How to Use Your Voice to Spark Change
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A mom who asks her child’s principal to let kids with special needs spend more time in mainstream classes.
An artist who creates statement-making and boundary-pushing pieces.
An employee who insists her boss try harder to hire diverse voices onto their team and suggests practical ways they can go about it.
A woman who calls out “harmless” sexist or racist jokes and comments in social settings, despite the fact that she’s mocked for doing so.
A pastor who stands in front of her congregation and declares that “Black Lives Matter.”
These are all real-life examples of women who used their voice to spark change. As you can see, using your voice can look many different ways.
We all have a voice.
If you’re white and live in America or a similarly wealthy country, your voice has more power than other people’s—you were essentially born with a megaphone, which is not something to feel guilty about... it’s a gift that should be used well.
But just because you were born with a megaphone doesn’t mean you have to use it to shout during a demonstration, or even out in public. No matter who you are, you can use your voice in ways that are consistent with your values and priorities (and if that happens to be at a march, by all means… carry on.)
Using your voice to spark change simply means speaking up on behalf of someone or something in order to get those in power to change the rules (whether they do so readily or begrudgingly.)
Basically, it’s asking for what you want to see in the world.
When we use our voice to make change, the first thing to figure out is who we need to speak to. And that depends on what which rules we want to change.
If we’re trying to change rules that are legislative, bureaucratic, corporate, or organizational, we need to address politicians, administrators, bosses, or leaders.
But if we’re trying to change social rules/standards/expectations by swaying public opinion, we need to address social influencers, artists, celebrities, or even (*gasp*) regular people like you and me... because we’ve all got some level of influence.
Every single one of us is involved in structures or systems where we could speak up and ask for change.
Here are three simple ideas for how you can use your voice in this way:
Asking the manager of your local grocery store to stock more fair-trade chocolate/sugar/tea/coffee.
Suggesting to your local coffee shop that they use compostable cups.
Sit down with your religious leader to discuss the way race and gender are portrayed in the kid’s curriculum.
Ask your professor to integrate books by women and people of color into their course.
Or, you could use more traditional methods—you could call your representative (they can’t truly represent you if you don’t tell them what you want!), sign or start a petition, participate in a demonstration, put up a yard sign, meet with your city councilor, or… vote!
There is even some validity to online “slacktivism” like posting, retweeting, or making your voice heard online. However… while online activism can sometimes be used to great effect, please don’t consider online activism a substitute for showing up in person. In-person communication is exponentially more powerful than anything you say online.
Change won’t happen until someone asks for it.
If you think you can play that role, I’d encourage you to step into it. Too many women have been told that’s it’s not their place to speak up and we are all worse off as a result. We need more female voices shaping our culture, society, and world!
Ask yourself:
What issues get me fired up? Why?
What problems do I see around me that I wish I could change?
When was the last time I felt like I needed to stand up to or for something, but didn’t? What was is? What do I wish I would’ve done or said?
Who has the power to change the rules for that? On a local level? On a global level?
How can I make my voice heard by those people?
For more inspiration and insight into how you can go about using your voice to spark change, check out the stories in this category, download our workbook (it’ll help you figure out what issues you care about and how you can make a difference in that issue.). Or, shoot me an email and we’ll set up a time to chat on the phone. I’m here to help!
On the other hand, if using your voice just doesn’t feel like you, or if you don’t see a need for it in the issue you’re passionate about, that’s ok too! Check out the other ways to spark change: with your spending or your influence.
