Unlearning Silence with Elaine Lin Hering

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Elaine Lin Hering is a facilitator, speaker, and writer. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. In her career, Elaine has worked on six continents and with a wide range of corporate, government, and nonprofit clients. She has trained mental health professionals, political officials, religious communities, and leaders at companies including American Express, Capital One, Google, Nike, Novartis, Shell, Pixar, and the Red Cross. Elaine is a former Managing Partner of Triad Consulting Group and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, specializing in dispute resolution, mediation, and negotiation.

Book: UNLEARNING SILENCE: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully

Throughout life, we’re often encouraged to just speak up! But it’s never that easy. Race, gender, sexuality, identity, and power are instrumental factors that decide who feels comfortable sharing their thoughts— and as many of us know, having a seat at the table doesn’t mean that your voice is actually welcome. Why speak up if you know that it won’t be received well, and in fact, often makes things worse?

This groundbreaking handbook tackles questions including:

• What does silence look like? Silence is not always literal. Sometimes we feel pressured to conform to dominant ideas, or we hedge and sugarcoat our needs until no one can hear them.

• Why do we self-censor? Whether our livelihoods are at stake, we don’t want to upset our loved ones, or we’ve absorbed unconscious beliefs, there are valid reasons we feel the need to be silent.

• How do we find our own voice? Maybe we’ve played by others’ rules for so long that we don’t remember our values and strengths. Hering offers tips to rediscover your voice and use it well.

• How can we support others? Even the most well-meaning of us unintentionally silence others, but there are practices we can implement to foster equity and collaboration.

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