Speak Your Truth: Connecting With Your Inner Truth and Learning to Find Your Voice

by Fearne Cotton

Fearne Cotton's voice is familiar to millions, whether that's through television, radio or on her hugely successful Happy Place podcast. Her voice is her career, her livelihood and the way she communicates with her audience and her loved ones. So, when Fearne's doctor told her she was at risk of needing a throat operation followed by two weeks of being unable to speak, she found herself facing a period of unexpected contemplation.

As she considered what silence would mean, Fearne began to think about other times her voice had gone unheard - as a young woman, as 'just the talent', as the foil to louder, more dominant figures. She found herself wondering, at what point do we internalise this message, and start silencing ourselves? When do we swallow down our authentic words to become pleasers and compromisers at the cost of our own happiness or wellbeing? Speak Your Truth dives into all the ways we learn to stay quiet for the wrong reasons, and explores how to find your voice, assert yourself and speak out with confidence.

Brave, vulnerable and deeply personal, Speak Your Truth shares Fearne's compelling story and helps you to shape your own.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Mental Health, Psychology, Memoir, Personal Development

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2021

About the author

Fearne has been presenting live TV since the age of 15 when she was spotted by ITV’s ‘Disney Club’.

Her warmth, natural interview skills and ability to make presenting live TV seem effortless and has given her the opportunity to present a variety of shows over the years.

Fearne is currently back in her role as team captain on the 16th series of Celebrity Juice, a show that continues to be a ratings winner for ITV2. Other shows include Children in Need Rocks, The Happiness Project, Fearne & Gok: Off The Rails, The BBC Music Awards, Top of the Pops with Reggie Yates, ‘Fearne and McBusted’ and a Coldplay special for Sky Arts amongst many others.

In addition to TV Fearne is hugely credible in the music genre. In 2005 she joined Radio 1 where she spent 10 incredible years, initially co-hosting morning shows with Reggie Yates and then moving onto the UK Top 40 show before taking over the prestigious weekday morning slot in 2009; here she mixed big celebrity interviews with exclusive acoustic performances in the Live Lounge. The show attracted over 4 million listeners and in 2012 she won a Sony Gold Award for the show.

Alongside TV & Radio Fearne is incredibly creative and has designed several seasons of a home wear range for very.co.uk, curated 13 seasons of her own very.co.uk clothing range and previously released her own make-up and toiletry ranges for Boots. Fearne currently enjoys working alongside Cath Kidston and Garnier Olia and is also a brand ambassador for BaByliss, where she creates a series of ‘Get the Look’ videos and tutorials, recreating her go-to styles using BaByliss tools.

In social media, Fearne has over 7 million Twitter followers and a combined Facebook and Instagram following of over 2.2 million with live, innovative content around her programming and off-air projects, ranking her amongst the world’s top 250 most influential Tweeters.

An enthusiastic cook, Fearne released her first cookbook in June 2016: Cook Happy, Cook Health. Her next book, Happy, talks about her own experiences of happiness (including some of the not-so-happy ones), and was published February 2017. Fearne's third book, Cook. Eat. Love, was published in June 2017.

Work aside, Fearne is a mother of 2 and continues to find time to support a range of charities with seemingly no challenge too big for her, whether it be climbing Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, or trekking the Inca Trail for Breast Cancer Care. Fearne is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and also a patron for Post Pals, Tyler’s Trust and Coppafeel!, the latter of which she curates the charity’s music festival, FESTIFEEL.

Reviews

[Caroline McQuistin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book this morning and this afternoon I got a work email saying:

“I’d rather you did raise stuff like this with us. Better than staying quiet and not getting to help out so I’m pleased you did”.

So yeah, that’s pretty cool!

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been an avid listener of the Happy Place podcast by Fearne, I was keen to pick up her latest book, and seeing it available at the library was a bonus. I certainly wasn't disappointed. Such an authentic and thoughtful guide to really figuring out where you would like to go and do throughout your life. Highly recommended. Some T/W for heavy content on anxiety, depression etc.

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[Chelsie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and glad I read it but after reading lots of other, deeper self help books this seemed to only scratch the surface.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It’s woken me up to many of my truths I need to work on and will work on. I felt fearne to be so relatable it was sometimes like reading about myself!

[Chetna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
A total mind opener and so thought provoking.

Knowing, owning and speaking your truth is the hardest thing in life. In a world constantly telling us how to look, what to wear, what to say, how to take the perfect selfie, how to live, knowing your truth will set you free and just let you live, breathe and take 5 on life!

I’m on this constant journey to my own truth and it’s a learning curve each time I discover new truths about myself and this book has made me realise how strong I have been in letting my truths out. Long may it continue.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“Have you diluted parts of yourself to please others?”

The practice of making a cup of tea for several people - this is something so simple that can sometimes make me instantly anxious, but is used as the perfect example here of trying to find a way through life to fit - the organising and ordering of who wants what, getting it right, tidying the chaos as you go, making the recipient happy with the correct ratios of milk, sugar, tea strength, dreading the face of judgement being pulled as tasted, making an end product suitable to yourself.

