Confidence · Feelings and energy
speak up for yourself
defend yourself
To express your needs or opinions clearly when others may ignore them.
This vs that
You need to speak up for yourself.
You need to stand firm.
Hear it in real life
Did you tell them the booking was wrong?
Not at first, but I eventually spoke up for myself.
If your colleague keeps taking credit for your work, you need to speak up for yourself.
Which sounds natural?
Psst — which one would you actually say?
This phrasal verb is the normal supportive way to tell someone to defend their interests.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: You need to speak yourself up at work.
Say: You need to speak up for yourself at work.
Keep the phrasal verb and the reflexive phrase together.
Build it
How it fits in a sentence.
speak up for yourself; speak up for someone
Phrases to borrow
More for talking about confidence.
I'm getting the hang of ___
I'm getting the hang of driving now.
I know what I'm doing
Don't worry; I know what I'm doing.
Confidence words
Feelings and energy · Confidence: the words around “speak up for yourself”.
More connectionsMore confidence words8
Compare it
Where this one sits next to the phrases it gets mixed up with.
Your turn: say it out loud
You need to speak up for yourself.
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
speak up for yourself
defend yourself
“If your colleague keeps taking credit for your work, you need to speak up for yourself.”
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