

Observing yourself and trying out new styles of expression can help you find balance. Without exploring what fits for you, how can you find the appropriate line between arrogance and confidence, or when it’s right to discuss your accomplishments versus remaining silent? 

One way is to ask for feedback from others about how you come across, then use this information to help guide future behavior. Another option may be to try something different from what you usually do. 

For example, if you avoid verbalizing what you have accomplished, practice mentioning it a bit more often around others gradually and pay attention to how you feel when you do and what effect it has on others’ impression of you.

Four Tips for Expressing Yourself Verbally

• Use “I” statements to explain your experience subjectively and to keep the focus on your own thoughts and feelings. “I feel uncomfortable agreeing to extra hours when my other obligations might suffer” is very different from “You are being unfair by asking me to work longer hours without any regard for my other obligations.”
• Discuss your needs: others will appreciate knowing what you need from them rather than having to guess.
• Focus on what can be done to improve a situation rather than just focusing on problems.
• Be confident and believe in the importance of what you have to say, even when others don’t.

Cultural implications in verbal communication

Different cultures may have varied expectations for women’s communication styles. Choosing to fulfill these expectations comes with both potential costs and benefits. For example, women (particularly women from some cultures). 

Aligning your behavior with the expectations others place on you may help to keep the peace but could interfere with your long-term life and job satisfaction and self-respect. It could also further limit upward mobility since women have the predicament of balancing being womanly enough with not being perceived as too feminine or too aggressive to get ahead. 

Ultimately, these choices lead to the development of our professional image. Regardless of what you have decided in the past, at any point you can choose to make new choices for your future.

Have you ever seen someone who is so mad that they started laughing or so happy that they started crying? In those instances you may have felt confused and unsure about how to respond. This is because our brains are trained to automatically interpret both verbal and nonverbal cues simultaneously. Conflicting information can oftentimes interfere with a clear interpretation.

When there are inconsistencies between verbal and nonverbal messages, nonverbal cues carry more weight than verbal cues and become the primary basis for how others make meaning of the interaction. 

Table 4 depicts examples of verbal statements paired with both confusing and expected nonverbal responses and how they may be perceived.

Perhaps the biggest mistake that women make in expressing themselves is never asking for what they want in the first place. Society holds strong expectations for women to be pleasant, friendly, non-confrontational, accommodating, and nurturing. 

These expectations operate as early as childhood, and women internalize these expectations as a natural part of their identity. As a result, women may feel uncertain about their worth and reluctant to ask for more than what they currently have. 

Fear of rejection can deter women from making their needs clear in relationships. But remember, the worst that could happen is that you are told no.

Five statements to return the attention to your needs:

• This is really important to me.
• I need this in order to …
• Before I can get to_____, I need ______.
• I would really appreciate it if …
• I would like to discuss this, so perhaps we can find a better time.

Ten tips on asking for what you want (See Planning the Message for more.)

• Empathize with the other person, but don’t assume you know what they think in advance.
• State your need directly, succinctly, and without apology or explanation instead of implying, suggesting, or being vague about what you want.
• Consider offering a compromise that is well thought-out and takes the other person’s needs into account.
• Plan for external factors like time and context. For example, hold off on making requests during crises or crunch times unless necessary.
• Be prepared for potential barriers and how you plan to address them without becoming discouraged.
• Provide specific and concrete examples of what you want when possible.
• Avoid backing out of your requests. If you retreat, you jeopardize your credibility.
• State your needs prior to making any commitments. This increases your power to negotiate.
• Prepare a back-up plan(s) in case your request cannot be met so you have alternative solutions ready.
• Be reasonable and consider the limitations of the other person.

When you’re a woman in a field where you're numerically in the minority it can be difficult to figure out how to portray yourself. Impression management is always important for professional success but takes on a different quality in academia, where we are often more beholden to others in order to achieve our goal (e.g., you can’t graduate without the support of your advisor).

You can’t control what others think of you. Some will view you a certain way regardless of what you do. As a woman, others’ impressions of you are often colored by gender stereotypes and expectations. Taking such gender factors into account poses an additional burden for women in managing impressions.

For the most part, however, your behaviors and how you present yourself play a major role in determining how others perceive you. The way you dress, the people you associate with, the places you go, and aspects of your personal or academic life that you reveal all contribute to the impression you make. 

Some people tend to be extremely guarded and maintain only casual and collegial relationships with those in their professional life. The downside is that such caution often means limiting meaningful relationships to those outside of the work setting and missing the socializing and networking that are important to career success. 

A person with reserved behavior is often misconstrued as being cold, snobbish, or unfriendly. In another example of the double jeopardy for women, however, being perceived as too expressive can work against you as well.

Table 5 addresses some of these domains and ways to protect your professional image. Keep in mind, however, that there are no definitive guidelines in these areas. They very much depend on your immediate environment and your relationships with the people in it.

For more on these topics, see The Impression You Make .

Five ways to deflect questions you don’t want to answer:

• I’m not comfortable talking about that.
• I’d rather not get into it.
• I’m sorry, that’s too personal.
• It’s in the past.
• I don’t think that’s appropriate to discuss here.

Sharing aspects of yourself may help you build relationships or connect with others, but it can also be a source of conflict and negative impressions. The key is to make planned and intentional disclosures so that you are aware of what and with whom you are sharing, and what they plan to do with the information.

Social media and your professional image

Maintaining boundaries about what to reveal and being deliberate about what aspects of yourself you want your colleagues or supervisors to know is a fundamental component of being a professional. Be cautious about your public image since many employers now check social media like Twitter and Facebook when hiring new employees. 

A good ground rule for practice is to treat these social media environments like an extension of your work persona. When in doubt, ask yourself “How do I want to be seen?” and “How might this come across?” These questions can help increase your awareness and project the persona that will be most respected by others. 

How you express yourself is a function of both your verbal and nonverbal messages. When verbal and nonverbal messages in a communication interaction conflict with one another, it introduces confusion that may undermine the message you are trying to convey. Expressing yourself to bring attention to your needs may be one of the more difficult forms of expression, so be mindful of the messages you send.

• Pay attention to the words you are using when expressing yourself and be mindful of the alternative meanings they may contain.
• Take note of your nonverbal behaviors. Do they conflict with your verbal message? Could they be perceived as communicating something unintended? Practice aligning them with your verbal message(s) and take measures to eliminate behaviors that create confusion or portray the wrong impression.
• Remember to consider the impression you’ll be projecting as you decide how to express yourself.

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It's All About You

Emphasizes the joy of being a faculty member.

Promoting Yourself to Your Family

Advises how to keep family informed about research goals and progression from student to faculty member.

Becoming an Independent Voice as a Young Faculty Member

The process of establishing yourself in the same department as your spouse.

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Suggestions for defining research.

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Key Elements in Good Advising

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The Good, the Bad, the "Only"

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The decision to adopt a child after graduate school.

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Explains the role children play in career choices.

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The satisfaction that comes from working with colleagues and interacting with others.

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The decision to get married in graduate school.

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Addresses personal relationship sacrifices.

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Explains the choice to have children in graduate school.

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Elaborates on a dating situation.

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Chronicles the evolution of a career over time.

Cecilia Lunardini, PhD: Changing the System vs. Focusing on Cultural Barriers for Women

Suggestions for how to increase women's participation in science with an emphasis on policy change.

Lynda B. Williams, PhD: Key Elements in Good Advising

The importance of being open and honest with your advisor.

Jennifer Barton, PhD: Advisor Issues

How a positive advisor challenged his students to think for themselves.

Aditi Chattopadhyay, PhD: Stubbornness and Tenacity

Highlights the obstacles faced when trying to have research reviewed by the advisor and emphasizes t

Lynda B. Williams, PhD: Separate Advisors and Mentors

The importance of having a variety of mentors throughout your graduate experience.

Cecilia Lunardini, PhD: Persuading an Advisor

Cecilia Lunardini, PhD: Developing a Scientific Identity in an Advisor's Shadow

Challenges faced with establishing yourself as an independent researcher separate from an influentia

Donna Dean, PhD: Seeking New Information

The importance of asking questions and searching for creative solutions to new problems.

Mary Anderson-Rowland, PhD: Words of Wisdom

The importance of finding a good advisor and making sure to get everything in writing.

Erika Camacho, PhD: We're Having a Baby

Challenges in confronting the advisor with news of pregnancy.

Donna Dean, PhD: Trade Offs and Choices

The tradeoffs and choices of graduate life.

Sue Rosser, PhD: Pros and Cons of an International Advisor

Experiences with an international advisor.

Sue Rosser, PhD: Options for Support

Urges students to seek multiple campus resources for support.

Lynda B. Williams, PhD: The Plight of the Older Student: Playing "Mom" and Other Tasks

How to maintain good relationships with colleagues while being motivated to finish the program qu

Mary Anderson-Rowland, PhD: Hearing from Students and Having an Impact

The importance of giving back to students and making an impact in their future education and care

An Arizona State University project, supported by the National Science Foundation under grants 0634519, 0910384 and 1761278

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. © 2021  Career WISE. All rights reserved. Privacy | Legal

How to Express Your Feelings: 30+ Emotional Expression Tips

Catharsis has since been used within the mental health field as a way of describing the practice of emotional expression, which is essential for communicating our needs, desires, and emotions (Brackett & Simmons, 2015).

Plus, being able to express one’s emotions is associated with various positive outcomes, such as increased adjustment to stressors (Moreno, Wiley, & Stanton, 2017), greater life satisfaction (Stanton, Kirk, Cameron, & Danoff-Burg, 2000), and increased psychological resilience (Eldeleklioglu & Yildiz, 2020).

This article will delve into the topic of healthy emotional expression, including tips on how to express your emotions, the downside of keeping things in, expression through art and writing, and much more.

With this plethora of resources, readers will be better able to reap the rewards of healthy emotional expression.

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

W. H. Auden

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions and will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

Expressing your emotions in a healthy way: 16 tips, what happens when you don’t express your emotions, expressing emotions through art and writing, 8 techniques for expressing emotions in relationships, positivepsychology.com’s helpful resources, a take-home message.

While you may understand logically that healthy emotional expression is important, just exactly how to go about it isn’t always straightforward. Fortunately, there are many ways to facilitate healthy emotional expression; here are 18 tips:

1. Use positive self-talk

We all have an inner dialogue running through our heads, which is sometimes negative and counterproductive. If you have a negative inner dialogue , this is bound to make healthy self-expression difficult (Beck et al., 1979; Ingram & Wisnicki, 1988; Hiçdurmaz et al., 2017). Consider whether the messages in your head are damaging, and if so, work on ways to replace them with positive ones.

2. Be a good listener

It might be helpful to remember that…

“…we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

It is hurtful to feel unheard (Nichols, 2009), so listen to your family, friends, and coworkers and you will be in a far better position to respond with expressions of empathy and understanding.

3. Try spirituality

Mother Teresa said:

Joy is prayer; joy is strength; joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Mother Teresa

Many others have also found strength in the self-transcendent emotions related to spirituality (Stellar et al., 2017; Haidt, 2003), and if you need an extra nudge in terms of expressing your emotions, it might help you too.

4. Teach emotion words to young children

Children often lack the language ability to express how they feel. By using tools such as faces conveying different emotions, children will be helped to understand the words for different emotions (Grosse et al., 2021; Streubel et al., 2020).

5. Practice empathy

Whether among family (Geiger et al., 2016), friends (Goleman, 2006), or coworkers (McKee et al., 2017), practicing empathy creates bonds that enable us to be emotionally in sync with others.

6. Model emotional expression

Children who see adults healthily express a range of emotions are more likely to follow suit (Corso, 2007). If you are someone who spends time with young people, show them what healthy emotional expression looks like.

Elbert Hubbard said:

The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

Elbert Hubbard

Whether you have not forgiven yourself or someone else, holding a grudge is the antithesis of expression. If you free yourself from resentment, you will open your heart and mind to positive expression Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2014; Toussaint & Webb, 2005; Karremans et al. 2003).

8. Practice acceptance

Happiness can exist only in acceptance.

George Orwell

Try to accept those aspects of your life that are out of your control. Doing so will make you feel better while freeing up your mind to become more emotionally expressive (Chapman et al., 2011; Linehan, 2014). For more on that, read our article on Radical Acceptance .

9. Play games with kids that promote emotional expression

Games are a fun and valuable approach for teaching children how to express themselves. For example, the Emotion Locomotion program for children ages 6–8 uses a train analogy to teach an array of emotions such as anger, sadness, and happiness (McLachlan et al., 2009).

10. Be grateful

Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.

Joseph Wood Krutch

It is pretty hard to be unhappy while feeling thankful. Appreciate what you have and you will be better able to express a sense of joy (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000; Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Emmons & Stern, 2013).

11. Don’t postpone happiness – savor the moment

Many people will not allow themselves to be happy until they reach some sort of milestone (e.g., weight loss, job promotion, etc.). The moment for joy is NOW, and savoring pleasant experiences – big or small – has been associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing (Smith & Bryant, 2017). Read more about the  benefits of positive emotions .

12. Try something new

If you are having trouble expressing your feelings, perhaps you are in a rut. Getting out of your comfort zone often leads to greater emotional expression and wellbeing (Heller et al., 2020).

13. Take a risk

Emotional expression equals risk; it means you are putting yourself in the position of potential rejection. But meaningful conversations and relationships require such risk. So, take a chance and you will be rewarded (Brown, 2015).

14. Be optimistic

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Helen Keller

By focusing on the positive, you will find it easier to express yourself in a range of situations while enjoying the many wonders of life (Seligman, 2006).

15. Do some gardening

In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.

Alice Walker

Gardening is like art; there are endless lovely plants and flowers from which to express your creativity. And besides, who knows what you might find within yourself (Lumber et al., 2017)?

16. Practice mindfulness

Whether in the form of meditation, yoga, or breathing exercises, mindfulness has been found to promote optimism, happiness, positive emotional states, and self-acceptance (Amutio et al., 2015). Each of these outcomes aids in the promotion of emotional expression.

Are there universal expressions of emotion? – Sophie Zadeh

Feelings or emotions are the universal language and are to be honored. They are the authentic expression of who you are in your deepest place.

Judith Wright

Keeping things in is indeed a bad idea. While this notion makes intuitive sense, it is also supported by research. Here are 13 notable examples:

• Women who suppressed emotions during an experimental study were found to have increased blood pressure (Butler et al., 2003).
• In a study of emotion regulation , those who suppressed their feelings experienced less positive and more negative emotions (Gross & John, 2003).
• In a study in which participants either expressed or suppressed emotions following a disgusting film, those who suppressed their feelings experienced relatively increased cardiovascular activation (Roberts, Levenson, & Gross, 2008).
• In a 12-year prospective study, emotional suppression was related to a significantly greater risk of both cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality (Chapman, Fiscella, Kawachi, Duberstein, & Muennig, 2013).
• In a comprehensive meta-analysis by Chervonsky and Hunt (2017), emotion suppression was related to poorer relationship quality , lower social satisfaction , lower social support , more negative first impressions , and lower social wellbeing .
• In a preliminary study, adult male participants who suppressed their emotions after watching a distressing film clip experienced greater distress and increased heart rate (Tull, Jakupcak, & Roemer, 2010).
• In a study comparing individuals diagnosed with major depression versus healthy controls, suppression of both negative and positive emotions was associated with increased depressive symptoms among depressed individuals (Beblo et al., 2012).
• Campbell-Sills, Barlow, Brown, and Hofmann (2006) found that emotion suppression after watching an emotion-provoking film was related to increased negative emotions among individuals suffering from anxiety and mood disorders.
• In an experiment in which participants gave a speech in front of a camera, those who suppressed their emotions experienced more anxiety and increased heart rate (Hofmann, Heering, Sawyer, & Asnaani, 2009).
• Quartana and Burns (2007) conducted a study in which participants experienced a mental arithmetic task with or without harassment followed by a cold-presser experience (i.e., dipping a person’s hand in very cold water). Those in the suppression group reported greater pain levels .
• In their review of the aggression and emotion regulation literature , Roberton, Daffern, and Bucks (2012) reported that under-regulation of emotion was associated with an increased probability of aggression .
• In an investigation using a daily diary method to assess positive and negative mood, those who suppressed their emotions experienced higher negative affect and lower positive affect (Brockman, Ciarrochi, Parker, & Kashdan, 2016).
• In a study comparing clinically depressed, formerly depressed, and never-depressed participants, all groups were presented with an affective priming task. Among the formerly depressed group, emotion suppression was related to increased depressive symptoms (Joormann & Gotlib, 2010).

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Wherever the soul is in need, art presents itself as a resourceful healer.

McNiff, 2004, p. 5

Art therapy is often used by mental health practitioners to deal with a range of issues such as coping with trauma, addiction, learning disabilities, and other medical and psychological problems (Malchiodi, 2012).

The general population may also enjoy many mental health benefits, including emotional expression, from engaging in writing, as well as other artistic endeavors. Five ways of using creativity to express oneself are presented below.

Regardless of your skills, writing is an effective way to express emotions and communicate with others. For example, in a study by Barclay and Skarlicki (2009), participants were placed in one of the following four groups:

• Writing about emotions
• Writing about thoughts
• Writing about emotions and thoughts regarding an injustice
• Writing about a trivial topic

Those who wrote about their emotions and thoughts were higher in terms of psychological wellbeing and personal resolution than the other groups (Barclay & Skarlicki, 2009).

Similarly, writing about traumatic events has been associated with greater physical and psychological outcomes among both clinical and non-clinical samples (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005). Along these lines, creating narratives about emotional situations has been linked with a variety of positive psychological outcomes  (Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2009).

Whether you prefer journaling, storytelling, or some other type of writing, go for it – it is bound to make you feel better.

Drawing is another fun and easy way to express emotions and embrace happiness. Not surprisingly, research has found that drawing to either express positive emotions or vent stress is related to enhanced mood  (Smolarski, Leone, & Robbins, 2015).

Handling clay is another enjoyable activity that has been associated with enhanced mood  (Kimport & Robbins, 2012). Often used as a tool in art therapy, clay handling is associated with many positive therapeutic outcomes such as enhanced emotional expression , verbal communication , and catharsis  (Sholt & Gavron, 2006).

4. Collages

You may recall gathering magazines and using glue to put together collages during elementary school. However, this fun activity is not just for kids. Indeed, creating collages is a terrific way for people of all ages to express feelings that are difficult to convey verbally (Buchalter, 2011).

Moreover, this activity has been associated with enhanced problem-solving and decision-making skills , communication , and socialization  among seniors (Buchalter, 2011).

5. Mandalas

Mandalas are beautiful geometric shapes that may be drawn or colored to promote a sense of calm. Mandalas were first used as a therapeutic tool by Carl Jung (Henderson, Rosen, & Mascaro, 2007) and have since been used by therapists and laypeople alike.

The benefits of creating mandalas are supported by research. For example, drawing mandalas has been related to decreases in trauma-related symptoms among individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (Henderson et al., 2007).

World’s Largest Positive Psychology Resource

The Positive Psychology Toolkit© is a groundbreaking practitioner resource containing over 500 science-based exercises , activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments created by experts using the latest positive psychology research.

Updated monthly. 100% Science-based.

“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

Effective communication is the cornerstone of healthy relationships.

Nonetheless, sometimes individuals need a little help letting their feelings out. Here are eight research-supported ways in which relationships may be improved through the healthy expression of emotions:

1. Mindfulness

For example, Carson, Carson, Gil, and Baucom (2004) conducted a mindfulness meditation retreat with healthy couples. They found that mindfulness was related to a whole host of long-term positive outcomes such as greater closeness , acceptance of each other , optimism , relaxation , relatedness , and relationship happiness .

Given these findings, couples in either healthy or challenging relationships may well benefit from the use of mindfulness techniques as a way to foster emotional connectedness, expression, and overall relationship satisfaction.

2. Expression of negative emotions

All types of relationships inevitably require the expression of negative emotions. When feelings of resentment, frustration, anger, and disappointment are suppressed, they may explode later and cause great damage to relationships.

For example, Graham, Huang, Clark, and Helgeson (2008) looked at the effects of the expression of negative emotions on relationship outcomes among college students. They reported that negative emotional expression was related to greater intimacy , the formation of more relationships , and increased support .

Of course, expressing negative emotions may be hurtful if done thoughtlessly. Therefore, whether relationships are among intimate partners, friendships, or coworkers, take a deep breath before expressing negative feelings and communicate them with tact, empathy, and sensitivity.

3. Use positive psychology activities

O’Connell, O’Shea, and Gallagher (2017) used a longitudinal design to explore the impact of positive psychology activities on relationship satisfaction. More specifically, participants were assigned to a relationship-focused gratitude activity , a relationship-focused kindness activity, a self-focused activity, or a control condition.

Both of the relationship-focused activities were related to significant improvements in relationship satisfaction . By expressing kindness (e.g., giving a compliment, doing a favor, giving a thoughtful gift) or gratitude (e.g., giving praise or thanking someone), the quality of various types of relationships is likely to be improved.

