Ouch! Your Silence Hurts explores the role of the bystander who sees and hears stereotypical comments or jokes that are demeaning or disrespectful.

This enhanced streaming courses utilizes 3 powerful videos to show how anyone can move from being a passive bystander to being an ally. This course complements the Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts Enhances Streaming course also available here on OpenSesame.

Ouch! Your Silence Hurts asks the questions:

What does it mean when you see something but don't speak up?
If you want to speak up, what can you say?
As a leader, how can you inspire people to speak up when they see and hear things?

Many people say they want to speak up when they see others stereotyped, disrespected, or demeaned. But they stand by silently because of discomfort or the fear of saying the wrong thing. They may turn away thinking “who am I to get involved, this isn't my business.” In fact, as a bystander, you ARE part of the conversation. You are the audience. Your silence allows the disrespectful behavior to continue. Your silence hurts.

Ouch! Your Silence Hurts challenges viewers by asking, "How will you personally respond next time you witness somebody being treated with disrespect?"

In the Ouch! video, you'll hear about the role of the silent bystander. When you hear a disrespectful comment or joke, you have a choice to either:

Reinforce it by laughing or joining in.
Tolerate it by saying nothing, which is what most people do. Or speak up and become an ally, the hardest thing of all.

You may think that by saying nothing you're making things better, or at least not making things worse. But sometimes silence is not golden. Your silence sends a message that you agree, or at the least you don't object. Is that the message you want to send?

Ouch! Your Silence Hurts extends the important message of Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts.

"The voices in the shadows was a stirring image, and the specific examples of what to say were effective. The most powerful piece of learning for me was to establish that it is better to say something that is imperfect, rather than waiting to think about the right words and saying nothing." Cher, HR Professional

"It really fills a niche in my training. It provides the practical, 'what can I do?' skills. I've reviewed dozens and dozens of videos and OUCH! is so much better than anything else I've seen. Now that I've used it many times with my clients, I've completely internalized the skills and am using them myself as well as training others. Thank you!" Mary Chlopecki, Consultant and Trainer

"The Ouch Video is a great complement to our harassment training since many potential harassment situations involve those 'not so obvious' stereotypical comments. As participants watched the video, we could see heads nodding in agreement that stereo-types still exist. Since rolling out the training, employees in all of our facilities across the US are saying 'ouch' to speak up against stereotypes." Employee Rel. Specialist, Fortune 1000 company