Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully with Elaine Lin Hering

Presented on: Thursday, September 25th 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT




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This talk has been provided in partnership with Authors365 which is striving to bring business speakers to companies and organizations of all sizes.
 
 
What if silence is costing your team its best ideas? What if it’s holding you back from reaching your full potential? In times of rapid change and high complexity, silence is not neutral—it’s a barrier to innovation, inclusion, and meaningful progress.

In this live, interactive author talk, leadership expert and former Harvard Law School lecturer Elaine Lin Hering offers a bold yet compassionate framework for reclaiming our voices. Based on her widely acclaimed book Unlearning Silence, this event is for anyone who has felt pressure to stay quiet, play small, or avoid rocking the boat.

You’ll explore why silence shows up in our daily lives—not just in what we don’t say, but in how systems, cultures, and internalized stories teach us to withhold—and how to build the skills, awareness, and courage to change that. Expect thought-provoking storytelling, practical guidance, and a powerful call to action to unlearn silence—not just for ourselves, but for the people and spaces we influence every day.
 
Practical Tools and Strategies You’ll Gain:
  • How to recognize the hidden ways we’re taught to stay silent—and how to disrupt that conditioning.
  • Techniques for speaking up effectively, even in high-stakes or high-power situations.
  • Ways to foster psychological safety and elevate unheard voices in teams and organizations.
  • Strategies for leaders to model and support authentic communication and dissent.
  • Tools to navigate the internal tension between wanting to speak and fearing the consequences.

Ideal Participants for This Conversation:

  • Early- and mid-career professionals looking to grow their confidence and communication skills.
  • Managers and team leads seeking to build more inclusive, high-performing teams.
  • HR, DEI, and L&D professionals focused on cultural transformation.
  • Senior leaders ready to challenge norms and empower innovation through listening and voice.
  • Anyone who has ever held back—and is ready to reclaim the power of their voice.
Make this your moment to step into more powerful, intentional communication. Register today!
 

About the Author: Elaine Lin Hering, author of the national bestseller Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully, is a facilitator, speaker, and writer. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. She has trained mental health professionals, political officials, religious communities, and leaders at companies including American Express, Capital One, Google, Nike, and many more. 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.

 

The views expressed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by West Virginia University.