4. Try the Gottman methods

John Gottman and Julie Gottman (2008) have created a range of relationship-enhancing methods that, over three decades of research, have been associated with numerous positive relationship outcomes (Gottman & Gottman, 2008). Here are five of their proven strategies:

• Build love maps. This involves showing an active interest in a partner’s feelings and needs. The Gottmans suggest using a ‘Love Map Card Deck’ to help express difficult emotions such as confusion and frustration.
• Build a culture of appreciation. Sometimes individuals feel gratitude for their partner, but forget to say so. This approach involves actively showing appreciation for one’s partner by thanking them, which Gottman describes as “cultivating a positive habit of mind” (Gottman & Gottman, 2008, p. 153).
• Turn toward bids. The Gottmans describe bids as “verbal or nonverbal requests for connection” (Gottman & Gottman, 2008, p. 153). This basically involves building an emotional bank account by asking one’s partner what they need and responding positively.
• Emotion coaching. This involves taking a partner’s ‘emotional temperature’ by checking in to see how they are doing.
• Building positive affect. The Gottmans believe that building positive feelings in relationships promotes intimacy and positive feelings. They suggest prioritizing a number of ‘ positive affect systems ’ into relationships to promote humor, curiosity, play, comfort, and curiosity.

17 Exercises To Develop Emotional Intelligence

These 17 Emotional Intelligence Exercises [PDF] will help others strengthen their relationships, lower stress, and enhance their wellbeing through improved EQ.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

At PositivePsychology.com, we offer various useful tools aimed at expressing healthy emotions; here are two examples:

1. Fostering Empathy Reflectively

This tool is designed for social workers but can be a great way to help clients develop the skill of reading each other’s emotional expressions. It involves a few activities and reflection prompts, for example:

• Watch an emotional scene in a film or drama between two to four characters.
• Now, reflect on how the characters behaved and the feelings they may have experienced.
• Write down how you think each character felt.
• Write down what you think motivated each character.

This exercise fosters empathy and understanding, which ultimately promote stronger relationships.

2. Emotional Expression Checklist

This tool is designed to promote adaptive emotional expression by helping clients reflect on their context before they express how they feel.

Clients are invited to consider their intended outcomes, the potential impact of expressing themselves on the other person, and how their intentions align with their values.

3. 17 Emotional Intelligence Exercises

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop emotional intelligence, this collection contains 17 validated EI tools for practitioners. Use them to help others understand and use their emotions to their advantage.

Gandhi believed that

“happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Gandhi understood the importance of emotional expression. Consistent with his teachings, the ability to express how we feel is associated with numerous physical, emotional, and psychological benefits.

Therefore, if you find yourself feeling pent up, there is good reason to let those feelings out in a healthy way. And in doing so, you are sure to experience enhanced relationships, serenity, and contentment.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free .

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What our readers think.

I endured 30+ years of trauma. I was not permitted to express tears, whimpers, could say nothing about the trauma, etc. Today, I so need to express myself about the feelings of my past and yet, I can’t do it. I am too frightened to let it out and to be vulnerable to another person. What do I do? I have done the drawing and writing.

I’m truly sorry for what you’ve been through. It’s brave to seek ways to express and heal.

When you’re ready, a therapist specialized in trauma can provide a safe space for gradual healing, using methods like CBT or EMDR to help you navigate your journey at your own pace. You can find a directory of licensed therapists here , with an option to adjust the search based on your location.

Remember, healing takes time, and it’s okay to go slow.

Warm regards, Julia | Community Manager

I’ve been trying to find ways to communicate on family issues and have found vital scientific based information to proceed. 🙏

BRILLIANT!!!! WHAT AN AMAZING RESOURCE. THANK YOU

I’ve always found difficulty expressing my thoughts and feelings to others. I can’t seem to carry a conversation and focus on a subject without having to drift into a maze and eventually losing sight of the subject discussion…Frustrating!!!…I hope to improve after reading these tips.

Wonderful article!! Thank you!

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English Study Helper

Tried-and-True Ways to Express Yourself Better in English Writing

Sharing is caring!

Are you looking for tried-and-true ways to express yourself better in English writing? Look no further; you are in the right spot!

I’ll share my experience of developing my English writing skills from scratch to becoming a published author, even reaching bestseller status.

Some of these tips might work for you, while others may not, but the best way to find out is to give them a try.

Keep reading to discover my proven methods for expressing yourself more effectively in English writing.

Table of Contents

Express Yourself in Writing

I will begin with some thoughts on self-expression in general and then focus on its importance in the specific context of learning English and improving your writing.

The significance arises from the fact that by developing your writing skills, you enhance your overall proficiency in English.

Self-expression in writing is a powerful means of conveying thoughts, emotions, and ideas.

It serves as a gateway to share your unique perspective with the world.

Writing on paper engages our minds uniquely, and it has a significant impact.

When you express yourself better through writing, you’ll find it easier to communicate, which can improve your relationships as you share your thoughts more openly.

In this discussion, we will explore the significance of honing your writing skills as a crucial tool for achieving effective self-expression.

Improving your English writing skills involves mastering grammar and vocabulary plus expressing yourself clearly and creatively.

To express yourself better in English writing, remember that practice is key.

The more you write, the more comfortable and proficient you’ll become.

Additionally, reading widely in English literature, non-fiction, and various writing styles will expand your understanding of language nuances and diverse expression techniques.

Furthermore, don’t be afraid to experiment with different writing tones and styles to find your unique voice.

Writing is a personal journey, and your voice is a reflection of your experiences and perspectives.

Whether you’re crafting persuasive essays, creative stories, or informative articles, the ability to express yourself effectively in English will empower you to connect with readers on a profound level, conveying your thoughts, feelings, and ideas with clarity and impact.

Practice Freewriting

It’s a straightforward approach.

How to do it?

Allocate a dedicated time to write without the constraint of a predefined topic or structure.

Instead, let your thoughts flow naturally onto the paper or screen, unburdened by rules or expectations.

This process of freewriting encourages you to tap into your authentic voice, allowing your thoughts and ideas to emerge genuinely and without inhibition.

When freewriting is a regular exercise, you give yourself the freedom to explore different writing styles, express your thoughts more spontaneously, and ultimately refine your ability to express yourself better in English writing.

 It’s a low-pressure, high-reward technique that can lead to significant improvements in your writing skills over time.

Let’s imagine a scenario when you are ready to give it a try. You’ve got your chosen topic, a comforting cup of Brazilian coffee or soothing Matcha tea, and a distraction-free, cozy environment.

But what more do you need to organize your thoughts and overcome the blank-page dilemma?

The good news is, there are plenty of creative ways to kickstart your writing.

Have you ever thought about creating colorful, inspirational posters yourself and using them as stylish wall decor?

Reading these posters for inspiration can help break through the insecurities and fears associated with writing.

It’s a unique approach that not only aids your writing but also adds a personalized touch to your space while saving on interior design costs!

What about another idea? You can Create a set of story cubes by drawing simple pictures on dice.

When you’re stuck for ideas, roll the dice and use the images that appear to inspire your writing.

These random prompts can lead to unexpected and imaginative storylines.

Thinking out of the box is a helpful practice to beat writer’s block and it has been one of the key tools I’ve used to advance in my writing career.

One of the tricks I have used was to change my writing environment.

Sometimes, a change of scenery can do wonders for your creativity.

Take your writing outdoors to a park, coffee shop, or even your backyard.

The new surroundings and fresh air can invigorate your mind and inspire new perspectives in your writing.

Another creative idea to fuel my writing inspiration was to create customized music playlists for specific writing moods or themes.

Different genres and songs can evoke various emotions and atmospheres, which can help you set the tone for your writing.

Whether it’s classical music for reflective pieces or energetic tunes for action scenes, the right playlist can be a powerful muse.

Would you like to hear one of the inspirational quotes I have displayed in my workspace?

Here it is:

“ The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

                                                                                                                Mark Twain

Why not try writing just one passage each day, and as you go, reread and make any necessary corrections?

Absolutely, why not give it a shot? Writing one small passage a day and reviewing and correcting it as you progress can be a great way to enhance your writing skills and productivity.

ADVICE: Find a quiet moment, grab your writing tools, and let your thoughts flow freely onto the page—it’s a simple yet effective way to practice and helps to express yourself better in English writing. Use the Thinking-out-of-the-box tool to beat writing blocks.

Write Regularly: Establish a Writing Routine

The more you write, the more you refine your skills and develop your unique voice.

The “ Write regularly ” principle was the key factor for improving my writing skills and finding my unique voice as a writer.

Creating a writing routine means setting aside dedicated time for writing on a regular basis.

Whether it’s daily, weekly, or some other schedule that works for you, consistency is key.

ADVICE: My personal recommendation is to write every day, even if it’s just for a short period of time, such as 15 minutes or half an hour.

What happens when you make writing a habit? What are the benefits for you?

Well, when you make writing a habit, several significant things happen, and as for the benefits, I’ll mention a few that I’ve personally gained from daily writing.

I improved my writing skills. I realized that w riting regularly is like exercising a muscle.

The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

Your writing skills, including grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure, gradually improve through consistent practice,

Helped me to find my Voice.

Why is this important?

Your unique voice emerges when you write regularly.

It’s the distinctive way you express yourself through words, shaped by your experiences and perspectives.

This voice sets you apart from others and makes your writing authentic and relatable.

Build my Confidence

As you accumulate a body of work through regular writing, you gain confidence in your abilities.

This newfound confidence often leads to more ambitious writing projects and a willingness to share your work with others.

Helped me to Overcome my Writer’s Block

Yes, regular writing can help combat writer’s block.

When you write consistently, you’re less likely to encounter periods of creative stagnation because writing becomes a habit rather than a sporadic effort.

As you can see the daily writing routine helps to express yourself better in English writing but to get the most out of your writing routine, it’s helpful to set specific goals.

Goal-setting adds structure to your routine and motivates you to meet your objectives

ADVICE: Set specific goals. These could be word count goals, writing a certain number of pages or chapters, or even completing a short story or essay within a defined timeframe. While the goal is to write regularly, it’s also essential to take time for reflection, revision, and improvement.

I will give an idea for daily writing that worked for me and might work for you too: start journaling ; either in the morning or at the end of the day.

What I like about journaling is the freedom of expression.

Daily journaling is a safe space where there are no right or wrong ways to write.

It’s a place where you can freely express your thoughts, feelings, and ideas without the fear of judgment or restrictions.

This freedom encourages you to explore your authentic voice.

It’s definitely worth giving it a try!

Whether you choose to journal in the morning or at the end of the day depends on your personal preferences and goals.

Both options have their advantages, and it’s essential to consider what works best for you:

Daily journaling enhances your English writing but also offers additional benefits. I’ve compiled a list of these extras.

Morning Journaling:

• Fresh Start: Writing in the morning allows you to start your day with a clean slate. It’s an opportunity to clear your mind, set intentions, and release any thoughts or worries that might be weighing you down.
• Creativity Boost: Morning journaling can stimulate your creativity. Your mind is often more relaxed and receptive to new ideas in the morning, making it an excellent time to explore creative writing or brainstorming.
• Goal Setting: You can use morning journaling to establish daily goals and priorities. Reflecting on what you want to accomplish can help you stay focused and organized throughout the day.
• Positive Mindset: Writing about gratitude, affirmations, or positive experiences from the previous day can set a positive tone for your day ahead.

End-of-Day Journaling:

• Reflection: Journaling at the end of the day allows you to reflect on your experiences and accomplishments. It’s a valuable practice for self-assessment and personal growth.
• Closure: Writing about your day’s events can provide closure and help you process any challenges or emotions you’ve encountered. It can be therapeutic and aid in stress reduction.
• Planning Ahead: You can use this time to plan for the next day. Reviewing your tasks, setting priorities, and jotting down any insights or lessons learned can enhance your productivity.

My rules : Done is better than perfect!

                   Anything is better than nothing

ADVICE: The best time for journaling is the time that suits your lifestyle and helps you achieve your goals. You might even experiment with both morning and evening journaling to see which works better for you. The key is to make journaling a consistent practice, as it can have numerous benefits for self-reflection and to express yourself better in English writing.

Express Yourself Better in English Writing by Experimenting with Different Genres

Explore different writing genres, such as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or creative essays.

Each genre offers a chance to develop various writing skills.

Exploring different writing genres is an exciting journey that can significantly enhance your writing skills and creativity.

 It’s like trying on different hats; each genre offers a unique experience and challenges you in distinct ways.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to experiment with various writing genres, along with examples and advice for each:

• Step 1: Begin with short stories or flash fiction. These formats allow you to practice storytelling in a concise manner.

Advice: Focus on developing compelling characters, setting the scene, and crafting a clear plot. For example, you might write a short story about a character facing a moral dilemma and explore their decision-making process.

• Step 2: Move on to writing essays, both personal and informative. Essays encourage structured thinking and persuasive writing .

Advice: Choose topics you’re passionate about. In a personal essay, share personal experiences or opinions, while in an informative essay, research your subject thoroughly. For instance, you could write a personal essay about a significant life event or an informative essay on climate change.

• Step 3: Venture into longer fiction pieces, such as novellas or novels. Fiction challenges your ability to create immersive worlds and complex characters.

Advice: Develop a detailed plot outline and engage readers with well-rounded characters. For example, try your hand at writing a novella with a mystery theme, where the protagonist must unravel a compelling puzzle.

• Step 4: Dive into the world of research papers. This genre requires thorough research, critical analysis, and proper citation.

Advice: Select a research topic that genuinely interests you and gather information from reputable sources. Aim to present a well-structured argument or findings. For instance, you could write a research paper on the impact of technology on society.

• Step 5: Take on the challenge of academic papers, such as those required in higher education. These papers demand rigorous research and adherence to academic conventions.

Advice: Follow the guidelines of your academic institution closely and maintain a scholarly tone. Back your arguments with credible sources and citations. For example, you might write an academic paper on the political philosophies of Enlightenment thinkers.

HEADS UP! While experimenting with different genres, it’s normal to encounter difficulties. Each genre has its conventions, and you may face writer’s block or self-doubt. However, persistence is key to growth. As you explore various genres, you’ll not only improve your writing skills but also discover which style resonates with you the most.

Harness the Power of Dialogues

One of the tools that helped me develop my writing skills and express myself better in English writing was the practice of writing dialogues.

Why is this activity so beneficial?

Dialogues breathe life into your narratives, providing a dynamic means of character expression, plot advancement, and reader engagement.

Through well-crafted conversations, you can not only reveal the depths of your characters’ personalities but also inject authenticity into your storytelling.

Dialogues allow for the exploration of subtext, conflict, and unspoken emotions, creating layers of complexity that captivate readers.

Whether conveying crucial information, advancing the plot, or simply adding variety to your prose, dialogues are a versatile tool that can elevate the impact of your writing, making it more relatable and resonant with your readers.

Here are some tips on how to write dialogues to express yourself better in English writing:

Listen to Real Conversations: Pay attention to how people talk in real life. Eavesdrop on conversations, observe the nuances of speech and note the cadence and vocabulary used in everyday dialogues. This will help you capture authentic dialogue in your writing.

Character Voice: Each character should have a distinct voice. Consider their background, personality, and experiences when crafting their dialogue. A character’s speech should reflect who they are, helping readers connect with them.

Subtext and Conflict: Effective dialogues often have an underlying layer of tension or unspoken meaning. Characters may not always say what they mean directly. Use subtext to create intrigue and depth in your conversations.

Keep it Concise: In real life, people often speak in shorter sentences and phrases. Avoid long, convoluted monologues in dialogues. Conciseness can make your writing more engaging and true to life.

Show, Don’t Tell: Instead of narrating information, let characters reveal it through their interactions. Show emotions, relationships, and conflicts through dialogue and actions rather than explicit statements.

Use Tags Sparingly: Dialogue tags like “he said” or “she exclaimed” are necessary for clarity, but avoid overusing them. In many cases, the context or the character’s actions can indicate who is speaking.

Punctuation Matters: Proper punctuation is crucial in dialogues. Use quotation marks to enclose spoken words and employ punctuation marks like commas, periods, and question marks correctly. These nuances affect the flow and meaning of the conversation.

Read Aloud: After writing a dialogue, read it aloud to yourself. This will help you identify awkward or unnatural-sounding lines and make necessary revisions for smoother speech patterns.

Avoid Info Dumping: Resist the temptation to convey large chunks of information through dialogue. It can come across as forced and unnatural. Instead, sprinkle important details throughout your narrative.

Edit and Revise: Like any other part of your writing, dialogues require editing and revision. Be critical of your dialogue’s relevance, authenticity, and impact on the story.

Practice: Writing effective dialogues is a skill that improves with practice. Experiment with different scenarios, characters, and emotions in your dialogues to refine your ability to express yourself through conversation.

ADVICE : To express yourself more effectively in English writing, one of my tried-and-true techniques is to harness the power of dialogue. Dialogues are not just tools for conveying information; they are opportunities to deepen characterization, create tension, and engage your readers.

Immerse Yourself in Reading

Read a wide variety of books, articles, and essays across different genres and styles.

Exposure to diverse writing helps you absorb various writing techniques and expand your vocabulary.

To make the most of this practice, consider diversifying your reading list.

Explore classic literature, contemporary fiction, non-fiction, academic papers, and even different cultural perspectives.

Challenge yourself to step outside your comfort zone and engage with genres you may not have explored before.

Reading expands your vocabulary in ways that other language-learning methods cannot replicate.

You encounter new words, idiomatic expressions, and grammatical structures that enrich your language skills.

A broad vocabulary not only allows you to articulate your thoughts with precision but also empowers you to experiment with language, thereby making your writing more dynamic and engaging.

Furthermore, reading provides a unique window into the intricacies of storytelling and narrative techniques.

As you immerse yourself in fiction, you observe how authors construct characters, settings, and plots to create compelling narratives.

This exposure helps you develop your storytelling abilities and harness the power of narrative techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and character development in your own writing.

In addition to honing your writing skills, reading enhances critical thinking .

You learn to analyze and evaluate arguments, spot logical fallacies, and develop a discerning eye for quality writing.

These critical thinking skills not only benefit your reading comprehension but also empower you to craft more persuasive and well-structured written arguments .

Are you still with me? Thank you for staying this far. Let’s take a short break and check out my new bestseller.

TRAVEL GUIDE Survival Handbook for Effective Communication: Confident Conversations Abroad: Expert Tips to Reduce Anxiety, Stay Safe, Save Money

Enhance English Writing Through Celebrity Speeches and Talk Shows

Why not craft a speech that emulates the style and impact of notable speakers like Oprah Winfrey, or Steve Jobs?

An effective approach to improving your writing skills is to analyze speeches delivered by celebrities or renowned political figures while keeping a close eye on the literary devices they employ.

Take note of how these devices contribute to evoking specific emotions in their audience.

However, it’s crucial to emphasize that imitation should be solely for the purpose of training.

Plagiarism, including copying exact phrases or statements, must be strictly avoided.

Another valuable resource is talk shows, and particularly TED talks .

These platforms cover a wide range of topics, often eliciting strong emotional responses from the audience.

When studying these presentations, pay close attention to the speaker’s style and technique.

Analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of their speeches, pinpointing the elements that contributed to their success and identifying aspects they might have handled differently.

Conclusion: Tried-and-True Ways to Express Yourself Better in English Writing

I hope 2this article has provided valuable insights and tried-and-true ways to express yourself better in English writing.

I’ve shared some of my strategies during my journey from starting with no English writing skills to achieving the status of a published author, including reaching bestseller status.

Keep in mind that not all of these tips may suit your writing style, but the only way to truly discover their effectiveness is by putting them into practice.

To sum it up, here’s what we’ve learned in this article:

• Try freewriting – journal in the morning or before bed.
• Write regularly by setting a routine.
• Experiment with different writing styles and genres.
• Use the power of dialogue in your writing.
• Dive into reading to improve your English writing.
• Gain insights from celebrity speeches and talk shows.

The name of the game is consistency!

Remember, being consistent doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. It means making progress every day, and that’s how you achieve success. You’ve got this!

My rules: Done is better than perfect!

I hope my post was helpful, and my tips will aid you in expressing yourself better in English writing.

Thanks for reading.

Magdalena Kolarova is a linguist, educator, bestselling author, publisher, and the founder of the website English Study Helper. This website provides strategies and tips on how to learn English faster and more effectively. She lives in Toronto. Her passion is empowering people to reach their full potential.

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10 Steps to Express Yourself Better in Writing

by Guest Blogger | 18 comments

Good writers are able to fully express themselves with words.

But with so much flowing through the chambers of your mind, it is not easy to concisely find just the right words to express yourself, your idea, and your emotions.  What phrases convey exactly what you're thinking? How do you express yourself while keeping your reader following a logical description, dialogue or argument?

Even the briefest of outlines can help organize a thought process. Construction of a paragraph is worth studying.

When you're writing an essay , for example, your topic sentence needs to lead a reader into a place, followed with supporting details or explanations.

Once it is done, move on. Going into too much depth or unnecessary detail will lose a reader, or bore them, or sound redundant.

