A short, single-speaker YouTube coaching clip by Raele Altano (Well/Well with Raele) offering a beginner-friendly guide to self-advocacy. The speaker provides soft, diplomatic phrasing and example lines (e.g., positive reinforcement openings, "Would you be open to this?", I-statements) and tips to avoid permission-seeking language and soften requests while remaining assertive and kind.
Chapters
If advocating for yourself and your wants and needs is something that you're not used to, here is a little beginner's guide to get you started with some soft approaches. Consider starting your statement with a positive reinforcement. So something like thank you for offering that. I'm gonna go with the other option this time, but appreciate you thinking of me. That's so kind of you. I'm all set for now, but maybe another time. Now here are a few prompts to help you introduce what you want to say. Would you be open to this? One's a great alternative to saying would it be okay? And always feeling like you're asking for permission. I'd actually prefer if as you get more comfortable with this, you can drop the actually altogether. I'd appreciate if starting with I statements is so powerful. Do you mind? It's diplomatic, courteous, and respectful. I'd really love. There are different approaches to speaking up and advocating for yourself, and you can find a good balance between being assertive and still kind versus being aggressive. I'm well with Rael, your communication coach, and I hope these were helpful.
