How to Speak Up, According to Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is an activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate known for advocating for girls’ education. Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan, the largest town in the Swat Valley region. Growing up, she loved going to school, but she found that her ambitions conflicted with the norms that granted boys greater privileges in her society.

When she was eleven, Malala and her family fled their home to nearby Shangla, Pakistan, as the Taliban took over Mingora. Malala began blogging under a pseudonym for a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) blog, where she expressed her fears and anxieties about the toll of the ongoing war in Pakistan. Months later, they returned to Swat Valley.

Malala’s unabashed critiques caught the attention of the Taliban. Malala heard rumors that she might become a target. In the fall of 2012, a gunman jumped onto a school bus, which was transporting Malala, and shot her in the head. She survived the attack, but her road to recovery was harrowing; she had to relearn how to walk and talk, and she underwent numerous surgeries to restore nerve function to her face and repair her fractured skull. Still, with the unflinching support of her family and friends, Malala thrived.

Speaking up is an important communication skill, and it can also lead to change. Throughout Malala’s political activism, she has championed the idea that speaking up can help eradicate societal injustices. “A lot of our institutions and a lot of our systems are … sexist or they’re racist,” she says. “Consciously or unconsciously, they are showing biases against people based on their identity, their gender, their skin color, their background, their income level.”

For Malala, speaking up involves moving beyond merely accepting things as they are. When you express your opinions with persistence, you increase your confidence and the confidence of others. This builds upon the work of advocates past and present and can inspire continued change. “When we look at history, we see … these are people who inspire us, who have had difficult journeys, who did not give up against those atrocities that they were seeing in their life, who raised their voice, who took action, who had long struggles in their life … and they made change possible,” she says. “And they’re giving us a message that we need to carry this struggle ahead, that it is not completed yet. They have done their bit. Now it’s our turn to do our bit to ensure that we create a world where everybody is treated fairly and equally.”

Whether you’re public speaking or speaking up at work, you may have a hard time sharing your opinions. Here are Malala’s tips for becoming more comfortable with expressing yourself:

• Avoid self-doubt. Malala explains that self-confidence is crucial to speaking up. “What I have learned from my personal experience is that we should not doubt ourselves,” she says. “We should not underestimate ourselves. I have seen many people, especially men, who overestimate themselves. It’s okay for us women to be confident in ourselves and not to underestimate ourselves, our skills, our talents, and … be out there, speak in front of gatherings, speak in a room, express our opinions.”
• Brush off negativity. According to Malala, you should not allow dissent to dissuade you from speaking up—and opposition can actually be a sign that someone has heard you. “I wish that we were in a situation where we speak out about issues that we care for, and we hear positive [responses],” she says. “That is the ideal scenario. But even if you hear [a] negative response, I also take that positively … because I know that my voice is making an impact. As soon as you hear voices in response, maybe negative, maybe positive, that is a sign that your voice is actually making an impact. It actually matters. It’s actually saying something to them. It’s actually challenging somebody’s point of view and perspective. Your voice is creating change.”
• Challenge yourself. Expressing your viewpoint can be uncomfortable in difficult conversations, but it’s a sensation you must overcome if you want others to hear you. “Oftentime, women’s opinions are ignored. Even when women share their opinions, they are told that it is not as important as the men’s opinion,” Malala explains. “Even for me, personally, when I was in university, I realized that boys speak more often and more loudly than girls. And I, myself, was in that position where I felt like this is happening right in front of me. And you realize that it’s not just that it’s other women, but you, yourself, are also part of it. And it is very difficult then to challenge yourself, to ask yourself to speak more loudly and to believe in yourself.”
• Commit to your responsibility. Malala believes people have an obligation to themselves and others to point out infractions against humanity. “Personal advocacy is when you decide not to remain silent in front of an injustice that is against you or against anyone else, and you decide to take action. And for me, that is important because we, as individuals, have a responsibility to challenge any injustice that we see.”
• Elevate the voices of others. Injustices that affect women are especially important to Malala, and she emphasizes how powerful it can be when women help other women. This is something you can practice in a work environment by supporting other team members. “Women do have a difficult time expressing themselves,” Malala says. “They oftentime lack confidence, and there are so many reasons behind that. It is either because of the pressure that they face in society, it’s because of the gender stereotypes that they see—around them, from screen to what else they see in their community, and in their workspace. I think in all of this, the role that women play as each other’s friends and allies is also important. Because when we are there with each other, it can really give us … that level of comfort where we can express our opinions more openly.”
• Keep going. Speaking up even one time can be powerful, but Malala emphasizes that effecting real change usually requires forging ahead. “Starting your activism and … bringing your voice into the conversation is already contributing to the change because that is when society all of a sudden starts questioning itself,” Malala explains. “And one thing I have learned is that when you take a step that is a bit uncommon in society ... it could be a bit difficult initially, they might be hesitant, they might be reluctant to hear it. So it’s important to … be a bit patient, keep your work going. … Do not stop. Because with time, you will realize that people will get used to it. It becomes a norm.”

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