2. Write like you talk

Some writers feel the best way to get their ideas on paper is to start with an oral representation.

You might try to dictate or narrate into a recording device or software program like Dragon  to hear what you are saying and then proceed to write or have the software do it for you.

What you produce will still require your editing and proofreading, but it will help you find a language tone that is suitable for your audience.

3. Mind your tone

Your words express who you are, your character and personality. Never has this been more true than today when so much of our communication happens through writing, whether you're texting, posting on  Facebook , or writing an essay or a blog post.

Not only does your written work have to be pin-perfect in spelling and grammar, but it has to say something and leave the reader with an impression.

Ever had an email that you felt was yelling at you? Why was that? Could it have been the bold underlining and the excessive use of exclamation marks? Sometimes, additions like this are useful, and create a sense of urgency, but likewise, not using the right tone can leave your message flat and unimpressive.

Find a tone that works for the message or information you are trying to convey and test it out orally, or in print on someone objective, before publishing

4. Use Imagery

Whether you picture a place, a person or an object, your ability to describe it clearly has to transpire to your reader. Use a physical approach: describe a person top to bottom, an event in chronological order, and an object in a tactile or sensory way.

If you think your words will leave the reader with the same picture in their mind that you had in yours to begin with, you have succeeded!

5. Write Dialogue

When you write dialogue dialogue, use simple language, and keep your sentences concise, but with a peppering of emotion.

6. Share inner thoughts and voices

Sometimes the best way to express yourself is through feelings rather than concrete ideas. Novelists have an ability to take what a character is thinking and use it to further develop them and their actions.

7. Answer questions

If you can put yourself in the position of the reader, perhaps you will find that what you're writing poses certain questions. Explaining and describing the necessary information will engage your reader. However, take care to not extend beyond the concise and relevant details.

8. Change Perspectives

Often your thoughts can be developed with better with a change in perspective. Say you’re writing about… home organization. Don’t just think of yourself as the harried housewife with too much clutter, but perhaps the busy executive who walks in the door and adds to the mess every day.

Or… if you are writing about losing weight through a gluten free diet, perhaps you could consider that packaged and ready foods are marketed poorly for people with this need. Step inside the viewpoint of another to express thoughts you perhaps hadn’t explored.

9. Practice

Perhaps in high school, you might recall studying précis writing in your English classes. There is a skill to being able to take a lengthy text and rewriting it down to a concise shorter piece.

To get really good at writing with brevity, use articles from a newspaper, or content from websites to practice the art of taking lengthy pieces and finding more concise language to still convey the same message.

Use synonyms. Take out overly technical language. Use stronger words that have better meanings than lengthy phrases or descriptions. Combine thoughts into one sentence. Learn how to use the semi-colon .

10. Edit, edit … and edit again

This is nothing new. Writers review what they have written all the time. Some walk away from their work and return to it after a time lapse, to look at it with somewhat of a fresh approach. Others hand it over to a second party which can give an objective review. Regardless of the method, rarely is something publishable shortly after it is written. Writing is a craft, and craftsmanship takes time and precision to develop.

Expressing yourself in the written form is not easy. Even the greatest writers past and present have their frustrations. Learning to understand that writing is a process, always changing and moving, a living thing is some ways, is to understand that it is the form of communication that represents us when we are not there to be ourselves. Find the right words until less is more becomes your mantra.

How about you? How do you express yourself in writing?  Share in the comments section .

Find a piece you wrote months ago. Don’t worry what it was for, but choose one with some length to it. Use the various techniques above to review the piece again.

• Try reading it aloud. Does it “talk” the way people do?
• Assess its tone. Is it too harsh, or not persuasive enough?
• Close your eyes. Can you visualize the details in the way you need them to become visualized?
• Are the thoughts deep enough? Little voices in the head are worth putting into your words.
• Try cutting it down by a third. This will help you learn what is really key and essential.
• Finally… answer questions. Think of all the questions the reader could have at the end of the piece, and ensure each one leads to a degree of satisfaction.

When you're finished, share a bit about your experience in the comments section . How'd it go?

Guest Blogger

This article is by a guest blogger. Would you like to write for The Write Practice? Check out our guest post guidelines .

18 Comments

I am not inspired. I don’t want to write like I speak. Creative people are all different so there is no regimentation of how people write. Some need a plan and some don’t. Yes, writing has to say something and where do we find that. Pick up 1000 books and none of them say anything. The reason to write is to make money and not tell a story. So there is no story in most books. More people are writing more than ever, writing nothing.

Len, I am so so so sorry that you don;t think people write anything any more. I am sorry that you think that the only purpose to writing is to make money. I have read so many books that touched my soul, made me think, or make me take a stance on something. How do you have the ability to write if you have no passion for it?

I get the feeling you could write confrontational creative non-fiction with a fierce antagonistic tone. Mix it up with some outrage and disappointment, drop in a few drop-kick pollies and whisk on high speed with a splash of anti-mainstream journalism. Bake until the knife comes out clean, leave to cool then dribble some vanilla ‘letters to the editor’ icing on top. And you will have a decidedly delicious and vicious best seller. At least you’ll be writing about something! 🙂

And that creative tiger of yours will find its voice and have some sweet dessert and a full belly.

Food for thought perhaps? 😉

Regards Dawn

Jessica ‘s tips are some of the best advice I have seen on this or any writing site or blog. My pet peeve is how “writers ” in the comments section write as if they are texting friends. Sometimes the grammar and especially the punctuation is not professional. My feeling is that you should write your best whenever you post or comment. What do others believe about comments on blogs and writing sites? Thank you Jessica for the opportunity to “express” myself. @ http://www.BESTBOOKSBYBETH.COM

I try to comment using grammar and sentence structure. I type exactly what flows from my head into my fingers. I get that everyone is not the best typist. I am an awful speller. I am lucky if I get everything spelled right by the time I hit post.

I agree, Helaine, and sometimes my Kindle provides autospelling and I cannot get it to stop providing words I did not wish to type. Patience is needed when we write and revise. Best wishes in your writing for pleasure or profit.

Thank you! 😉

I took the first chapter of a new novella I have started on. Reading it out loud I was able to clear some fog, add more details about the protagonist’s external environment and develop the connection between the stormy weather and her inner turmoil.

I believe there will be a curiousity to know more about this character by the end of the chapter which will unfold through the story. However I was inclined to add some tell tale details to appease some possible questions for example: the state of her hair, the style and condition of her clothes, the music playing on the radio, the pile of dishes in the sink, the crumbs clinging to her feet from unswept floors etc.

By returning to this piece of writing with posted suggestions I managed to peel back the telling and glide in to the showing of the story with some ease.

Thanks for this as I probably wouldn’t have got back to this piece of writing for several months.

Regard Dawn

These are very good tips. However (1) in imagery, you can examine to add (insert) pictures to create mood, (2) add points how to retain reader’s attention. Thanks

I write the way I tell the story, so was pleased to see those two steps listed. I also read my stories aloud. Good article.

Me too!) Thank you!

This article was a nice reminder and I really related to number 1. I did great at school essays and I think it was because i planned it out. I’m going to try to take this perspective into my writing and see how it goes! Thanks alot!

I swiped my forehead at the precipitation gathering there. Good, no wind. Less chances of the ball flaying far.

Piper examined our filed formation before calling to the kicker. “Jake, are you ready?”

Jake yelled affirmative and took a running stance. Everyone followed.

Crouching, my feet muscles flexed, my eyes locked on to the ball.

Ka-bunk! The ball rose above the tree line. My heart thumped and dipped along with the ball.

“Catch it!!” I yelled. Holding my position as blood coursed through me, inducing me to run for it. To catch it. You can’t do everything, I thought reluctantly. You have to trust your friends!

The ball gave a thump as it landed in Alex’s arms. “YES!!” I jumped with my fist in the air. “Way to go, Alex!! WOHOO!!”

– This is a whole 22 words less from the first version. Makes me proud.

I struggle In writing my thoughts in exams. I do well in assignments and essays when I have time, however when it comes to exams I bottom out….

Even if I know my information from top to bottom and see the images in my head, when time is a factor, words escape me. It is so bad that I go from getting High Distinctions in my assignments to barely passing my exams, I need help but have no idea who or where to turn to.

kind regards,o

Kim, writing for exams doesn’t have to be scary. First, read the prompt (more than once) and make sure that you understand exactly what they want. Then, complete a graphic organizer–organization is a huge factor in exam grades and a web, t-chart, or outline will help you organize your essay. Don’t forget your development–examples or quotes from the text (depending on the prompt) and how the example/text supports your thesis. Practice writing this way–we call it a “0-draft” (or original draft) and know that it will not be perfect. Good luck!

Good… first what u need to do is think precise…..if u cant able to express urself properly then u should memorize some words or phrases in order to achieve good grades

Thank you so much for sharing these 10 steps! I am sure they will help me to improve my writing skills. By the way, you should check out this free plagiarism checker . This tool is great for writers and bloggers.

Thank you so much for sharing these amazing writing tips! I am so happy I’ve found them here! They will help me to become a better writer. check for plagiarism

I’m getting out of preparation swamp and its tough but my hip waders are keeping me dry with all the muck as i’m watching out for the gators and snakes.

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How to Write a Speech About Yourself

Speeches may be used as spoken communication tools to engage, convey, and inspire your target listeners with your tales, discoveries, and other knowledge. Composing your speech in a customized style may set you apart from the crowd and motivate your audience easily.  There are certain tactics you may adopt to improve the efficacy of your speech, whether it is at a business meeting or a product release. Thus, keep on reading to learn how to write a speech about yourself that your audience would want to listen to. 

What is a Speech About Yourself?

A speech about yourself is also known as an introduction speech. It is a type of oral communication that enables you to present yourself to others in various circumstances. Experts in a variety of sectors utilize inaugural speeches for a variety of purposes, including presenting themselves to a new colleague or delivering a corporate presentation in the presence of departmental bosses.

A successful opening speech may illustrate who you are and describe your narrative. As a result, it helps your audience to connect with you on a more personal level. Besides, introductory speeches about oneself often aid in engaging the audience while establishing credibility.

Moreover, some of the essential benefits of writing a good speech about yourself are:

• Helps you gain the attention of your audience.
• Arouses interest of your audience
• Helps in building credibility and relevance between the speaker and the audience
• Allows share a tale on a personal level

How to Write a Speech About Yourself in 2023

Although preparing a speech about yourself may not seem to be a difficult job, there are a variety of challenges that you may encounter. Therefore, we recommend that you should at least have some effective writing tips and techniques.  If you are unsure about how to write a speech about yourself, follow the instructions below and you will be able to construct a fantastic speech irrespective of your lack of expertise or a strict deadline. 

Step 1: Gather Data

The first step in learning how to write a speech about yourself is to start gathering relevant data. Find out everything you can about where, to whom, and under what conditions you will need to deliver a speech about yourself.

For instance, find out the date and hour of the performance of your speech. Then, look for the location including the conference room or hall. Besides that, do not forget to check the existence of a microphone to make sure it is working properly. In addition to everything, you will also need to know who the target audience is.

Step 2: Make a Plan or Outline

When crafting an opening speech about yourself, preparation is essential. As an illustration, we will provide you with a whole speech outline that concentrates on your own accomplishments not only at work but also at school, college, and university. Moreover, the subject of your speech will vary based on the situation. However, the fundamental structure remains unchanged. 

Introduction

Basically, the introduction of your speech about yourself contains any important information about your own self. This contains your entire name, profession, area of expertise, and, if applicable, college or university. Besides, you can use a hook to attract your audience’s interest in what you are saying.

The body of your speech is the main part of your speech and it is used to inform your listener. If the objective is to convince and display oneself in a positive way through personal accomplishments, the body of your speech should be as simple as feasible. You can begin by discussing the followings:

• Personal accomplishments and experiences
• Professional work experience, work history, and professional accomplishments
• Activism, community service, and charitable donations
• Your academic credentials
• Information about your talents, interests, and any more languages you may know

The last part of your speech should be the conclusion. Here you can choose to write about your future goals, desires, and aspirations.

With that being said, we hope that you have learned what you should include in your speech. Thus, continue reading to learn more about how to write a speech about yourself.

Step 3: Start with an Introduction

Write the beginning section of your speech in a way that grabs your audience’s interest and makes them want to hear more about what you have to say. This step is critical to ensuring that your audience does not become distracted while listening to your speech. 

To create an effective beginning, consider the topic’s relevancy for your audience. Then, instantly inform them of the value or advantages they will receive after listening to your speech. Because all kinds of verbal communication involve a beginning to attract the interest of the audience. Thus, you might begin with an opening line like the following below.

“My grandmother always taught me that stories had the ability to influence masses easily. And I intended to change the world. Thus, I began writing and eventually turned it into a career. I believe my tale can also inspire you and everyone.”

How to Write an Excellent Story – Story Writing From Introduction to Conclusion

Step 4: address the subject of your speech.

After you have successfully captured your audience’s attention and aroused their interest in the subject, it is the best time to discuss the major topic of your speech. In addition to that, also consider talking about the reason for writing and delivering your speech. 

For instance, if you are making an inaugural speech to your staff about business lessons you have learned up until now in your career. Thus, the first thing you do is pick the main issue or subject you want to develop your narrative around. 

Then, consider which components of your work experience you want to offer that will add value and have a good impact on your audience. So, here is an illustration:

“Throughout my early undergrad days, my teachers used to quiz my knowledge and skills by providing me with hard and tough tasks or assignments. Those experiences assisted me in developing critical problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Currently, I employ these essential skills in my work life. Moreover, I have learned that to boost my  chances of overcoming problems and reaching my goals in the business sphere, I approach them with a positive attitude and mentality.”

Step 5: Relat Your Tale to Your Audience

Adding trustworthiness to your speech is an important component of the speech-writing process. Thus, maintain your tone in accordance with your audience’s comprehension by providing relevance. Moreover, establishing oneself as a leader, might assist to communicate positively, pleasantly, and humbly.

As a result, y our audience will respond more positively if your speech is upbeat and optimistic about the future. With that being said, you can use the following example while speaking to your coworkers at a software design training conference:

“I was concerned about my future prior to actually starting my job as a software developer and analyst. I lacked the passion and understanding required to create good software and services. This understanding motivated me to enhance my professional skills. However, I  was determined to educate myself on new talents and abilities. Besides, that perseverance may be seen in all of us here now.”

Step 6: Add Some Relevant Examples

Including case studies in your story might assist to enhance your speech and make it more credible and convincing. People want to see evidence of everything you claim before they can trust and believe you. So, rather than simply presenting instances, it might be beneficial to show them proof.

Thus, consider writing and speaking interactively to allow your audience to participate in your experiences. Besides, you may also add photographs or proof in a PowerPoint presentation to give your message additional weight.

Assume you are the brand ambassador for your clothing line such as any sportswear and you are addressing the public at a fitness marathon.

You would want to share your experience as a marathoner and fitness enthusiast. Rather than telling your story, show photographs of you participating in a marathon or interviews you conducted after the marathon. It might aid in instilling faith and confidence in your tale.

Step 7: Check the Tone and Potential Errors

Once you have finished writing the full speech, review the tone, structure, and faults in your speech to verify that you are conveying your intended meaning as effectively and nicely as possible. 

This exercise also allows you to clean up any structural or grammatical flaws in your speech. Thus, make sure that you proofread and revise the content of your speech to ensure that your message is easily understood by your audience.

Moreover, use simple terms to ensure that your audience knows what you are attempting to express without becoming confused about your goal.

For instance, if you are addressing some freshly recruited employees in an IT business on the long-term advantages of a technical job, we recommend you focus on crafting your speech clearly. So, consider using less technical and scientific phrases to express the same point.

This is crucial to ensure that your audience can connect and participate in your speech.

Speech About Yourself Sample

Here is an example of an inaugural speech for a corporate convocation:

“Good day, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Ali, and I serve as a corporate consultant for a Digital learning business. As a kid, I would sit in a group of children and offer free mentorship services to children my age in order to inspire them for the future. Thinking back on my experience, I can conclude that such group mentoring sessions aided me in realizing my goal of encouraging others. It enabled me to perceive, trust in, and establish myself as a leader. Thus, now I deliver group counseling and consulting to organizations all over the world.

In the business world, consulting is a developing and important domain. I have seen firms develop and thrive with effective consulting. On the other hand, there are organizations that fail due to terrible consulting advice. Thus,  I sought to distinguish between the two by assisting businesses in expanding their footprint in both local and worldwide markets. Moreover, more than academic credentials, self-belief, conviction, and a genuine desire to see businesses flourish enabled me to excel in my industry. Now, I recognize myself in everyone who has come to this gathering.

I used to attend other people’s talks and wonder, ‘What might I gain from their personal experience?’ I know you are in the same situation currently. However, if I were to speak honestly, I would advise you to take my enthusiasm, patience, and tenacity from my narrative and apply it to your own. Since I envision you all in roles of leadership. I am convinced that I will shortly hear your success stories and perseverance. Thank you so much for coming to this event today and enabling me to tell you about my experience.”

You can read more about:

• How to Start a Welcome Speech in English with a Sample
• Freedom With Limitation is No Freedom – Debate/ Speech for Students
• How to Write a Debate Speech in English | Format, and Examples
• 10 Best Sites to Watch TV Series & Movies Online
• Top 10 Careers in Mathematics
• Best Welcome Speech in English For Sports Day at School or College
• Top 10 Tips for Time Management to Work Smarter, not Harder
• How to Write a Reflection Paper – Best Tips to Write a Reflection Paper
• Top 5 Best Assignment Writing Services

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Expressing Yourself: A Guide To Self-expression

Expressing yourself is such an important part of who you are, and it can be a healthy way to deal with stress . However, some types of self-expression may not be so great for your mental health . In this blog post, we will discuss what self-expression is and why it’s important for our mental well-being. We will also talk about the different types of expression and how they affect us differently. Then we will give useful tips on how to find healthy ways to express ourselves in all aspects of life (including at work).

• 1.1 What Self-Expression Is Not?
• 1.2 What Is The Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Self-expression?
• 1.3 What Constitutes Offensiveness?
• 2.1 The Two Main Types (Largely Used For Communication)
• 2.2 The Two Common Types (Based On Degree Of Expression)
• 2.3 The Other Types (Based On Intention Behind Communication)
• 3.1 Free Speech And Self Expression
• 3.2 Offensive Self-expression And Free Speech
• 3.3 Importance Of Free Speech
• 3.4 The Bottom Line
• 4 Expressing Yourself In The Era Of Social Media
• 5.1 Resources For Healthy Self-expression
• 6 Professionals’ View and Tips On Healthy Self-expression
• 7 Conclusion

What Is Self-expression?

Self-expression is often defined as how we communicate our emotions, thoughts, and beliefs to other people. It’s an important part of who you are, how you relate with others and it can affect your mental well-being greatly if done in a negative or unhealthy manner.

Self-expression is one of the primary ways we communicate with others. It’s how we share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the people around us. For some people, self-expression can be a very healthy way to deal with stress or difficult emotions. It can help us feel more connected to others and it can also make us feel more empowered.

However, for some people self-expression can also be a way to release anger or other negative emotions . If this is done in an uncontrolled or destructive manner it can lead to problems with our mental health. As, it can cause us to feel isolated from others, increase stress levels, and even lead to depression or anxiety .

What Self-Expression Is Not?

Self-expression is not the same as self-indulgence. It’s also different than selfishness, which involves only focusing on yourself without considering how your actions affect other people around you. Expressing who we are should take into account what happens to others because of our choices and behaviors; it can be part of helping them out or bringing them down.

Self-expression is not always healthy

Just because we can express ourselves, doesn’t mean that we should do it in every situation or in a way that’s harmful to us. There are times when it’s better to hold back and not say anything at all.

For example, if you’re feeling angry and you lash out at someone, that’s not healthy self-expression. It might feel good to get all of those angry feelings out at the moment, but it’s not going to help you or the other person in the long run.

In addition, some forms of self-expression can be considered offensive and may hurt others. For example, telling racist jokes or making lewd comments about another person’s body.

Offensive self-expression is not healthy and can lead to retaliation against you if the other person feels offended enough. This could result in a lawsuit for sexual harassment, getting fired from your job for creating a hostile work environment with offensive language, etc.

What Is The Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Self-expression?

There is a big difference between healthily expressing yourself and doing so in an unhealthy manner. Healthy self-expression comes from a place of authenticity and allows you to connect with others on a deeper level. It can be anything from talking openly about your feelings, writing poetry or songs that express what’s going on inside of you, painting, or dancing.

Unhealthy self-expression involves things like yelling or screaming, breaking things when you’re angry, hitting something to let out your aggression, etc. The unhealthy expression also includes acts of violence such as bullying and hurting others because it makes us feel better about ourselves in the short term but doesn’t help resolve our problems at all. It can also involve saying things that are hurtful or mean to others just to get a reaction.

What Constitutes Offensiveness?

This is a difficult subject because what one person finds offensive, another might not. However, there are some things that almost everyone would consider grossly inappropriate if they were ever said publicly or in the workplace:

• Calling someone by a certain derogatory name repeatedly (even though you think it’s funny). If the other person doesn’t like it, they will probably let you know.
• Making sexual comments about someone’s body parts or using profanity when talking to them directly (or in their presence).
• Joking about subjects that are sensitive for the other person such as race, religion, disabilities, etc. This doesn’t mean you can never joke around with your friends, but be aware of what might be offensive to them.

NOTE : Self-expression isn’t bullying or putting other people down through negative behavior such as making fun of someone else or using sarcasm to hurt someone’s feelings. It also isn’t trying to control or change the way others think or behave. If you’re not sure whether or not a certain type of self-expression is appropriate, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and avoid saying or doing anything that could potentially hurt someone else’s feelings.

Types Of Self Expression

There are several types of self-expression, and depending on the type you use can affect your well-being in different ways.

The Two Main Types (Largely Used For Communication)

Verbal self expression.

This type of expression is done through talking, whether it’s with friends, family, or a therapist . It can also be in the form of yelling or screaming and can be a healthy release of negative emotions, however, it’s important to make sure you’re not overdoing this type of self-expression as well.

Non-Verbal Self Expression

This is done through nonverbal communication such as facial expressions or body language. While some forms of nonverbal expression are acceptable in most situations (such as smiling), others (such as crossed arms) can be seen as defensive or unapproachable.

The Two Common Types (Based On Degree Of Expression)

There are many different types of self-expression, and they can be divided into two categories: expressive and defensive.

Expressive Self-expression

Expressive self-expression is when we communicate our thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a healthy way that allows us to connect with others. This type of expression can be used to form strong relationships with others and is generally seen as positive.

Defensive Self-expression

On the other hand, defensive self-expression is when we communicate our thoughts in a way that doesn’t allow for healthy communication or understanding of ourselves or others. This type of expression can lead to isolation from others due to unapproachable body language (such as crossed arms) or negative facial expressions. It can also lead to more stress and anxiety in our lives.

NOTE : While expressive self-expression is generally seen as positive, it’s important to remember that all types of self-expression should be used healthily. This means that if you’re using verbal expression to yell or scream at someone, it’s not healthy and you should find a different way to deal with your anger or stress.

The Other Types (Based On Intention Behind Communication)

Creative self expression.

This type of expression is often in the form of writing, art, or music. It can be a healthy way to express yourself and your emotions when done correctly. For instance, writing can help you to process and understand your thoughts and feelings better, while art can be a great way to express emotions that are difficult to put into words.

Intellectual Self Expression

This type of expression is found in the way that you communicate your opinions and thoughts to others. Sometimes it can be a good thing, but some people over-express their ideas which may alienate them from those around them as well as make another feel like they need to share similar beliefs.

Sexual Self Expression

This type of expression is often found in the form of sexual behavior and can be a normal part of expressing yourself sexually. However, if you’re acting out on your desires with others it could lead to negative consequences such as STIs or unwanted pregnancies which would not be considered healthy self-expression.

Emotional Self Expression

This type of expression is often found in the form of anger or sadness and can be healthy or unhealthy depending on how it’s expressed. For instance, crying or yelling when you’re feeling sad is a healthy way to express your emotions, but punching a wall or screaming at someone else is not.

Self-expression VS Free Speech

Free Speech And Self Expression

• Free speech is the right that allows us to express our thoughts and opinions without fear of persecution by government officials for not agreeing with them.
• Self-expression is a form of free speech because this type of expression allows us to communicate our thoughts and feelings without fear of persecution from others.

NOTE : Free speech is the right to express yourself freely without fear of retribution or punishment. It’s an important part of democracy and helps ensure that all voices are heard. Self-expression is not the same as free speech. Self-expression happens when you express your thoughts, feelings, and emotions to others.

Offensive Self-expression And Free Speech

We live in a society that values freedom of speech and the right to express ourselves however we see fit. But there is such thing as offensive self-expression. For example, if you dress in a way that is deliberately provocative just to get a reaction from others, or if you’re extremely vocal about your views even though you know they will offend people, then that would be considered offensive self-expression.

Importance Of Free Speech

Free speech is important because it helps ensure that all voices are heard. When we’re not allowed to express our thoughts and opinions, we can feel alienated and voiceless. This is especially true in a democracy, where free speech is essential for allowing all voices to be heard.

The Bottom Line

While there is no question that we have the right to express ourselves freely, it’s important to remember that not everyone is going to agree with what we have to say. Some people might find our views downright offensive. That’s why it’s so important to be respectful of others when we’re expressing ourselves and to think about how our words might affect them.

Expressing Yourself In The Era Of Social Media

It’s no secret that we live in a digital age where social media plays a huge role in our lives. With platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it’s easier than ever to share our thoughts and opinions with the world. But what does this mean for self-expression?

For one thing, it means that there are more opportunities than ever to express ourselves. But it also means that we need to be careful about what we share. The internet is a public space, and anything we post can be seen by anyone, including potential employers or future dates.

That’s why it’s important to think carefully about what we share online and to make sure that our posts reflect who we are as people. If we want to express ourselves in a way that’s respectful of others, then we should avoid posting anything that might be considered offensive.

Tips For Healthy Self-expression

Now that we know what self-expression is and some of the things that can make it unhealthy, let’s talk about how we can express ourselves in a way that benefits both us and those around us.

Start by evaluating your motives for wanting to express yourself

Are you doing it because you really need to get something off your chest, or are you just trying to be provocative or get a reaction from people? If it’s the latter, then you should probably reconsider.

Make sure that your words and actions are aligned

In other words, don’t say one thing and do another. If you’re feeling angry, appropriately express that anger (e.g., taking deep breaths, punching your pillow, getting up, and walking away).

Remember that not everyone is going to agree with you or like what you do

This doesn’t mean they are wrong; it just means that we see things differently sometimes (even if one of us thinks something is right while the other believes it’s wrong). Be respectful in your disagreements and try to understand where the other person is coming from.

If you’re in a position of authority

If you’re in a position of authority (like an employer or parent), make sure that your self-expression doesn’t impact those who are under you, even if it’s meant as humor . For example, “I don’t like when people come into work late; I’m going to start docking their pay” could be considered offensive by some employees.

Make appropriate use of “I” Statements

Use “I” statements instead of “you” statements when talking about how you feel. For example, “I feel really angry right now” is less likely to provoke a defensive reaction from someone than “You’re being so irrational.”

Resources For Healthy Self-expression

If you’re looking for more information on healthy self-expression, here are some resources to check out:

“The Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships” by Harriet Lerner

“The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity ” by Julia Cameron

“Counselor, The (2013)”

“The King’s Speech (2010) ”

“Breaking Bad Seasons #01-04; 05; 06; 07 [BluRay]” by Vince Gilligan

Organizations:

The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) – an organization dedicated to teaching people how to communicate in ways that foster cooperation and healthy relationships. You can learn more about the CNVC on their website.

NOTE : These resources on healthy self-expression can help you feel more supported and understood. They might also help you process your thoughts and feelings.

Professionals’ View and Tips On Healthy Self-expression

Several professionals have written about healthy self-expression, here are a few tips from them:

“Express yourself carefully and constructively, without hurting others. Don’t use your freedom of speech to criticize or condemn others.”

-Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Author)

“Take risks and dare to fail! For me, failure has been the biggest source of learning and growing as an artist. It doesn’t matter if you make a mistake, what matters is how we respond to the mistakes and problems that pop up in our lives.”

-Cindy Chupack (TV Writer & Producer)

“I think it’s important for all of us to express ourselves honestly with others. It doesn’t mean telling them everything; there are many things we keep private. But it does mean sharing what we’re feeling, thinking, and dreaming about as openly as possible.”

-Shane Koyczan (Poet)

“Find the courage to be imperfect. It is through our cracks and vulnerabilities that we connect with others and create meaningful relationships.”

-Brene Brown (Researcher & Author)

“Your voice matters. It’s what makes you unique and it has the power to change the world.”

-Malala Yousafzai (Activist & Nobel Laureate)

Self-expression is an essential part of what it means to be human. There is no right or wrong way to express yourself, as long as it’s healthy. So go ahead and get creative when expressing yourself! It can be helpful for both mental health and self-understanding in general.

It’s how we connect with ourselves and each other, which is why it’s so important that we do the best job possible expressing our authentic selves. Just be sure to take care of yourself and not cross the line into offensive territory.

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Therapy As Unique As Your Child

Speech & language therapy, speech, language & hearing screenings.

Express Yourself Speech Pathology Services, LLC offers individual therapy for the individual child. Every child is unique as is every therapy program.

Our speech and language services address a wide variety of delays and disorders.

We practice a team approach with parents, occupational and physical therapists, teachers, pediatricians, psychologists and other professionals, working together to ensure a cohesive therapy program for all of our young clients.

Express Yourself is known for the personal touch we provide to each of the children we work with. We go above and beyond what happens in a therapy session including school observations, parent education and resources, and correspondence with other therapists and teachers. We do what’s best for YOUR child and gauge his or her progress continuously with weekly communication and education with caregivers.

Happy Clients

“At the age of 6 months, my daughter was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.  We, as parents, had no idea what to expect, what we needed to do, or who to contact.  We were fortunate enough to have a lot of friends in the community who helped us find the right support for our daughter. With that support came Express Yourself Speech Therapists.  After speaking with  Traci Flome , my husband and I felt much more comfortable about what to expect and how to approach various support teams.

We have seen tremendous growth in our daughter’s speech that we fully attribute to the services we have been provided at Express Yourself.  The entire practice is not only full of extremely educated professionals, but also more like family members to us.  It has been truly amazing to watch our daughter grow in the care of these wonderful ladies and we couldn’t ask for any better support.” Nanci, parent of a three-year-old girl

“I am very impressed with Express Yourself. The therapists are so caring and committed and go out of their way to help my daughter. The therapists always go above and beyond what is expected. For example, they have sent me detailed and thorough suggestions in the mail and emailed me ideas of things that I could do at home that would help my daughter. One of their therapists offered to come with me to a school meeting for my daughter and also offered to speak to any of her teachers in her school. I also really appreciate the fact that everyone I have dealt with at Express Yourself is so organized and so responsive. Every time I email them or call them, I hear back from them very promptly. I am just so impressed with Express Yourself and have recommended them to a few of my friends. I will continue to recommend them whole heartedly!” Kim, parent of a six-year-old girl

Traci with Express Yourself Speech Pathology has been critical in our son’s development.

At age 2, he was barely speaking and clearly frustrated by it. With Traci’s expertise, guidance and patience, our son has made leaps and bounds with his speech and ability to communicate. He simply adores her and thinks their sessions are special play time, which translates to better cooperation and learning.  I believe that Traci’s ability to connect with her patients and her communication skills with parents are what sets her apart. She sends detailed reports of their session and gives us suggestions of what to focus on at home. Traci also includes my son’s preschool teachers in the communication (with our permission), allowing everyone around him to be on the same page and work together in his speech development.  Our family is so grateful for Traci and everything she has done and continues to do for our son. -J.B. Mom of a 3 year-old-boy

Express Yourself Speech Pathology Services offers a variety of programs to suit your child’s unique needs.

Speech, language and hearing screenings:  Members of the Express Yourself Team travel to various schools and daycare centers to conduct individual glimpses of your child’s skills to determine if further services are required. Coordination of the screenings takes place with the administrators and family to make this process as easy as possible for all parties.

Speech and language therapy:  We treat communication, oral-motor and feeding disorders.   Communication disorders are primarily characterized by receptive/expressive language disorders and articulation/speech disorders. Receptive language disorders impact a child’s ability to comprehend auditory information, and expressive language disorders impact a child’s ability to formulate thoughts into words. Articulation deficits refer to the ability to produce sounds and words fluently and intelligibly. Oral-motor skills refer to the ability to use and coordinate lips, tongue, teeth, and jaw movements for speech and feeding purposes. Feeding deficits include a person’s ability to chew and swallow food safely and effectively, as well as the ability to tolerate a wide variety of tastes, temperatures and textures of food.

Nurturing communication development in Irvine, Ca. and surrounding areas

Speech and Language Professionals

Hilary spannagel, m.a. ccc-slp.

Speech Pathology License #27923

ASHA Certified

At Express Yourself Therapy, we presume potential in all of our clients. We are passionate about helping children find their “voices.” Specifically, we believe in developing a functional communication system where a child can experience the power of their words thr

At Express Yourself Therapy, we presume potential in all of our clients. We are passionate about helping children find their “voices.” Specifically, we believe in developing a functional communication system where a child can experience the power of their words through verbalization, gesture, sign, and/or alternative and augmentative communication. We believe in “communication first” and enjoy working with children, from toddlers to adolescents of all abilities. 

PROMPT Level 2  Trained

LAMP Trained

We have experience with various populations that include early intervention, autism spectrum disorder, Developmental Apraxia of Speech, Down Syndrome, Angelman Syndrome, and various genetic disorders. 

Our areas of specialty are Speech Sound Disorders and Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). 

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Parent Education

Team Approach

Establishing a working relationship with family members and caregivers is a fundamental part of every treatment plan. We believe in a "team approach" when working with clients. We understand the importance of carryover at home  and make sure to keep parents involved and informed.

Teletherapy

Teletherapy allows us to meet through audio and video over the internet. We are very excited about this option because it means no waiting and travel time, and you won’t have to take time off work or other priorities. Plus, it’s 100% HIPAA compliant and secure.

Clinical services are based on the unique needs of each individual client, therefore telepractice may not be appropriate in all circumstances or for all clients. 

Candidacy for this service will be assessed prior to initiating services.

Our Therapy Services

Speech Sound Disorders

Augmentative and alternative communication (aac).

PROMPT Level 2 Trained

Articulation Disorder

Phonological Disorder

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Language Disorders

Receptive Language

Expressive Language

Pragmatic/Social Language

Early Intervention

LAMP trained

Complex Communication Needs

Speech Generating Devices

Low and Mid Tech AAC

Meet the owner

Hilary Spannagel, owner of Express Yourself Therapy, is an active member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, California Speech-Language-Hearing Association and holds a Speech-Language Pathology Services Credential in Language, Speech and Hearing issued by the State of California.  Hilary is a LAMP Words for Life Partner and Prompt Institute Member who has specialized training in PROMPT Therapy, levels 1 and 2, and LAMP Therapeutic Approach. She believes in “communication first” and is passionate about developing a functional communication system for her clients.

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Please contact us directly with any questions, comments, or scheduling inquiries you may have.   

Express Yourself Therapy

1929 Main Street Suite 103, 2nd Floor, Irvine, Ca 92614

Hilary Spannagel, M.A. CCC-SLP Speech Pathology License # 27923 ASHA Certified (949) 229-5709 Fax (855) 404-2429 Email [email protected]

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Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life

We must understand the philosophical foundations of the right to free speech to apply it to contemporary controversies.

Subscribe to the New Ideal podcast here .

Editor’s note: In May 2024, the Ayn Rand Institute Press released The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom , featuring four in-depth essays by Tara Smith previously published in law reviews, and one by Onkar Ghate previously published in New Ideal . The book includes one essay by Gregory Salmieri written exclusively for the book. Drawing on Ayn Rand’s theory of individual rights, Salmieri’s piece identifies the philosophical foundations of the right to free speech and applies the principle to a number of controversies about free speech today (regarding “cancel culture,” social media platforms, and public education). Because it offers such fundamental guidance for addressing crucial cultural and political questions, we are republishing a newly edited version of it here.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects freedom of speech from government interference, and much of the discussion of free speech in America revolves around this legal context. But there is a widespread view that to take advantage of these legal protections (and, indeed, to sustain them), we also need a culture of free speech . 1 Thus, self-professed champions of free speech inveigh not only against violations of the First Amendment but also against a wide range of private actions and policies. These include disruptive protests that silence speakers; content moderation by social media companies; sanctions by universities, corporations, and other institutions against those who express certain opinions; and “cancel culture” (i.e., attempts to trigger such sanctions by stigmatizing people for the opinions they’ve expressed).

Citing John Stuart Mill, these professed champions of free speech worry about an intellectually stifling environment in which all but a narrow range of opinions are stigmatized and driven to society’s margins. As an alternative, the Millians urge various nongovernmental institutions to adopt the sort of content-neutral policies that First Amendment jurisprudence requires of the government. The resulting “culture of free speech” they envision is one in which employers hire, fire, and promote without regard for employees’ opinions on controversial societal issues; universities take no cognizance of students’ opinions in deciding whether to admit and retain them, social media platforms make no discriminations about the content they host; and other businesses and organizations likewise refrain from discriminating on ideological grounds. Because, as we will see, such policies of neutrality are rarely tenable, those who aspire to such a free speech culture, come to see their aspiration as a noble but unattainable ideal. They are led to the conclusion that freedom of speech cannot be an absolute – that is merely one value to be traded off against others.

Freedom of speech is a right – “a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context.” 3 Rights can be violated by private actors as well as by governments, and the government’s function is to secure rights against such violations. Some of the nongovernmental actions decried by professed champions of free speech are violations of the right to free speech, but most are not – quite the reverse: they are exercises of this right. A genuine culture of free speech is one in which these acts are recognized as instances of free speech, rather than departures from it. It is a culture in which individuals value one another’s freedom not only to express opinions but to judge them, and to decide whom to associate with (or disassociate from) on the basis of such judgments. It is a culture in which individuals guard this freedom and utilize it to satisfy their needs for both ideological diversity and ideological alignment , forming a wide range of relationships, institutions, and communities with different purposes and different terms of association.

This is what I argue in this essay. In the first section, I elaborate on the nature of free speech as an individual right. In the second, I discuss government’s responsibility to respect and secure this right. In the remaining two sections, I discuss the value of intellectual diversity and the idea of a culture of free speech, rejecting the prevailing, collectivist approach to these issues and articulating an individualist alternative.

Freedom of Speech as an Individual Right

On the evening of May 25, 1892, a mob ransacked the offices of the Free Speech , a Memphis newspaper run by Ida B. Wells and James L. Fleming. The mob ran “Fleming out of town, destroyed the type and furnishings of the office, and left a note saying that anyone trying to publish the paper again would be punished with death.” 4 Wells describes the personal impact this way: “They had destroyed my paper, in which every dollar I had in the world was invested. They had made me an exile and threatened my life for hinting at the truth.” 5 The “hint” she mentions had come five days earlier, in an editorial she had written about the lynchings of eight black men over the course of the preceding week. Some of these men had been killed on the basis of “the old thread-bare lie that Negro men assault white women,” and she warned that if the white Southerners continued to use this pretext for lynchings, “public sentiment will have a reaction; a conclusion will then be reached which will be very damaging to the moral reputation of their women.” 6 On the morning of May 25, the Daily Commercial responded in an editorial that purported to speak for the white population of Memphis: “we have had enough” of “the fact that a black scoundrel is allowed to live and utter such loathsome and repulsive calumnies.” Later that day, the Evening Scimitar (which assumed that Wells’s editorial had been written by a man) proposed a course of action:

If the negroes themselves do not apply the remedy without delay it will be the duty of those whom he has attacked to tie the wretch who utters these calumnies to a stake at the intersection of Main and Madison Sts., brand him in the forehead with a hot iron and perform upon him a surgical operation with a pair of tailor’s shears. 7

Freedom of speech is freedom from the evil that was perpetrated against Wells, Fleming, Paty, Rushdie, and Charlie Hebdo staff, and against everyone who was terrified into silence by their attackers. This freedom consists in being able to speak one’s mind without fear that others will respond forcibly against one’s person or property. In the cases we have discussed, the force was wielded by terrorists; too often (as we’ll discuss) it is wielded by governments.

Force needn’t be deadly to violate the freedom of speech. Had Paty and Rushdie’s assailants sought merely to injure them, as punishment for speaking their minds, the same principle would have been violated, and others like Paty and Rushdie would still have been put in fear for their safety. Likewise, the mob that ransacked Wells and Fleming’s office would have violated their freedom of speech even if they hadn’t also threatened their victims’ lives. Wells and Fleming were violated when the mob destroyed the property they had devoted so much of their lives to creating. Their freedom of speech, in particular, was violated because the specific property that was destroyed – the paper’s type and furnishings – was their means of promulgating their ideas.

This same principle applies, though on a smaller scale, when self-styled “protesters” disrupt speeches they disapprove of. The venues for such speeches have generally been obtained by the speaker (or some sponsoring organization) for the purpose of hosting the speech, and others are admitted as an audience to hear it. To abuse one’s admission by disrupting the event is to trespass and to forcibly prevent the speaker (and sponsors) from using the means which are rightfully theirs for disseminating their ideas. The principle applies also when protesters forcibly interfere without entering the venue, as by creating excessive noise from an adjacent property to drown out the speaker or distract the audience. These actions too constitute forcible interference with the speaker’s use of his property to disseminate his ideas.

All the actions I’ve described as violating the freedom of speech would be violations of the victims’ rights even if taken for some purpose other than silencing them. Murder, vandalism, trespass, intimidation, harassment, and the interference with people’s peaceful enjoyment of their property are violations of rights, regardless of the motive, and the right to free speech doesn’t afford speakers any special protection that they would have lacked had they remained silent. No one is entitled to initiate force against anyone in the first place, and everyone has a right to be secure in his person and property. The right to free speech is merely the recognition that voicing an opinion as such never infringes on anyone else’s rights. The rights to liberty and property include the liberty to share one’s opinions and to use one’s resources to disseminate those opinions – e.g., by publishing a newspaper or delivering a lecture in a rented hall.

One person’s rights cannot be violated by another’s refusal to deal with him. Rights are principles for organizing society to enable individuals to interact only consensually, rather than by forcing themselves on one another. An interaction is consensual when each party participates voluntarily, under no threat from the other (except the “threat” of withholding such benefits as might result from the interaction). 12 The fundamental principle underlying free societies is that all relationships should be consensual – that no one may initiate the use of force, and that force may only be used in retaliation.

A right is a principle defining and sanctioning an individual’s freedom of action in a social context . 13 Freedom means freedom from other people who might interfere with one’s actions. So, what rights define is the scope of an individual’s freedom to act unilaterally, without others’ consent. Since rights are reciprocal, rightful actions cannot constitute interference with, or require the cooperation of, others. “Any alleged ‘right’ of one man, which necessitates the violation of the rights of another, is not and cannot be a right.” 14 The only obligation one person’s rights can impose on another is that of noninterference. Thus a person’s right to free speech cannot require other people’s participation as sponsors, enablers, or audience. It cannot entitle him to use their property as a platform or to harass them (demanding a hearing that they do not consent to give him). He has the freedom to express his ideas to an audience that’s willing to listen in a forum he owns (or that he uses with the owner’s consent). The right cannot be violated by anyone’s refusing to contribute to, listen to, or otherwise condone the relevant speech (even by refusing to continue associating with the speaker). The right cannot be violated by any form of boycott, blacklisting, ostracism, “cancellation,” or other social penalty. 15 The right can be violated only by initiating force against the speaker (including against his property). Whether such social penalties are just or unjust in a given case, any claim by the penalized that his rights have been violated is simply his assertion of an imagined right to force himself on people who want nothing to do with him.

For example, consider what Ida Wells came to think was the ultimate motive for destroying the Free Speech :

For the first time in their lives the white people of Memphis had seen earnest, united action by Negroes which upset economic and business conditions. They had thought the excitement would die down; that Negroes would forget and become again, as before, the wealth producers of the South – the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the servants of white men. But the excitement kept up, the colored people continued to leave, business remained at a standstill, and there was still a dearth of servants to cook their meals and wash their clothes and keep their homes in order, to nurse their babies and wait on their tables, to build their houses and do all classes of laborious work. […] The whites had killed the goose that laid the golden egg of Memphis prosperity and Negro contentment; yet they were amazed that colored people continued to leave the city by scores and hundreds. In casting about for the cause of all this restlessness and dissatisfaction the leaders concluded that the Free Speech was the disturbing factor. They were right. They felt that the only way to restore “harmony between the races” would be to get rid of the Free Speech . 16

This example highlights the power of disassociating from others as a means of both punishing injustice and protecting oneself from it. Disassociation is especially powerful when practiced by a large group, as in a boycott or blacklist. If an individual has any rights at all, he has this right to disassociate for any reason, including disagreement with another’s speech. The individual doesn’t lose this right when there are many others exercising it along with him, or when he encourages others to do so (as Wells did in her newspaper). 17 In short, there is a right to participate in what is now called “cancellation.”

Perhaps the most influential denier of the right to disassociate from others on the basis of their opinions is John Stuart Mill. This makes Mill an influential opponent of the right to free speech. 18 His reputation as a stalwart champion of free speech rests on his insights about an independent thinker’s need to engage with a wide spectrum of ideas and therefore need environments that welcome heterodoxy. I’ll turn to these aspects of Mill’s thought in the final two sections of this essay. What’s relevant for my present purposes is that he denies the crucial distinction between violations of the right to free speech and social sanctions of unpopular opinions (which sanctions are, in fact, exercises of this right).

The principle of individual rights marks the distinction between consensual interactions between individuals and interactions in which some individuals force themselves upon others. The fundamental right – the right to one’s own life – defines and sanctions the individual’s “freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life.” 22 This means the individual’s freedom to live by his own judgment, using (and developing) his own means in support of his own ends (while respecting others’ freedom to live likewise). The freedom of speech is the freedom to express one’s opinions in the course of leading such a life. This includes one’s freedom to associate with others in support of their speech or to withdraw one’s sanction from their opinions by disassociating with them (in whole or in part). Conversely, the right to freedom of speech does not give everyone with anything to say a license to force himself upon those who do not wish to be his audience, his promoters, or his enablers. This is true however large the proportion of society that does not wish to deal with him and however unjust or imprudent their attitude may be.

Freedom of speech is never a license to violate other rights. Threats and incitement to violence no more fall within the protection of this right than do the instructions a mafia boss gives to a hitman. They may express or imply an opinion (as do all utterances, publications, and actions), but their essence is to initiate or facilitate a course of action, rather than to participate in an exchange of ideas. This is true of the passages quoted earlier from the Daily Commercial and Evening Scimitar that called for Wells’s lynching. These are not mere expressions of opinion: they are conspiracy to murder and mayhem. 23 The same applies to social media posts that targeted supposed blasphemers like Paty for attacks by Islamist terrorists. 24 Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie amounted to an act of war against the free world, and it ought to have been treated as such by world governments. 25 No doubt there are cases where it is difficult to determine whether an utterance is essentially an expression of an opinion (which would fall within the protection of the right to free speech) or constitutes a threat, fraud, defamation, harassment or other initiation of force (which would fall outside the realm of free speech). 26 But the difficulty in such cases is not a matter of balancing free speech against other potentially conflicting rights or interests. It is, rather, a matter of determining the nature of the utterance, given the full context in which it was made.

Commenting on the events at Berkeley, Ayn Rand wrote:

[T]here is no justification, in a civilized society, for the kind of mass civil disobedience that involves the violation of the rights of others – regardless of whether the demonstrators’ goal is good or evil. The end does not justify the means. No one’s rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others. […] The only power of a mob, as against an individual, is greater muscular strength – i.e. , plain, brute physical force. The attempt to solve social problems by means of physical force is what a civilized society is established to prevent. 30

A society is free to the extent that it is governed by the principle of individual rights, and the freedom of speech is nothing more or less than individuals’ right to be free from forcible interference in (or in retaliation for) their expression of their ideas. Mobs like those that Rand describes (and which we see again proliferating throughout American society) are instances of such forcible interference with individuals’ freedom to speak and to live.

The Government’s Responsibility to Respect and Secure the Right to Free Speech

Because freedom of speech can be violated only by the initiation of physical force, which always violates other rights as well, special laws are not generally needed to secure this freedom. It is secured, rather, by the general laws that protect us from attacks on (and threats to) our persons and property. 31 When governments fail to protect the right to freedom of speech from infringement by private parties, it is by failing to prosecute those parties for violating these other laws – a topic we’ll return to later. Because separate laws are not needed to protect free speech from private actors, and because governments themselves often violate this right, free speech is sometimes characterized specifically as a right individuals hold against the government. Onkar Ghate, for example, has described free speech as “an individual’s right to express his ideas without governmental interference, that is, without governmental suppression or censorship.” 32 Such characterizations are natural especially in the United States where so much of the discussion of free speech centers on the First Amendment.

As should be clear from the previous section, I conceive of the right more broadly as a right to be free from forcible interference in (or in retaliation for) expressing one’s ideas, whether this force is initiated by a government or by private actors. However, much of the need to conceptualize it as a distinct right comes from the fact that governments so often pass laws abridging it. To defend the right, we must be on guard against the confusions and rationalizations that lead lawmakers and their constituencies to think it is proper to wield force to silence people, or to compel them to support or refrain from supporting the expression of certain ideas.

In all such fields, the only position consistent with the right to free speech is abolitionism. The entire public education system (including public financing of higher education) should be abolished, as should such agencies as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. This abolition could take the form of simply eliminating the present institutions in the expectation that private ones will arise (or expand) to perform those of their functions that are legitimate. Or it could take the form of privatizing the existing institutions by cutting them off from governmental funds and authority. Presently there is no political constituency for abolition (of either sort). This unhappy fact gives rise to many questions for advocates of free speech: Of the various policies these institutions might adopt on various issues, which are most oppressive, and which are less so? What near-term goals and strategies should a movement advocating freedom in education (or scientific research) adopt? How should an individual teacher, student, or researcher navigate the existing system? These are all questions about how to navigate and mitigate an ongoing violation of individual rights, and they must be regarded as such if we are to have any hope of answering them in a way that is consistent with the principle of free speech.

In addition to violating freedom of speech by censoring and by establishing opinions, a government also violates the freedom of speech when it restricts individuals’ freedom to disassociate from speech and speakers they disapprove of. Consider, for example, the recent Florida and Texas laws (currently under judicial stays) that prohibit social media platforms from removing or deemphasizing users or posts based on their viewpoints. 37 Under the pretext of defending users’ free speech, the laws compel the companies to promote, participate in, or condone speech that they have every right to disassociate from.

Governments can also violate the right to free speech by exercising their legitimate powers in a way that discriminates against individuals for holding or voicing certain opinions. A government violates freedom of speech, for example, if it enforces noise ordinances more vigorously against people who are noisily expressing unpopular opinions than it does against people who noisily express favored opinions.

In addition to actively violating individuals’ freedom of speech in any of the ways we have discussed, governments are sometimes complicit in violations by private parties. This happens when a government fails to vigorously prosecute those who initiate force to silence others, thereby allowing these criminals to impose a reign of terror over those who disagree with them. Such governmental inaction can be motivated by officials’ (or voters’) sympathy with the terrorists. This is likely what happened in the attack on the Free Speech in Memphis. As far as I have been able to ascertain, no one was prosecuted for that attack, just as no one was prosecuted for committing the lynchings on which the Free Speech had reported. Wells believed there was no prosecution because “every white man of any standing in [Memphis] knew of the plan and consented to the lynching,” and that “the criminal court judge himself was one of the lynchers. Suppose we had the evidence; could we get it before that judge? Or a grand jury of white men who had permitted it to be?” 40 If Wells’s belief was correct, then it was not just a private mob, but also the municipal government of Memphis, that was responsible for murdering the lynched men and for destroying the Free Speech .

To protect our rights, including freedom of speech, governments must vigorously investigate potential conspiracies to violate these rights, whenever reasonable suspicion exists. However, such suspicion often arises in connection with organizations, movements, and subcultures devoted to controversial opinions – just the sorts of group whom we have reason to worry that the government will persecute on the grounds of their heterodox opinions. Examples in American history include the Ku Klux Klan, the American Communist Party, various factions within the civil rights movement and the countercultural movements of the 1960s and ’70s, and certain mosques and other institutions serving religious minorities. These organizations have been subject to investigation and counterintelligence operations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and there is a well-documented record of abuses on the FBI’s part, which makes civil libertarians rightly concerned about such investigations. 45 To prevent abuses, procedures must be established to ensure that investigations of heterodox groups are indeed investigations (rather than attempts to harass or influence the groups) and that they are properly predicated on evidence (in accordance with standards that are applied uniformly to all ideological communities).

Defenders of free speech should not engage in knee-jerk calls for, or reactions against, investigations into heterodox groups. What is needed here, as in all areas of law, is objectivity – which means well-defined methods and standards for such investigations and prosecutions, and legal remedies for those who have been unjustly targeted. In the quest for such objectivity many difficult questions will arise, but these questions are not specific to freedom of speech. They are persistent concerns throughout the structure of a justice system wherever prejudices, ideological or otherwise, may lurk. For example, even when freedom of speech is not involved, prejudices can lead authorities to overlook (or underprioritize) crimes against members of disfavored groups or to infringe on the rights of suspects from these same groups. When forming any legal system, such concerns can be addressed by erecting checks and balances of various sorts, but that doesn’t mean fundamental rights such as the right to free speech are being balanced against one another. Rather it is governmental resources and the incentives and powers of various investigative bodies and legal parties that must be balanced in order to preserve the rights of all concerned.

The right to freedom of speech (like any other right) does not create a zone of anarchy in which a government may not function or investigate. 47 Rather, the right defines a zone in which an individual may act unilaterally, and it obligates government to take all necessary actions to secure the individual’s freedom of action against forcible interference by others. 48 The government’s function requires it to operate everywhere within a society, but to do so in single-minded pursuit of its proper function, constrained by well-defined rules ensuring that, in endeavoring to protect one individual’s freedom, it does not intrude on anyone else’s.

Because the proper function of government is limited to securing rights, any government that transgresses this limit (e.g., by providing services such as education, transportation, or healthcare) necessarily violates rights. We’ve discussed how the government specifically violates the freedom of speech when it provides services that involve the promulgation of ideas, such as public education, public broadcasting, or the public financing of research. It also violates rights when it operates public spaces where people can congregate to discuss and disseminate ideas. Since the government is an agent of everyone in the society, the use of governmental resources to facilitate any speech by private parties, violates dissenters’ right to disassociate from that speech. This rights violation is compounded when a government favors the dissemination of some ideas over others. Therefore, the First Amendment is properly interpreted to demand ideological neutrality from the government in such matters as deciding what sorts of speech are permitted on public property.

By contrast, private individuals (or nongovernmental institutions) do not limit anyone’s freedom of speech when their policies lack the ideological neutrality we rightly demand of the government. Publishers, broadcasters, social media companies, and private educational institutions do not infringe on anyone’s freedom when deciding to whom they will grant or deny use of their platforms. Likewise, employers, service providers, customers, and financiers cannot violate anyone’s freedom by their decisions to deal with some parties and not others. This is true even when these decisions are made on ideological grounds, and even when they are made unjustly. Far from being infringements of free speech, such decisions are alwaysexercises of this freedom, since the freedom to speak includes the freedom to support speech of which one approves and to withdraw one’s support from speech (and speakers) of which one disapproves. Even foolish or unjust policies adopted by nongovernmental actors concerning speech fall squarely within the right to free speech, in the same ways and for the same reasons that false or unjust speech falls within the protection of this right. Because of this, any use of state power to compel or encourage private institutions to adopt a policy of ideological neutrality violates the right to free speech (and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

The Value of Intellectual Diversity

Among those who grasp that private individuals and institutions have the right to engage in ideological discrimination, many still think that there is some moral imperative for employers, and such institutions as social media companies, communications utilities, financial institutions, and private universities to nonetheless observe something like the ideological neutrality that the First Amendment demands of government agencies. It is widely held that institutions that value free speech should abstain from discriminating among their associates (employees, customers, partners, etc.) on the grounds of their opinions, because upholding ideologically neutral terms of association will foster diversity and a culture of free speech(both within the relevant institution and in the larger society of which it is a part).

This is a mistake. It is true that ideological diversity is valuable in many contexts, and there may be some specific organizations whose missions would be best served by a policy of ideological neutrality, but general presumptions in favor of such policies drop the context that gives rise to this value and amount to demands that organizations sacrifice their missions. Rather than being moral absolutes, intellectual diversity and welcoming heterodoxy are potential values to be traded off against others in crafting worthwhile associations. Using the term “free speech” for these suggests that free speech itself – the right to free speech – is not an absolute, but just one of many competing claims that must be pragmatically balanced against one another. In order to defend actual free speech, therefore, we must conceptualize intellectual diversity and the practice of welcoming heterodoxy as values distinct from this principle.

We can begin by considering John Stuart Mill’s eloquent account of why we each need to be conversant with ideas very different from our own:

He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion . . . Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with his own mind. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them . . . He must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; he must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else he will never really possess himself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. 49

Mill’s point is that for one’s convictions to constitute knowledge, as opposed to mere opinion, one must have engaged with the arguments against those convictions, and doing this requires encountering the strongest of these arguments presented as powerfully as possible by sincere advocates. This implies that any context in which a particular view has been wholly excluded from consideration is destructive to knowledge, even in cases where the excluded view is false . Such contexts undermine one’s ability to form genuine knowledge. (The situation is even worse, of course, if the excluded view turns out to be true.) Since knowledge requires considering contrasting ideas, a knower requires an intellectually diverse environment.

Moreover, since reasoning requires following the evidence wherever it leads, genuine reasoning is incompatible with the attempt to uphold any dogma. Someone whose thinking is governed by the premise that she must reach a certain conclusion and not another, or that she must not question a certain premise, is not endeavoring to know what’s true. Only free thinking – where the range of admissible conclusions hasn’t been fixed in advance – is genuine thinking. A person cannot, therefore, function as a thinker insofar as she is dependent on maintaining a position within a social institution, which position is contingent on her reaching (or not reaching) specific conclusions.

All the values we seek from human relationships derive ultimately from the thinking of each party. This is true for every sort of association – for business partnerships, commercial transactions, employment relations, friendships, marriages, clubs, educational institutions, etc. All genuine thinking is thinking for oneself , and it is to be expected that differences of opinion will emerge when individuals think for themselves, even on issues where only one answer can be correct. Thus, disagreement is inevitable in any worthwhile relationship or organization, and people cannot work well or live well insofar as they depend on associations that are contingent on their toeing a party line. This is why social environments that welcome differences of opinion are valuable: they support independent thinking, which is the source of all the values we seek to gain from one another.

Such an intellectual environment is a value to each of us as individuals, and we must each pursue it in our own associations and in the context of all our other values – a context that includes the value of the uniformity of opinion that underlies any joint endeavor. However, the values of intellectual diversity and welcomeness to heterodoxy are generally discussed in collectivistic terms and in a way that drops this crucial context. Institutions such as schools, social media companies, providers of financial and communications services, and employers are regarded as societal resources which must be run in certain ways to fulfill a societal need to welcome (or tolerate) heterodoxy. This is the view that generally lies behind the calls for such institutions to embrace “free speech.” I will discuss some of the controversies regarding “free speech culture” and the policies of such institutions in my next section. But let’s first consider how we as individuals living in a free society might pursue the value of an intellectual environment that exposes us to diverse ideas and that welcomes any heterodox conclusions we may reach.

Each of us has much to gain from interacting (directly or indirectly) with people who hold ideas with which we disagree, and therefore we each have reason to support, patronize, or participate in institutions (schools, forums, social groups, libraries, etc.) that enable such interactions. However, individuals will differ in their specific needs for intellectual diversity and how these needs relate to their other values and concerns. We should, therefore, expect there to be a variety of institutions catering differently to different people in different contexts.

For example, a biology researcher will want access to a library or bookstore stocked with a wide range of books in her field, including many that she disagrees with. She’ll likely be more interested in disagreements of detail (e.g., about the evolutionary history of a specific organism) than in works advocating for creationism, phrenology, or race science, but she’ll want access to these, too, on occasion. She may, however, want works expressing some of these views to be excluded from the library she visits with her child. She’ll likely prefer to work for an employer who welcomes the forthright expression of disagreements on scientific issues, but she may find certain approaches to biological research so misguided that she sees no point in working for or with their proponents. Because she’ll be motivated to work with those collaborators who can most help advance her research, she probably won’t be much interested in their political or social views, and she’ll probably prefer an employer who doesn’t generally discriminate on such grounds, because she knows such discrimination could prevent her from working with people who might have a lot to offer. However, she may find certain views so abhorrent that she’d prefer a workplace that excludes their proponents entirely. When she’s looking for an advocacy organization or political party to join, she might prioritize robust ideological alignment; but she may be (largely or wholly) unconcerned with the political, social, or religious views of her grocer or swim instructor. There are different purposes for which our biologist might want to use social media – to connect with colleagues in her field, to monitor current events or follow the debates of the day, to connect with old friends and share anecdotes, etc. For different uses she might prefer different sites with different content policies.

Every individual will form some such constellation of values and attitudes, placing different weight on uniformity or diversity of opinions in different contexts. Some constellations of values will be irrational, unjust, and self-destructive. But many different constellations will be fully rational, especially if held by people in different circumstances with different levels of knowledge, different resources, and different goals. Among those constellations that are less than fully rational, some will go wrong in relatively small ways, whereas others will be foolish and vicious. If all these individuals with their different constellations of values concerning ideological alignment and diversity are secure in their rights, such that each can choose to deal with each of the others or not, they will be able to use this freedom to negotiate terms of association that work for them.

Thus, in a free society, we should expect different organizations and institutions to emerge reflecting different values. Since (for the reasons Mill well described) knowledge requires some engagement with the full range of opinion on contentious subjects, those who value knowledge will create market demand for libraries, bookstores, and forums of various sorts that enable access to and dissemination of even the most disfavored views. But other forums will try to avoid offending anyone, and there will be everything in between.

Every cooperative endeavor presupposes specific points of agreement. For example, if our biologist seeks a collaborator for a research project on a specific organism’s evolutionary history, a Young Earth creationist wouldn’t be suitable, because the project presupposes the theory of evolution. Her project will also presuppose many more specific premises about the outlines of life on earth, about the specific species she’s studying, about which research methods are promising, etc., and someone who disagrees with these presuppositions would not be suitable. This is true even though, as a biologist, she might benefit from being exposed to challenges to her presuppositions. If she lived in a society in which the theory of evolution was forcibly insulated from criticism, that would make it difficult for her to know that the theory is true (because she would be prevented from finding, engaging with, and evaluating the best arguments against the theory). Likewise, if despite living in a society with evolution skeptics, the biologist never gave a moment’s thought to their view (and, in this case, it doesn’t take much more than a moment), she may not be justified in her confidence in the presuppositions of her field. The same holds for the more specific presuppositions of her specific research project, many of which are bound to be controversial within her field. For her to be rationally confident in her own position, she needs to be free to learn about and consider alternatives, and she needs to take advantage of that freedom. But part of taking full advantage of that freedom is rejecting alternative approaches which she thinks are mistaken and building a research project based on the ideas and methods she judges to be right. As we’ve framed the example, pursuing this project will require finding a like-minded collaborator who agrees with her on the relevant points.

Just as her project would be undermined by a collaborator whose ideas were inconsistent with the biological premises underlying her project, so would it be undermined by a collaborator whose opinions prevented him from interacting with her respectfully. His viewing her as incompetent or dishonest would make him unfit for the role. This is true whether he views her this way because of some specific belief about her as an individual, or because he holds some such generalization as “women are no good at science,” or “white people are exploiters,” or “only researchers who studied at Harvard understand punctuated equilibrium.” Our biologist cannot afford to be indifferent to potential collaborators’ opinions on such matters, and there is not always a bright line to be drawn between such opinions and related political, religious, or ideological convictions. Of course, the biologist’s project could also suffer if she rejects a potential collaborator because she falsely infers from his membership in a certain church or preference for a certain political candidate that he won’t respect her or share the relevant scientific convictions.

In choosing a collaborator, she needs to find someone who agrees with her about what’s needed to further the project, and she needs to allow such disagreements as are compatible with (and conducive to) this joint undertaking. Just which disagreements fit this bill will depend on innumerable factors, some of which may be idiosyncratic to the people involved. For example, if the biologist and potential collaborator have especially good interpersonal skills, they may be able to work together despite certain disagreements that would doom another pair of collaborators. Similarly, a pair of collaborators who are especially good at resisting confirmation bias might be needlessly slowed down by internal disagreements of a sort that another pair might need to help them avoid this cognitive pitfall.

There is no principle demanding that our biologist close her eyes to a potential collaborator’s opinions (or any special subclass of his opinions), nor would it be prudent for her to do so. The relevant principles are that she cannot rationally expect any collaborator to agree with her on everything or on nothing , and she should not place more value on any agreements or disagreements than is warranted by the full context of her own values, purposes, and circumstances.

Everything we’ve said about this one researcher’s relation to a potential collaborator applies also to all of the relationships inherent in any large organization – such as a business, a university, or a social network. Each such organization has its own mission and values, which must be implemented in its policies and corporate culture if it is to be successful. And each individual associated with the organization will approach the association from the standpoint of his own hierarchy of values. An organization that demanded too much agreement would have trouble finding and attracting suitable associates, and those it did attract would be unable to do their best work. But an organization would also undermine itself by welcoming associates whose opinions are incompatible with its purpose and values. For any organization, there will be opinions that are directly incompatible with the organization’s mission – as, for example, opposition to abortion rights is incompatible with the mission of Planned Parenthood, and atheism with the mission of the Catholic Church. There will also be opinions that are incompatible with the sort of corporate culture the organization regards as necessary to its mission. For most organizations this will include a culture of mutual respect that could be undermined, for example, by the opinion that people of African descent are stupid or that people of European descent are oppressors.

For almost any role in any group or organization, there are things that someone would be within his rights to say, but that would make him unsuited for that role, such that the organization could not tolerate this speech without undermining its purpose. Such speech is within the person’s rights in that it would be wrong for anyone (whether a governmental actor or a private party) to forcibly prevent him from saying it. But this right does not obligate the organization to allow the speech on its platform or to associate with the speaker. For example, many social media sites that fancy themselves free-speech forums do not allow users to post pornographic content, even though such content is (properly) legal. And it makes sense for the platforms to exclude pornography, given the sorts of communities they’re trying to build. Likewise, a law firm may have strong reasons not to retain an associate who has publicly voiced sympathy with the October 7 attacks on Israel – doubly so if it serves many Jewish clients who would interpret these remarks as antisemitic (as well as generally vile). 51 And a university may not wish to employ a teacher whose racist remarks (voiced outside of class) raise questions about her ability to treat all students with respect and judge them objectively. All of these potentially disqualifying sorts of speech fall within the speaker’s freedom of speech, in that it would be wrong for governments or private individuals to retaliate against them forcibly. But in each case, there’s a reason for the organization to make such speech grounds for disassociation. In some cases, there are also reasons pulling in the opposite direction.

Because organizations differ in their missions and constituencies, it should be expected that they will adopt different policies and develop different cultures, with some welcoming a wider range of opinions than do others. There are some approaches to this issue that would be irrational, unjust, and self-defeating, but there are a range of different approaches by which organizations could rationally pursue a valid mission and attempt to attract and retain associates. How wide a range of opinions an organization welcomes among its employees or associates (and what policies it institutes regarding expressions of these opinions in various contexts) no more reflects its degree of commitment to free speech than the variety of a retailer’s wares reflects the degree of its commitment to free trade.

Such variation in the policies and cultures of organizations is an expression of the freedoms of speech and association and a consequence of the pursuit by free individuals of their values. These values include (but are not limited to) the value of an environment that welcomes and fosters intellectual diversity. It is up to each of us to exercise these freedoms to seek these values for ourselves.

Individualists who share Mill’s concerns about an intellectually stifling uniformity of opinion can work to create new institutions (institutes, businesses, universities, libraries, journals, grant-making bodies, etc.) to foster heterodoxy. There are many forms such institutions can take. For example, there are organizations, like the Ayn Rand Institute, dedicated to promoting specific ideas (or research programs) that lie outside the ideological mainstream. A heterodoxy-promoting individualist might support the work of some such organizations, because he thinks their ideas (whether he agrees with them or not) fill an important gap in the discourse. Our heterodoxy-supporting individualist could also support publications like the Journal of Controversial Ideas that try to provide a home for ideas that have little in common except for falling far outside of the mainstream in one direction or another. 52 Or he could try to forge an institution that facilitates exchange between people of differing viewpoints, making room for marginalized views without catering specifically to them. Examples of this approach include Discourse magazine, the Academy of Ideas (https://academyofideas.org.uk/), and the new University of Austin.

Finally, the individualist looking to support intellectual diversity can work to create institutions that facilitate the wide and rapid sharing of content, so that speakers of all sorts can more easily connect with an audience. By any measure, the most historically successful initiative of this last sort is the internet. The World Wide Web and most of its social media platforms were created by people who were motivated in part (at least) by the idea of empowering a wider range of people to share and discover ideas.

Anyone worried about a lack of intellectual diversity today should reflect that no person in history has had as easy access to as wide a range of ideas as anyone can find for free on YouTube, X or Reddit. Many of the people today who resent mainstream cultural institutions for marginalizing the opinions they’ve been exposed to on social media would have, in earlier eras, remained wholly ignorant of opinions outside of the mainstream. The specific currents of censoriousness in the world today are largely caused by the ease of exchanging ideas online. Some are backlashes by cultural elites against the mainstreaming of previously marginal streams of thought. Others, such as the “Twitter mobs” that have called for the hasty “cancellation” of those who offend against various au courant leftist strictures, are made up of scolds who have organized through social media to exert social pressure that would not have been possible to them in the past. These forms of censoriousness (however unjust some of them may be) are aspects of an intellectually diverse society, rather than signs that we lack one.

A Culture of Free Speech

I have treated intellectual diversity (and the sort of environment that fosters it) as one value among others that free individuals can pursue in their associations with one another. But, as I mentioned earlier, most discussions of this value proceed as if the needs of society as a whole place special obligations on certain societal institutions to embody or foster a “culture of free speech.” To develop an individualist alternative, I’ll focus on two sorts of institutions that have loomed large in recent free-speech controversies: social media platforms and universities. I’ll expose the collectivist premises dominating thought about these institutions and I’ll explain the individualist perspective on these issues – the perspective that, when embodied in a society’s institutions and mores, constitutes a genuine culture of free speech.

It is striking that Musk, who prides himself on his “first-principles thinking” in business, did not define the “free speech principles” to which he thinks Twitter should adhere. The nearest thing I have found to a public exposition of these principles in the months surrounding the acquisition is this statement:

By “free speech,” I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people. 55

This is no principled stand at all. It simply says that the platform shouldn’t “censor” – i.e., refuse to provide a platform for – much legalcontent, without saying anything about how much or how this can be determined. 56 Notice too Musk’s indifference to the actual issue of free speech in his blithe acquiescence to limits on free speech imposed in accord with “the will of the people.” Of course, it is precisely such limits that the First Amendment prohibits. 57 The idea that the will of the people should determine how a social media platform operates reflects the collectivist premise that the platform, though legally held as private property, is essentially an organ of humanity as a whole, which must somehow be operated by humanity’s general will in the service of its collective good.

This same collectivist view dominates thinking about educational institutions and shapes discussion of speech there. The American Association of University Professors has long based its advocacy of “academic freedom” and the tenure system on the premise that “institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole.” 58 The Association acknowledges that there are some “proprietary institutions” whose purpose is “to subsidize the promotion of opinions held by the persons, usually not of the scholar’s calling, who provide the funds for their maintenance.” But it concerns itself only with “ordinary institutions of learning” whose purpose is “to advance knowledge by the unrestricted research and unfettered discussion of impartial investigators.” It holds that any such institution, whether run by the state or as nongovernmental entities, “constitutes a public trust” charged with carrying out a “threefold function”: (1) “to promote inquiry and advance the sum of human knowledge,” (2) “to provide general instruction to the students,” and (3) “to develop experts for the various branches of the public service.”

With universities as with Twitter, a supposed public function is thought to require institutions to provide people with a platform, regardless of the opinions they express. Because these non-governmental institutions supposedly serve a public function, they are expected to practice the sort of ideological neutrality that the law demands of government bodies. As a result, many of the individuals involved with institutions feel ill-used by policies that give them no option but to interact with people whose opinions they regard as odious, if they are to deal with the institution at all. And the institution’s interest in maintaining its relations with these aggrieved associates is at odds with its commitment not to discriminate against the speakers whom they find objectionable.

In the first instance, we see Musk’s collectivist conception of the need for intellectual diversity leading him to conclude that “free speech” cannot be an absolute. In the later episodes, we see his collectivist view of Twitter as a public good, leading to the demand that advertisers sacrifice by continuing to run ads there, regardless of whether they judge that these ads will benefit their companies.

The problems Musk faced in his attempts to operate a “free speech” platform are not new. In 2012, a decade before Musk’s purchase, Twitter regarded itself as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.” 66 It professed a “John Stuart Mill-style philosophy” according to which “the most effective antidote to bad speech was good speech,” and so they engaged in little content moderation. By 2017 they had come to regard this philosophy as naive and felt a need “to take steps to limit the visibility of hateful symbols, to ban people from the platform who affiliate with violent groups.” 67   In 2019, (then) CEO Jack Dorsey said, “I don’t believe that we should optimize for neutrality . . . . Ultimately, I don’t think we can be this neutral, passive platform anymore.” 68 During the same period, Facebook and YouTube also began to moderate content on their platforms more aggressively.

There are many questions about the wisdom of various decisions made by the social media platforms in this difficult time. There is also evidence that some of these decisions were coerced by government actors, which would certainly be a violation of the platform’s right to free speech and of the First Amendment. But even apart from such violations, these platforms faced a difficult challenge, which ought to have been understood and faced in individualistic terms, but which was too often misconceived along collectivist, Millian lines. Essentially these platforms are in the business of facilitating associations pertaining to speech . In particular, they connect content providers with audiences and advertisers. The naive Millian approach that many of these companies took prior to 2015 was not a matter of overvaluing “free speech” or diversity of opinion. Rather, it represented too crude a view of what makes the relevant associations valuable to all the parties involved – including the speakers, the audience, the advertisers, and the owners and employees of the platform.

Sadly, McKenzie couched this decision in terms of the Millian package-deal that equates demonetizing publications (a form of disassociation) with censorship and a lack of support for individual rights and civil liberties:

I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either – we wish no-one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away – in fact, it makes it worse. We believe that supporting individual rights and civil liberties while subjecting ideas to open discourse is the best way to strip bad ideas of their power. We are committed to upholding and protecting freedom of expression, even when it hurts. 80

But, of course, no one has an “individual right” to Substack’s services if Substack doesn’t want to provide them, and Substack is no more respecting the Nazis’ liberty by continuing to serve them than it would be infringing on their liberty if it decided to kick them off the platform. The issue is not one of liberty, but of the company’s view that there is great value in a content-neutral platform where even the most odious ideas can be voiced.

What distinguishes Substack from failed companies that also imagined themselves to be providing “free speech” platforms is that Substack has managed to create a network of mutually beneficial interactions among the members of the many different communities it hosts. Consider by contrast the case of Parler. It billed itself as “the premier global free speech platform” and promised to host content that was not welcome elsewhere, but unlike Substack, which hosts a wide range of creators, Parler was never more than a ghetto for marginal voices on the political right. 81 It failed because it relied for all its essential services on companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google, which did not want to be party to the content it hosted. Those companies all withdrew their services in the wake of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Parler was becoming popular among members of the MAGA movement. 82 The companies wanted nothing to do with Parler, because they thought its lax content-moderation policies made it a vector for incitement to violence. Parler denied that violence was being incited on its platform and complained that it was made a scapegoat. 83 Even if it was treated unjustly, the fundamental cause of its failure was that it had not found (or, seemingly, even sought) a way to build the sorts of relationships necessary to sustain a service that platforms even stigmatized speech. All Parler had to offer the parties on whom it relied were Millian demands for sacrifices on the altar of the supposed rights of people whom these parties regarded as deplorable and dangerous.

By contrast, Substack has thus far managed to retain mainstream content while also hosting respectable radicals as well as sundry crackpots and bigots. Its approach to content-moderation and online association enables readers, advertisers, and commentators to associate with the content that interests them without having to sanction content that they deplore – except in the very minimal sense of not boycotting Substack for continuing to provide services to the deplored customers. Creators’ willingness to deal with Substack on these terms doubtless owes a lot to their recognizing (with Mill) the value of intellectual diversity, to their being tired of a “cancel culture” that regards many widely held views as beyond the scope of acceptable debate, and to their valuing the assurance that they will not be deplatformed if they offend against some trendy shibboleth. But the value they get from Substack lies not simply in its refusal to deplatform (even) odious speech, but in its having developed policies that facilitate the exchange of heterodox ideas, and in having fostered a diverse community of creators and consumers who support these policies.

Substack promotes intellectual diversity by facilitating individual customers’ individualistic pursuits, rather than by calling on them to sacrifice their own values for an alleged public benefit. The same is true of other social media platforms, including X, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit. When they provide value, it is by facilitating relationships through which individuals can advance their own values, rather than by adhering to impracticable principles that purport to serve a greater collective good (but that produce only strife).

The disciplinary actions against Wax and Dean may be breaches of their contracts, and it may be wise for some institutions of learning to have tenure policies that protect faculty from suffering adverse employment consequences for expressing stigmatized opinions. But the AAUP’s position goes far beyond this. Recall its view that any educational institution not explicitly devoted to the promulgation of some narrow creed is duty-bound to have a tenure policy protecting “academic freedom.” On this view, no institution of higher education could morally take into account whether its faculty’s pronouncements make students feel unwelcome and unsafe, repel donors and parents, or otherwise conflict with the values people seek from their association with the institution. Either these people are also duty-bound to continue associating with the university (violating their convictions and sacrificing their interests) or else they are free to disassociate, but the trustees of the institution are duty-bound to let the institution be blackballed along with its most odious professors.

Far from being anomalous, Wax’s and Dean’s comments are precisely the sort of speech that “academic freedom” has always been intended to protect. The AAUP was founded by John Dewey and Arthur Lovejoy. The latter was one of five professors who had resigned their positions at Stanford in 1900 to protest the university’s dismissal of economics professor Edward Alsworth Ross – an affair that provided much of the impetus for the AAUP. Ross was an anti-capitalist bigot who would go on to argue that society needed to “muzzle” Jesuits and business magnates (whom he referred to as “men of prey”). 88 In a story about a mass meeting of citizens asking for “protection from the influx of Asiatic hordes,” the San Francisco Call and Post (of May 8, 1900) reports that Ross

declared primarily that the Chinese and Japanese are impossible among us because they cannot assimilate with us; they represent a different and inferior civilization to our own and mean by their presence the degradation of American labor and American life. We demand a protection for the American workmen as well as for American products. . . . And should the worst come to the worst it would be better for us if we were to turn our guns upon every vessel bringing Japanese to our shores rather than to permit them to land. 89

Jordan’s initial argument against firing Ross embodies the especially strong reasons universities have for valuing the sort of job security that makes faculty members comfortable exploring controversial opinions. And many do consider this episode a black mark on the university’s record. It is notable however that Stanford went on to become one of America’s premiere institutions of higher education. This may be despite Ross’s firing, or it may be in part because there were people (faculty, students, parents, and donors) who preferred to be affiliated with a university that didn’t harbor professors who would prefer to murder immigrants en masse than to admit them. Likewise, there are people today who would regard it as a selling point if a university’s faculty did not enthuse over the rape and murder of Israelis or demean students of certain races. Undoubtedly there are also professors who, though they may abhor some of these opinions, would prefer to work at a university where voicing them is not a firing offense; and there are students and donors who may regard the presence of faculty with such views as a bracing form of intellectual diversity.

Contra the AAUP, universities are not public trusts, and there is no single policy they should all adopt regarding the range of speech it will tolerate from its faculty or students. Rather, each university is a distinct community of faculty, students, and other interested parties. It is neither possible nor desirable to isolate the members of this community from the economic incentives that derive from the constellation of facts that lead people to value (or disvalue) the university. These facts include the professors’ expressions of their opinions on controversial issues. The trustees and administrators of each institution can and should craft policies (and an institutional culture) that shape these incentives in support of its specific mission. This mission isn’t a function the institution serves for the public at large, but a function it plays for the individuals who choose to associate with it in one capacity or another. Most notably, universities have students , and different universities may cater to different student populations with different needs and values. To choose an obvious example, a university that finds a niche educating the children of Japanese immigrants would be wise not to tolerate faculty like Ross, and one that caters largely to Jewish students would do well to stay away from Dean.

Most universities’ missions include making an impact of some sort on the world. For example, Stanford was founded

to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 92

Such a mission doesn’t make a university a “public trust” in the manner that the AAUP imagines. Rather, the mission is a joint project of those individuals who choose to work together to pursue it. And this choice presupposes a common understanding (which may develop and alter over time) of the mission and how to advance it. Thus we should expect that even universities with similar missions may make different decisions about how to pursue intellectual diversity in the context of their other values.

For example, the University of Chicago and Princeton University have similar missions, and both claim to prioritize (what I am calling) welcoming heterodoxy. 93 But over the course of decades, they have adopted different policies and formed different cultures. The University of Chicago has a policy of “institutional neutrality” on social and political controversies. 94 Presidents of Princeton, thinking that universities are inherently value-laden, have argued that such neutrality is impossible or undesirable and so have instead favored a policy of “institutional restraint.” This has led Princeton to participate in some divestment campaigns that the University of Chicago did not, and to be more supportive of certain student protest movements. 95 Potential students, faculty, and donors are aware of such differences between universities and can consider them (in the context of all their other relevant values) when deciding which institution to affiliate with.

Whatever specific policies and attitudes a given university, social media platform, or other institution adopts, they will not constitute a culture of free speech unless those adopting them do so by self-conscious choice, owning the fact that they are individuals exercising their own rights in pursuit of their own values. This entails their valuing their right to make this choice, which includes valuing their right to choose differently .

An excellent example of this approach in a corporate setting is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s 2020 blog post in which he clarified the company’s culture and laid out norms for keeping divisive cultural and political issues outside of the workplace. 98 Though many of the considerations Armstrong cites in support of Coinbase’s policies apply to other organizations, and though he does not shy away from this, his post is not a manifesto for the corporate world in general or an argument that every organization should emulate Coinbase. It is instead a wise attempt to reach alignment with those who choose to deal with his company about the terms on which they will interact. Importantly, he acknowledges that other companies may have different cultures, and that employees who aren’t aligned with Coinbase’s approach may want to seek employment elsewhere.

Armstrong’s post epitomizes the mindset of a genuine culture of free speech. It is the opposite of the Millian demand that individuals and organizations sacrifice their convictions and values by adopting ideologically neutral policies of association that may be inconsistent with their values. Such demands are premised on the notion that universities, social media companies, employers, and other businesses (such as internet service providers, banks, etc.) are obligated to operate with the ideological neutrality that is required of governments. There is no reason why all or most organizations should commit to any such policies, and for many it would be self-defeating.

When free speech is lauded as a collective value, it is often because the exchange of ideas allows truth to be discovered and error abandoned. But it is the individualistic culture of free speech, rather than the Millian, collectivistic alternative, that in fact promotes the discovery of truth and the countering of error. Louis D. Brandeis famously wrote that the “remedy to be applied” for “falsehood and fallacies” is “more speech, not enforced silence.” 99 There is truth in this. When one thinks that there is a falsehood or fallacy that has gone unanswered, one does well to answer it. But often falsehoods and fallacies continue to be repeated and spread, in their original forms or with trivial modifications, despite having been soundly answered. The rational course here is to marginalize them, rather than to devote one’s days to Sisyphean refutations of the same fallacies. We have seen that marginalizing ideas by refusing to platform them (or even, in some cases, by refusing to associate with their proponents) is an exercise of free speech. Like other exercises of free speech, policies that promote or marginalize certain types of speech can be mistaken or unjust. The way to fight such wrongs is not to demand that the policies be replaced to serve a collective good. It is to practice better policies oneself, not as a duty to society but in furtherance of one’s own values and those of one’s associates. This can include a policy of disassociating oneself with those whose policies one regards as especially unjust.

As applied to the issue of association or disassociation, valuing free speech amounts to valuing the freedom to associate with or disassociate from others based on their opinions (and on their approach to disagreement). It is not to prefer content-neutral terms of association over ideologically robust ones.

In general, freedom includes the ability to disassociate from others , whether on the grounds of their ideas or for any other reason. To be free is to be free from others imposing themselves on one, so that all one’s associations are voluntary. Rights are the principles defining this freedom. They are recognitions of the conditions that human beings need in order to coexist within a society, and they are distinct from the terms of association defining more specific relationships or institutions within the society. Rights should structure society: they delineate the spheres in which each person’s reason reigns and define what is up to whom in cases of disagreement. Our rights set the background context in which we can choose whom to deal with and on what terms.

All the values we can gain from our associations with others are products of their thinking. One is only thinking insofar as one is thinking freely – allowing one’s thoughts to go wherever the evidence leads – and this will lead to disagreement sometimes. Therefore, we need to value disagreement as well as agreement, and make sure not to create a censorious environment in which a particular party line has to be toed. Rather, we need to value the expression of differences insofar as this is consistent with the kinds of agreements that are presupposed by the kinds of relationships we have.

The right to free speech (and the broader liberty from which it is inseparable) is necessary not merely to create wide-open forums where all ideas are welcome, but also to create narrow alliances based on robust shared convictions. It is needed also to enable every sort of association between these extremes. It is through relationships of all these sorts that liberty enriches our lives, and a true culture of free speech is one that recognizes and celebrates this, not one that parochially values ideological neutrality. Moreover, it is a culture that recognizes that the institutions within our society – the universities, the corner shops, the social media platforms, and the technological and financial infrastructure that underlies them – do not belong to us as a collective and do not exist for the sake of promoting some “public good.” Rather, these institutions belong to the specific individuals who create and sustain them (in myriad ways), and they exist for the sake of these individuals’ values.

There is such a thing as a culture of free speech, but it does not consist in any specific set of policies that a university, a publisher, a social media platform, a library, or a bookstore might adopt. Nor does it consist in ideological neutrality or welcoming of heterodoxy, for it can be embodied at least as fully by associations predicated on robust ideological agreements as by associations that are more welcoming of dissent. Wells and Fleming’s newspaper, the Free Speech , would not have been more aptly named if it had opened its editorial pages to those who condoned lynchings as well as those who opposed them. The paper was well named not because it was neutral, but because its editors were asserting their right to express their ideas (using their own resources), even in a context where they knew they might be met not only with disapproval, but with force .

In a true culture of free speech, even people who detest a speaker will rally in the face of such forcible attempts to silence him. Volunteers will step forward to provide any needed security, because it will be generally understood that everyone is violated when anyone is forcibly silenced. Attempted silencing will fail, because people will amplify the threatened speech, in the understanding that intimidation cannot succeed when people stand united against it.

Such a culture is not possible among people who imagine that freedom of speech requires – or even gently suggests – that we give a hearing or a platform to all speakers, regardless of the content of their convictions or of our own. To embrace free speech as a cultural value, we must understand that the right that is violated by the forcible suppression of speech is exercised when someone peacefully chooses to deny a speaker her support. We must grasp that freedom of speech is, like all freedom, an instance of the principle that human beings must deal with one another by reason and persuasion, rather than force. In order to live by this principle, we must be keenly aware of the difference between expressing one’s opinion and forcing oneself on others. It is this domain of peaceable expression that the right to free speech defines and sanctions. A culture of free speech is one in which individuals appreciate, utilize, and guard the full extent of this freedom.

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• Writers advocating a “free speech culture” in addition to the protections for free speech under the law include: Jacob Mchangama, Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media (New York: Basic Books: 2022); David French, “Campus Free Speech Can’t Survive Cultural Change,” The Atlantic , March 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/03/campus-free-speech-cant-survive-cultural-change-emma-camp-self-censorship/676573/ ; David French, “You Can Say That: Preserving Free Speech from Political Correctness,” John Locke Foundation (YouTube channel), posted December 11, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQF3HKcx52k&t=3065s ; Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, The Canceling of the American Mind (New York: Simon & Schuster: 2023), especially 293–313; Nico Perrino, “Free Speech Culture, Elon Musk, and Twitter,” FIRE blog, December 1, 2022,  https://www.thefire.org/news/free-speech-culture-elon-musk-and-twitter#:~:text=We%20need%20a%20free%20speech,ability%20to%20share%20our%20opinions ; Robert Tracinski, “We Need More Than the First Amendment, We Need a ‘Culture of Free Speech,’” Discourse , June 14, 2021, https://www.discoursemagazine.com/p/we-need-more-than-the-first-amendment-we-need-a-culture-of-free-speech ; Eugene Volokh, “Free Speech Rules, Free Speech Culture, and Legal Education,” Hofstra Law Review 51, no. 3 (June 2023); Nadine Strossen, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (New York: Oxford University Press, 2024) 9.
• On this aspect of the virtue of independence, see especially Leonard Peikoff, Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (Meridian, 1991), 251–59 and Tara Smith, Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2006), 126–28).
• Ayn Rand, “Man’s Rights.” in The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism (New York: Signet, 1964 Centennial edition), 110.
• Ida B. Wells, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells , 2d ed. (Negro American Biographies and Autobiographies) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020), 53.
• Wells, Crusade , 54.
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases , available online at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14975/14975-h/14975-h.htm .
• Wells-Barnett, Southern Horrors ,5–6.
• Regarding the attacks on free speech by Islamists, see especially Steve Simpson, ed., Defending Free Speech (Irvine, CA: Ayn Rand Institute Press, 2016), and Flemming Rose, The Tyranny of Silence (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2014).
• “Rev. Nightingale had, in the meantime, withdrawn from the paper. He had trouble with his congregation and he wanted to use the Free Speech to flay those who had opposed him and wanted to get rid of him. When we objected to the articles he wrote abusing his enemies, who were our supporters, he withdrew and we bought out his interest.” Wells, Crusade , 36.
• “Six weeks after the lynching the superintendent and treasurer of the City Railway Company came into the office of the Free Speech and asked us to use our influence with the colored people to get them to ride on the streetcars again.” Wells, Crusade , 47. “‘You see it’s a matter of dollars and cents with us. If we don’t look after the loss and remedy the cause the company will get somebody else who will.’ ‘So your own job then depends on Negro patronage?’ I asked.” Wells, Crusade , 48.
• “Of course the Free Speech had a very caustic comment on this particular incident and that type of minister. The preachers’ alliance at its meeting the following Monday morning voted to boycott the Free Speech because of that comment and the exposure of that incident. They sent the presiding elder of the district to the office to threaten us with the loss of their patronage and the fight they were going to make against us in their congregations. We answered this threat by publishing the names of every minister who belonged to the alliance in the next issue of the Free Speech , and told the community that these men upheld the immoral conduct of one of their number and asked if they were willing to support preachers who would sneak into their homes when their backs were turned and debauch their wives. Needless to say we never heard any more about the boycott, and the Free Speech flourished like a green bay tree.” Wells, Crusade , 36–37.
• Consider a situation in which one party might be described as “threatening” to disassociate from a second unless the second agrees to his terms. If we regard this literally as a threat that would make second party’s acceptance of the terms involuntary, then, in order to avoid threatening the second party, the first would have to continue associating with the second even on terms that the first finds unacceptable, and so the relationship would not be voluntary for the first party.
• The italicized formulation is a paraphrase of Rand, “Man’s Rights,” 110. For elaboration, see Leonard Peikoff, Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (New York: Dutton, 1991), 351–63; DarrylWright “‘A Human Society’: Rand’s Social Philosophy” in Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri, eds., A Companion to Ayn Rand (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016), 172–77; Gregory Salmieri, “Selfish Regard for the Rights of Others: Continuing a Discussion with Zwolinski, Miller, and Mossoff,” in Gregory Salmieri and Robert Mayhew, eds., Foundations of a Free Society: Reflections on Ayn Rand’s Political Philosophy (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), 184–92; and Onkar Ghate “Rand (contra Nozick) on Individual Rights and the Emergence and Justification of Government,” in Salmieri and Mayhew, Foundations ,211–19.
• Rand, “Man’s Rights.”
• I exclude here cases of defamation, on which see below, note 11.
• Wells, Crusade ,54–55. The power of disassociation is a theme in Wells’s autobiography, which begins with the story of her father leaving the man who was his employer, landlord, and former owner, over the latter’s attempt to pressure him into voting Democratic.
• A notable case of this sort of disassociation over ideology in American history is the boycotting by some Hollywood studios of Communist writers (and the much less remarked-on boycotting by many sympathetic to these Communists of those who had testified about Communist activity in Hollywood before the House Un-American Activities Committee). This episode is often represented as a violation of the Communists’ freedom of speech. Rand argued compellingly it was not. See Michael S. Berliner, ed., Letters of Ayn Rand (New York: Dutton, 1995),433–34, 435–36; Robert Mayhew, ed., Ayn Rand Answers: The Best of Her Q&A (New York: New American Library, 2005 Centennial edition), 80–85; David Harriman, ed., Journals of Ayn Rand (New York: Plume, 1999),366; Robert Mayhew, Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005), 84–93; John David Lewis and Gregory Salmieri, “A Philosopher on Her Times: Ayn Rand’s Political and Cultural Commentary,” in Gotthelf and Salmieri, Companion , 354–55.
• See Robert Garmong’s “The Arc of Liberalism” in Salmieri and Mayhew (eds.), Foundations of a Free Society .
• John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, in Mary Warnock, ed., Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Essay on Bentham (New York: Meridian, 1974), 130, 159.
• For example, Mill speaks of the nascent labor movement’s employing “a moral police, which occasionally becomes a physical one” to impose its opinions on employers and workers (Mill, On Liberty , 219). The moral police is presumably the body of union members voicing their disapproval of or disassociating from those who voice (or act on) opinions contrary to their own; it becomes a physical police (I presume) when it resorts to violence. In fact, many of the tactics of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century labor movement violated rights. As Rand puts the point: “An individual has no right to do a ‘sit‐in’ in the home or office of a person he disagrees with – and he does not acquire such a right by joining a gang. Rights are not a matter of numbers – and there can be no such thing, in law or in morality, as actions forbidden to an individual, but permitted to a mob” (Ayn Rand, “The Cashing-In: The Student ‘Rebellion,’” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Signet, 1967 Centennial edition), 291).
• On the fallacy of “package-dealing,” see Gregory Salmieri, “The Objectivist Epistemology,” in Gotthelf and Salmieri, Companion , 297–98, and the sources cited therein.
• Rand, “Man’s Rights,” 110.
• My point here is not about the specific charges (“conspiracy,” “murder,” “mayhem”) under which these actions are or ought to be prosecutable, as these may differ from one jurisdiction to the next. The point is that these actions are akin to the rights-violations cognized under such laws, and ought to be prosecutable for the same underlying reasons, whether under these laws or under separate laws prohibiting threats or incitement.
• Some of those behind the social media campaign that led to Paty’s death were (properly) prosecuted by the French authorities. Juliette Jabkhiro and Clotaire Achi, “Six French Teenagers Convicted in Connection with 2020 Beheading of Teacher Paty,” Reuters (website), December 28, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/six-teenagers-convicted-connection-with-2020-beheading-teacher-paty-2023-12-08/.
• Elan Journo, ed., Winning the Unwinnable War (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books: 2009); Leonard Peikoff, “Religious Terrorism vs. Free Speech,” Ayn Rand Institute (website), 1989, https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/foreign-policy/foreign-policy-more/religious-terrorism-vs-free-speech/.
• Fraud is not free speech, because a fraudster’s lies are a means of forcing himself on his victim, so that the transaction that takes place is not the one the victim consented to. Defamation (as distinct from mere criticizing or badmouthing) is a violation of a sort of property a person (or institution) has in his reputation – the same (broad) sort of property that is secured by trademark. Harry Binswanger explains: “Someone who impersonates me in order to sell to customers impressed by my reputation is, in effect, stealing this property from me (as well as defrauding the customers). And someone who defames me is damaging this property. The idea that a person can have property in his reputation follows from Rand’s view that the basis for a property right is an individual’s creation of something that is of material value.” (Harry Binswanger, “Egoism, Force, and the Need for Government,” in Salmieri and Mayhew, Foundations , 274).
• It is worth mentioning in this connection the American Civil Liberties Union’s 1977 defense of the National Socialists’ right to stage a march in Skokie, Illinois, which is much celebrated by those who think of themselves as free-speech absolutists. The Nazis had no right to hold such an event, because no one has the right to stage events of this kind. However, in a context where other ideological groups were permitted to hold such events on public property, it was violation of free speech for the Nazis to be excluded on ideological grounds. Rand explains: “You do not have the right to parade through the public streets or to obstruct public thoroughfares. You have the right of assembly, yes, on your own property, and on the property of your adherents or your friends. But nobody has the ‘right’ to clog the streets. The streets are only for passage. The hippies, in the ’60s, should have been forbidden to lie down on city pavements. (They used to lie down across a street and cause dreadful traffic snarls, in order to display their views, to attract attention, to register a protest.) If they were permitted to do it, the Nazis should be permitted as well. Properly, both should have been forbidden. They may speak, yes. They may not take action at whim on public property” (Ayn Rand, “The First Amendment and ‘Symbolic Speech,’” in Peter Schwartz, ed., Ayn Rand Column , rev. ed. (Irvine, CA: Ayn Rand Institute, 2015),117).
• On the issue of rights-violating protests generally, see Onkar Ghate’s talk “Questioning the Sacrosanct: Is There a Right to Protest?,” Salem Center for Policy (YouTube channel), November 2, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdpu2JzzhFs. On Occupy Wall Street, see James A. Anderson, “Some Say Occupy Wall Street Did Nothing. It Changed Us More than We Think,” Time ,November 15, 2021, https://time.com/6117696/occupy-wall-street-10-years-later/ . On pro-Palestinian protesters occupying thoroughfares, see “Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Shut Down Airport Highways and Bridges in Major Cities,” NPR (website), April 16, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244990246/pro-palestinian-demonstrators-shut-down-airport-highways-and-bridges . On their occupying campuses, see John McWhorter, “I’m a Columbia Professor. The Protests on My Campus Are Not Justice,” New York Times , John McWhorter newsletter, April 23, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/opinion/columbia-protests-israel.html and Lily Kepner, Skye Seipp, Ella McCarthy and Serena Lin, “UT-Austin Students Hold Pro-Palestinian Protest; at least 50 arrested,” Austin American-Statesman , April 25, 2024, https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/04/24/ut-austin-campus-student-protest-arrest-pro-palestine-protests-walk-out/73425149007 . On their occupying someone’s home, see Vimal Patel, “At Berkeley, a Protest at a Dean’s Home Tests the Limits of Free Speech,” New York Times ,April 12, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/us/uc-berkeley-palestinian-protest-free-speech.html .
• For information on the events at Berkeley from authors largely sympathetic to the protesting students, see Robert Cohen and Reginald E. Zelnik, eds., The Free Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press: 2002).
• Rand, “The Cashing-In,” 291.
• See Simpson, Defending Free Speech ,87–89.

For years, the collectivists have been propagating the notion that a private individual’s refusal to finance an opponent is a violation of the opponent’s right of free speech and an act of “censorship.”

• On restrictions of commercial speech, see: https://ij.org/issues/first-amendment/commercial-speech/ . On campaign finance laws as violations of free speech, see Simpson, Defending Free Speech , 93–108.
• On why the “separation of church and state” demanded by the First Amendment should be applied to ideas more generally, see Onkar Ghate, “A Wall of Separation between Church and State: Understanding This Principle’s Supporting Arguments and Far-Reaching Implications,” in Salmieri and Mayhew, Foundations , 283–303, reprinted as chapter 2 of this volume.
• On the evil of public education, see Nathaniel Branden, “Common Fallacies about Capitalism,” in Rand, Capitalism ,92–96. See also “Is Public Education Compatible with Free Speech?,” Salem Center for Policy (YouTube channel), November 2, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7zMtX0W82s , and Matt Bateman, “Public Schools Exacerbate the Culture Wars,” Montessorium (blog), November 17, 2021, https://montessorium.com/blog/public-schools-exacerbate-the-culture-wars .
• For example, Jordan Peterson’s free speech was violated by the College of Psychologists of Ontario when it disciplined him (threatening to revoke his license to practice psychology) because of his controversial statements on a number of subjects. (Tyler Dawson, “Read Jordan Peterson’s Tweets That Prompted Complaints to Psychologists’ College,” National Post , January 6, 2023, https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/read-jordan-petersons-tweets-that-prompted-complaints-to-psychologists-college ). But the underlying violation of free speech is the existence of the College itself as a regulatory body . An organization of psychologists making joint determinations about who is a qualified practitioner in their field may need to take cognizance of the practitioners’ opinions on a range of subjects (and of how they chose to express these opinions). And their doing so would be no violation of the freedom of speech if the organization were voluntary. However, when the decisions of the organization determine whether someone is to be legally allowed to practice, any consideration of such opinions becomes fraught. To minimize the evil inherent in the existence of such an organization, it is obligated to adopt the most neutral stance possible toward practitioners’ opinions, even if that reduces its work to a sort of box-checking exercise that is insufficient to make meaningful determinations about who is and is not fit to practice.
• Florida’s statute 501.2041(2)(b) demands a consistent standard for shadow-banning and deplatforming users on social media platforms ( http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0500-0599/0501/Sections/0501.2041.html ). Texas’s H.B. 20 bars social media platforms with more than fifty million active users from blocking, removing, or demonetizing content of users based on their views ( https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/872/billtext/html/HB00020F.HTM ). Both laws were enjoined by district courts as a result of facial First Amendment challenges. The Eleventh Circuit upheld the injunction against the Florida law, but the Fifth Circuit reversed the injunction of the Texas law, creating a circuit split. The Supreme Court vacated both circuit court holdings and remanded the cases “because neither the Eleventh Circuit nor the Fifth Circuit conducted a proper analysis of the facial First Amendment challenges to Florida and Texas laws regulating large internet platforms” ( Moody v. NetChoice , https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-277_d18f.pdf ). At present the district courts’ injunctions are in effect. The Supreme Court’s ruling makes clear that the specific provisions of the laws that were focused on by the circuit courts are unconstitutional and that the Fifth Circuit’s “decision rested on a serious misunderstanding of First Amendment precedent and principle,” so there is little doubt that the relevant previsions of the laws will ultimately be struck down (whether or not this facial challenge against the laws as wholes ultimately succeeds).
• For example, there are contexts in which burning a cross, drawing a swastika, or invoking the mottos or symbols of a violent group (such as ISIS, the Ku Klux Klan, or a street gang) could be reasonably understood as putting people on notice that they are subject to violence from these groups or as calling potential victims to the group’s attention. In such cases, the invocations could be tantamount to intimidation or coordination of criminal activity.
• Thus Wells’s right of free speech was violated when her contract as a public school teacher was not renewed because she had protested “conditions in the colored schools.” As she recounts the event: “No fault was found with my ability as a teacher or with my character, but the board had a copy of the Free Speech on file in the office showing criticism of them. They didn’t care to employ a teacher who had done this, and for that reason I had been left out.” (Wells, Crusade ,32–34) However, it would not have been a violation of Wells’s free speech rights if she had been fired by a private school for having published a similar criticism of it.
• Wells, Crusade , 48–49. For additional background on these events, see Damon Mitchell, “The People’s Grocery Lynching, Memphis, Tennessee,” JSTOR Daily (blog), January 24, 2018, https://daily.jstor.org/peoples-grocery-lynching/ .

Katie Shepherd and Mark Guarino, “Liberal Prosecutors Face Backlash over Lenient Charges Following Civil Unrest and Looting,” Washington Post , August 12, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/12/chicago-portland-protester-charges/ . Mariana Alfaro, “Trump Vows Pardons, Government Apology to Capitol Rioters if Elected,” Washington Post , September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardon/ .

• Surely racism (and cowardice concerning it) does not exist in America today at the scale and in the form that it did in Wells’s time, but it persists in various forms, and questions about the extent, nature, causes, and effects of racism in present-day America continue to be controversial. I will not go further into this question here, except to say that whatever is the case with racism in particular, we must be ever vigilant about the possibility of widespread cultural prejudices within our society (and in ourselves) that can pervert the course of justice in some of the ways described.
• See George H.W. Bush’s remarks in the wake of the Ayatollah’s call for Salman Rushdie’s murder, remarks which the New York Times characterized as “intended to express condemnation in a low-key manner” (Thomas L. Friedman, “Bush Finds Threat to Murder Author ‘Deeply Offensive,’” New York Times , February 22, 1989, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-bush.html ); George W. Bush’s official statement that “Islam Is Peace” in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks (“‘Islam Is Peace,’ Says President,” White House press release, September 17, 2001, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html ); Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President to the UN General Assembly,” White House press release, September 25, 2012, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly (“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam”); Donald Trump’s tweet that it was “dumb” for the Charlie Hebdo magazine to criticize Mohammed in a cartoon that thereby “provoked” a violent response by terrorists ( https://tinyurl.com/m8pr8yr2 ); David Frum, “Why Obama Won’t Talk about Islamic Terrorism,” Atlantic , February 16, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/why-obama-wont-talk-about-islamic-terrorism/385539/ (Obama describing terrorist attacks as “random” in order to avoid describing the perpetrators’ religious motives); Elan Journo, “After Orlando: Why Trump and Clinton Both Get the Jihadists Wrong,” in Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo, eds., Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11 , 2d expanded ed. (Santa Ana, CA: Ayn Rand Institute Press, 2021), 166–68 (leading presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, “have put forward views that negate the ideological character of the enemy”).
• See Journo, Winning the Unwinnable War ; Ghate and Journo, Failing to Confront ; and Leonard Peikoff’s article following the 9/11 attacks, “End States Who Sponsor Terrorism,” in Ghate and Journo, Failing to Confront , xvii–xxii, https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/foreign-policy/foreign-policy-more/end-states-who-sponsor-terrorism/ .
• For example, many of the organizations mentioned were subjects of the COINTELPRO, a counterintelligence program run by the FBI between 1956 and 1971. On this program, see the Church Committee’s report, https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/church-committee.htm NS, and David Cunningham, There’s Something Happening Here: The New Left, the Klan, and FBI Counterintelligence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004).
• On the problems created by misconceptualizing in this field, see Tara Smith, “The Free Speech Vernacular: Conceptual Confusions in the Way We Speak about Speech,” chapter 4 in her The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom (Santa Ana, CA: Ayn Rand Institute Press: 2024).
• See Ghate, “A Wall of Separation,” and Onkar Ghate, “Church-State Separation: A Principle, Not a ‘Wall,’” New Ideal , March 27, 2019,https://newideal.aynrand.org/church-state-separation-a-principle-not-a-wall-part-1/.
• In situations where there is no government (or the government is irredeemably unjust), the principle of rights demands that a just government be formed, and it obligates those living in the society either to work toward forming one (where there is any possibility of doing so) or else attempt to escape to a more moral society.
• Mill, On Liberty , 163–64.
• Mill, On Liberty , 164.
• The law firm Davis Polk has rescinded offers to law students from Columbia and Harvard on these grounds: Adam Gabbatt, “Leading US Law Firm Says It Rescinded Job Offers to Students Who Backed Israel-Hamas Letters,” The Guardian , October 18, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/18/student-palestine-letter-harvard-columbia-us-law-firm-jobs-revoked.
• https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/ .
• Elon Musk (@elonmusk), “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto town square,” Twitter, March 26, 2022, 1:51 p.m., https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507777261654605828 .
• Elon Musk (@elonmusk), “Dear Twitter Advertisers,” Twitter, October 27, 2022, 9:08 a.m., https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728/photo/2 .
• Elon Musk (@elonmusk), “By ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law,” Twitter, April 26, 2022, 3:33 p.m., https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1519036983137509376 .
• “Censorship” as used to include refusals-to-platform is an “anti-concept” – “an unnecessary and rationally unusable term designed to replace and obliterate some legitimate concept” (Ayn Rand, “Credibility and Polarization,” Ayn Rand Letter 1, no. 1 (October 11, 1971), 1. In particular, the term “censorship” was used by socialists in the mid-twentieth century to obliterate the legitimate concepts of “censorship” and “free speech.” Rand forcefully differentiates such refusals-to-platform from censorship: “‘Censorship’ is a term pertaining only to governmental action. No private action is censorship. No private individual or agency can silence a man or suppress a publication; only the government can do so. The freedom of speech of private individuals includes the right not to agree, not to listen and not to finance one’s own antagonists” (Rand, “Man’s Rights,” 116). The point is not merely semantic. If one accepts that there is a right to freedom of speech (as elaborated in the first section of this paper), then there can be no grounds for any concept that includes only some acts of content moderation (which are exercises of this right) and all acts of genuine censorship (which are violations of this same right).
• Of course the First Amendment, like all law (even fundamental law), is ultimately passed by the people’s representatives and can be changed by them in the future. Its status as a law reflects the will of the people whose duly elected representatives ratified it. But, what they were doing in ratifying it was recognizing and protecting a right that is inherent in human nature, and this is what makes it a just law. This relation between laws and rights is well reflected in the concluding text of the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty (which was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, shepherded through the Virginia legislature by James Madison, and then served as a model for the First Amendment): “And though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding assemblies constituted with powers equal to our own, and that, therefore, to declare this act to be irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind; and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right” (Va. Code Ann. § 57-1, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title57/chapter1/).
• American Association of University Professors, “1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure,” 14, https://www.aaup.org/file/1940%20Statement.pdf .
• American Association of University Professors, “1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure,” 293, 296–97, https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/A6520A9D-0A9A-47B3-B550-C006B5B224E7/0/1915Declaration.pdf.
• AAUP, “1915 Declaration,” 297.
• AAUP, “1915 Declaration,” 300.
• Tiffany Hsu, “Twitter’s Advertisers Pull Back as Layoffs Sweep Through Company,” New York Times , November 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/technology/twitter-advertisers.html ; Nicholas Reimann, “Musk Says Apple Cutting Twitter Ads – Here Are Other Companies Rethinking Their Ties,” Forbes.com (website), November 28, 022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/11/28/musk-says-apple-cutting-twitter-ads-here-are-the-other-companies-rethinking-their-ties/ ; Kari Paul, “General Mills Latest to Halt Twitter Ads as Musk Takeover Sparks Brand Exodus,” The Guardian , November 3, 2022,  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/03/general-mills-twitter-ads-halt-musk-takeover ; Kate Congers and Tiffany Hsu, “More Advertisers Halt Spending on X in Growing Backlash Against Musk,” New York Times ,November 18, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/technology/elon-musk-twitter-x-advertisers.html .
• Elon Musk, “Dear Twitter Advertisers.”
• Elon Musk (@elonmusk), “Premium+ also has no ads on your timeline,” X, November 17, 2023, 9:48 p.m., https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1725707584555143602 .
• “Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover,” Associated Press , August 6, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/x-sues-advertisers-unilever-cvs-mars-orsted-673d1ae88e9fb0ca5b170d238739453e . Relevant Tweets: https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1820838134470328676 , https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1820849880283107725?lang=en , https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1820849358402670800?lang=en , https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1820852107932545242 , https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1820851090138505570.
• Josh Halliday, “Twitter’s Tony Wang: ‘We Are the Free Speech Wing of the Free Speech Party,’” The Guardian ,March 22, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/22/twitter-tony-wang-free-speech.
• Sinead McSweeney (Twitter’s vice president for public policy and communications in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) in 2017 testimony before British parliament (Shona Ghosh, “Twitter Was Once a Bastion of Free Speech but Now Says It’s ‘No Longer Possible to Stand Up for All Speech,’” Business Insider , December 19, 2017,  https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-no-longer-possible-to-stand-up-for-all-speech-2017-12?r=nordic).
• Ashe Schow, “Twitter CEO: ‘I Don’t Believe That We Can Afford to Take a Neutral Stance Anymore,’” Daily Wire , February 11, 2019, https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-ceo-i-dont-believe-we-can-afford-take-ashe-schow ; “Jack Dorsey,” SamHarris.org (website), interview, February 5, 2019, https://samharris.org/podcasts/148-jack-dorsey/.
• The terms “left” and “right” as they are used in contemporary political discourse name rival tribes, each of which is united by its fear and hatred of the other, rather than by a shared ideology. On the constitution and history of these tribes (and the various ideas current in each of them), see Nikos Sotirakopoulos, Identity Politics and Tribalism: The New Culture Wars (Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic, 2021).
• Elizabeth Dwoskin and Tony Romm, “Facebook Purged over 800 U.S. Accounts and Pages for Pushing Political Spam,” Washington Post ,October 11, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/11/facebook-purged-over-accounts-pages-pushing-political-messages-profit/ ; “Removing Additional Inauthentic Activity from Facebook,” Meta (website), October 11, 2018, https://about.fb.com/news/2018/10/removing-inauthentic-activity/ ; Helen Lewis, “What You Can’t Say on YouTube,” The Atlantic , March 10, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/youtube-content-moderation-rules/673322/ ; Sam Levin, “YouTube’s Small Creators Pay Price of Policy Changes after Logan Paul Scandal,” The Guardian ,January 18, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/18/youtube-creators-vloggers-ads-logan-paul ; Jack Nicas, “Google’s YouTube Has Continued Showing Brands’ Ads With Racist and Other Objectionable Videos,” Wall Street Journal ,March 24, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/googles-youtube-has-continued-showing-brands-ads-with-racist-and-other-objectionable-videos-1490380551 ; Alexi Mostrous, “Big Brands Fund Terror Through Online Adverts,” Sunday Times , February 9, 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/big-brands-fund-terror-knnxfgb98 ;  Avi Selk, “Facebook Told Two Women Their Pro-Trump Videos Were ‘Unsafe,’” Washington Post , April 10, 2018,  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/10/facebook-accused-of-deeming-black-pro-trump-sisters-unsafe/ ; Ashley Gold, “‘We’ve Been Censored,’ Diamond and Silk Tell Congress,” Politico , April 26, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/26/diamond-and-silk-congress-hearing-1116887 .
• On the lawsuit, see Prager University v. Google LLC, No. 18-15712, slip op. (9th Cir. Feb. 26, 2020), https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/02/26/18-15712.pdf ; Nancy Scola, “Federal Court Tosses Conservatives’ First Amendment Suit against YouTube,” Politico ,February 26, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/26/youtube-court-first-amendment-117769 ; NetChoice, Letter to Sen. Ted Cruz, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Committee on the Judiciary, re: Hearing to Examine Google on Censorship Through Search Engines, July 15, 2019, https://netchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NetChoice-comment-for-Sen-Judiciary-hearing-16-Jul-2019-1.pdf .
• On the shooting, see Nellie Bowles and Jack Nicas, “YouTube Attacker’s Complaints Echoed Fight over Ad Dollars,” New York Times ,April 4, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/technology/youtube-attacker-demonetization.html .
• Kate Conger and Mike Isaac, “In Reversal, Twitter Is No Longer Blocking New York Post Article,” New York Times ,October 16, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/technology/twitter-new-york-post.html ; Noah Manskar, “Jack Dorsey Says Blocking Post ’s Hunter Biden Story Was ‘Total Mistake’ – But Won’t Say Who Made It,” New York Post ,March 25, 2021, https://nypost.com/2021/03/25/dorsey-says-blocking-posts-hunter-biden-story-was-total-mistake/ .
• Kate Conger, Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, “Twitter and Facebook Lock Trump’s Accounts after Violence on Capitol Hill,” New York Times , January 6, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/technology/capitol-twitter-facebook-trump.html ; Will Oremus, “Tech Giants Banned Trump. But Did They Censor Him?,” Washington Post , January 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/07/trump-facebook-ban-censorship/ .
• Harris is especially good in his opening remarks on free speech in episode 344 of his podcast, https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/344-the-war-in-gaza , and the two discuss their approaches to being a public intellectual (and engaging with social media) in the first thirty-three minutes of Harris’s appearance on Peterson’s podcast, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d3sk9gPfOA&t=207s .
• Sam Harris, “Closing My Patreon Account,” Patreon email, https://mailchi.mp/samharris/closing-my-patreon-account .
• Jordan Peterson, “Patreon Account Deletion,” video, Jordan B. Peterson (YouTube channel), posted January 15, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrZDcEix7uk .
• CEO’s position statement, December 21, 2023, https://substack.com/@hamish/note/c-45811343 .
• Jonathan M. Katz, “Substack Has a Nazi Problem,” The Atlantic , November 28, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/substack-extremism-nazi-white-supremacy-newsletters/676156/ .
• CEO’s position statement, https://substack.com/@hamish/note/c-45811343 . Bryan Caplan, “Substack versus the Slippery Slope,” January 28, 2024, https://betonit.substack.com/p/substack-versus-the-slippery-slope .
• https://web.archive.org/web/20220501001906/https://parler.com/ .
• Jack Nicas and Davey Alba, “Amazon, Apple and Google Cut Off Parler, an App That Drew Trump Supporters,” New York Times , Jan. 9, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/technology/apple-google-parler.html ; Karen Weise and Nicole Perlroth, “Parler Accuses Amazon of Breaking Antitrust Law in Suspending Hosting Services,” New York Times, Jan. 11, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/business/parler-amazon.html .
• Aatif Sulleyman, “Parler’s Amy Peikoff Says Tech Giants Use ‘1984’ Like ‘An Instruction Manual,’” Newsweek , Jan 12, 2021, https://www.newsweek.com/parler-amy-peikoff-says-tech-giants-use-1984-like-instruction-manual-1560730 .
• Vimal Patel, “UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired?,” New York Times ,March 13, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/us/upenn-law-professor-racism-freedom-speech.html . Ethan Young, “Leaked documents shed new light on recommended Amy Wax sanctions, her appeal to Penn,” Daily Pennsylvanian ,2/09/2024, https://www.thedp.com/article/2024/02/amy-wax-hearing-leaked-documents-penn .
• Jodi Dean, “Palestine Speaks for Everyone,” Verso (blog), April 9, 2024, https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/palestine-speaks-for-everyone .
• Mark D. Gearan, “A Message from President Mark D. Gearan,” Hobart and William Smith Colleges (website), April 13, 2024, https://www.hws.edu/offices/president/statements/a-message-from-president-mark-d-gearan.aspx.
• W.E.B. du Bois Movement School (@AbolitionSchool), “Jodi Dean has been banned from the classroom for speaking the truth,” X, April 14, 2024, 7:58 p.m., https://twitter.com/AbolitionSchool/status/1779660609367281920; Brian Leiter, “Brazen Violation of Contractual Rights of a Faculty Member at Hobart & William Smith Colleges,” Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog ,April 14, 2024, https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2024/04/brazen-violation-of-contractual-rights-of-a-faculty-member-at-hobart-william-smith-colleges.html ; Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAmari), “I fiercely, thoroughly disagreed with Jodi’s piece,” X, April 13, 2024, 4:17 p.m., https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1779242644658393340.
• Edward Alsworth Ross, Social Control: A Survey of the Foundations of Order (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2009), 52.
• “Warning Against Coolie ‘Natives’ and Japanese,” San Francisco Call and Post , May 8, 1900, 12, https://www.newspapers.com/image/78268425/?match=1&terms=%22vessel%20bringing%20Japanese%22.
• Jane Stanford, Letter of May 17, 1900, quoted in Warren J. Samuels, “The Firing of E. A. Ross from Stanford University: Injustice Compounded by Deception?,” Journal of Economic Education , Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring, 1991), pp. 183–90 ( https://www.jstor.org/stable/1182424 ).
• On the Ross affair, see (in addition to the sources cited in the previous notes): Orrin Leslie Elliott, Stanford University: The First Twenty-Five Years (Stanford University Press, 1937), 326–78; Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896 (Oxford History of the United States) (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 704–706; Brian Eule, “Watch Your Words, Professor,” Stanford Magazine , January/February2015, https://stanfordmag.org/contents/watch-your-words-professor .
• “Stanford History,” Stanford University (website), https://facts.stanford.edu/about/.
• Compare their mission statements: “Mission Statement,” Princeton University (website), https://www.princeton.edu/meet-princeton/mission-statement , and “What We Value,” University of Chicago (website), https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/what-we-value .
• Kalven Committee, “Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action,” University of Chicago (website), November 11, 1967, https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/KalvenRprt_0.pdf.
• Christopher L. Eisgruber, “Princeton’s Tradition of Institutional Restraint,” Princeton Alumni Weekly , November 7, 2022, https://paw.princeton.edu/article/princeton-president-christopher-eisgruber-tradition-institutional-restraint.
• Jacob Howland, “College of the Future,” City Journal ,Winter 2023, https://www.city-journal.org/article/college-of-the-future#:~:text=We%20care%20about%20academic%20freedom,and%20has%20encouraged%20political%20conformity .
• Howland, “College of the Future.”
• Brian Armstrong, “Coinbase Is a Mission Focused Company,” Coinbase(website), September 27, 2020, https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-is-a-mission-focused-company .
• Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 377 (1927) (Brandeis, J., concurring).
• On this story, see Mateo Gutierrez, Lyla Bhalla-Ladd and Mohammed Zain Shafi Khan, “Provost Announces Valedictorian Won’t Speak at Graduation in May,” USCAnnenbergMedia.com (website), April 15, 2024, https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2024/04/15/provost-announces-valedictorian-wont-speak-at-graduation-in-may/ ; Stephanie Saul, “U.S.C. Cancels Valedictorian’s Speech After Pro-Israel Groups Object,” New York Times , April 16, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/us/usc-valedictorian-speech-gaza-war.html ; Jaweed Kaleem, “USC Valedictorian’s Grad Speech Is Canceled: ‘The University Has Betrayed Me,’” Los Angeles Times , April 16, 2024, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-16/usc-valedictorian-banned-graduation-speech .
• Regarding Milo Yiannopoulos, see Susan Svrluga, “Milo Speech at U-Md. Canceled Because Security Fee Was Too High; Supporters Call It Censorship,” Washington Post , October 25, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/10/25/milo-speech-at-u-md-canceled-because-security-fee-was-too-high-supporters-call-it-censorship/ . Regarding Ben Shapiro, see Eugene Volokh, “Cal State L.A. Cancels Speech by Conservative Writer Ben Shapiro [UPDATE: Cal. State L.A. Is Allowing Shapiro to Speak After All],” Washington Post ,February 25, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/25/cal-state-l-a-cancels-speech-by-conservative-writer-ben-shapiro/ . I know about the canceled Brook events from personal communication with Brook.

Gregory Salmieri

Gregory Salmieri , PhD in philosophy, is a senior scholar of philosophy in the Salem Center for Policy at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. He holds the Brigham Fellowship for the Study of Objectivism and is the director of the center’s Program for Objectivity in Thought, Action, and Enterprise. He is co-editor of A Companion to Ayn Rand and Foundations of a Free Society and has published and lectured on epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophies of Aristotle and Ayn Rand.

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Grieving Ohio Father Tells Trump and Vance to Stop Talking About His Son

Nathan Clark says the candidates are exploiting his son’s death in a crash caused by an immigrant outside the small city of Springfield. “This needs to stop now.”

Ohio Dad Asks Trump Ticket to Stop Using Son’s Death for ‘Political Gain’

Aiden clark was killed when an immigrant’s minivan crashed into a school bus he was travelling in last year..

I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man. I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt. But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone. They make it seem as though our wonderful Aiden appreciates your hate. Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose. And speaking of morally bankrupt politicians, Bernie Moreno, Chip Roy, JD Vance and Donald Trump, they have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now. They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed to mention, Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio.

By Miriam Jordan

Barely an hour before the presidential debate the father of an 11-year-old Ohio boy killed when an immigrant’s minivan crashed into a school bus lashed out at Donald J. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.

Speaking during public comment at a regular meeting of the Springfield City Commission, the father, Nathan Clark, called them “morally bankrupt” politicians spreading hate at the expense of his son, Aiden. Mr. Clark said, “This needs to stop now.”

The death of Aiden Clark, who was thrown from the bus after the minivan driver, who is Haitian, veered into oncoming traffic just over a year ago, shook residents of Springfield, a blue-collar town between Dayton and Columbus. And it touched off a wave of angry rhetoric over the thousands of immigrants from Haiti who have settled in the area since the pandemic.

But it was not until Mr. Vance took note in July that the city was thrust into the contentious national immigration debate.

Since then, Mr. Vance has been highlighting the influx of Haitians to Springfield as a detrimental consequence of the Biden administration’s border policies. The immigrants are in the country legally with authorization to work, and they have moved to the Springfield area to fill jobs in manufacturing and other industries.

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