Social conditioning does have a huge part to play in much of this but it is often strength of character that drives the ratio of nature vs nurture. On top of this I think everyone has at least three hats that they wear in life to protect themselves - myself probably ten but I’m not upset with that as those are the people that I need to be for those situations. They are the mostly made up of authentic parts of me, but how much easier would it be to be 100% true to myself all the time… but then what I would I leave to be with my closest and what social boundaries and etiquette would that cross? I quite like rules and structure…

In this book Cotton covers a wide range of topics relating to personality, friendship and growth (Instinctive communicating, Inauthenticity, Engaging with experiences) and it was nearly a 5* book that is strong on messages, anecdotes and life learned lessons until…

We hit the 2/3s mark that seems to be quite familiar in books from similar authors and figures in the last year - almost like the publisher has an agenda to fulfil and the author duly deliver a short chapter accordingly - the worthy moment when the author speaks up on behalf of causes that have no direct link to the context of the chapters, but it feels positively shoe-horned in (my autocorrect just changed that to show horned which is a very apt proffering given the circumstances!) maybe it’s to ensure entry to somewhere good? I feel mean as this was the most contextual out of all of the others that sprang to my mind but it was still noticeable… I don’t know - I completely support the ‘First they came…’ theory and I will read books about causes and issues on all things deemed as popular and unpopular, but I’m not completing a survey about what a great philosophical person the author is - I’m here to read the book with information gleaned from the title and summary - please don’t patronise the medium or the audience by adding your record of achievement political likes and dislikes

“What does freedom look like to you…?”

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I really like ferne and what she stands for even more so in recent years. I found her book 'calm' to be very good and grounded. I'm not sure what it was about this book.. it wasn't a usual 'can't put it down book'. I think I set my expectations of it too high, and I guess was expecting more advice and to be more personal development rather than being mainly fernes experience (which was still interesting I just expected a little more guidance for those reading).

Don't get me wrong, there were some really great aspects of the book which can probably be related to some of your own feelings and experiences and some good mentions of various inspirations of her own which has encouraged me to look these up further. I liked the fact it was written during the pandemic so the struggles of what is happening in the world right now can be felt and widely acknowledged.

[Sharon B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn’t disappoint. Fearne is open and honest about her struggles and how she adapted to other people to fit in in her early years. Finding her true self came later on but has been part of her journey which she shares. I loved the practical tips and big questions at the end of each chapter to get you thinking and reflecting. I related to Fearne’s story. And would recommend this book. It’s also inspired me to listen to her Happy Place podcast. There are some lovely guest who are worth listening to.

[Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely god-awful. So repetitive and just randomly name dropping celebrities. Not the inspirational book I thought it would be as it could have been in 2 chapters max.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean I absolutely LOVE Fearne! I'm literally obsessed with her books because she seems to speak my language! 😂 Another brilliant read!!!! Just Wow!

I know self help books aren't everyone's cup of tea but if you do like them I think Fearne's books are so so great to be honest.

This book is exactly like the title suggests, all about being truthful. Fearne wrote this in Lockdown so it's very current and very real to what is going on in the world right now so if you may want to read it, now would be the perfect time.

It's about learning to be your true self, listening and being honest with yourself to enable yourself to be happy. It's about finding out your truths and following your heart, believing in yourself when others may not and never allowing the negatives of others get you down. Knowing and being confident with who you are. 💖

On the flip side its also about celebrating individualality of all kinds without judgement. Allowing others to be their own unique self regardless of gender, race, sexual preferences or whatever else makes a person their own beautiful self.

It's about standing up and speaking out about the things that matter and not being silenced.

Such A good book!!!!!!!!

P.s. I also love that she gives David Attenborough a shout out regarding his work on saving the planet... Yes Fearne loving that!!!

[Siobhan Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this! Although nothing was new to me, it was all a good reminder to be honest with yourself and believe in yourself and your truth....all much easier said than done of course. I do agree with Fearne though....this does start to get easier with each passing year!
I wasn't a fan though of how the book was written in terms of structure...I felt some parts were repeated/it just didn't flow.
Regardless, it was a pleasant, easy to read book!

[Rona · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first ever time reading a self help kind of book. But I completely fell in love with it. Spent my week reading through it chapter at a time whilst listening to happy place on Spotify and I’m hooked.
Fearnes brutal honesty with herself in this book is incredible and she gives fantastic analogy’s with her points.
Really enjoyed and can’t wait to read more of her work and start to say more truths myself!

[sofie hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4/5

This book offers some practical tips for discovering your truths, following your heart, and believing in yourself.
The most fascinating point I highlighted is understanding and being confident in who you are!
Also, at the end of every section in this book, there is space for us to write from our perspective, such as about our fears or what makes us happy.

[Samantha Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 - I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. There were times I empathised with what Fearne was saying as we have faced / been through some similarities but I got fed up of hearing the word 'truth'. However, it does include some important messaging about oneself. 'Find your truth', 'truth' were repeated so many times and I zoned out during some parts.

The book also talks about Covid quite a bit so it didn't seem as relevant to now.

[Lucy Cahill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Fearne and her books. This however let me down. Originally purchased when published, I struggled to finish until picking up again today.

It’s a bit of a mash up from her others over the years.

[Laila-Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really resonated with me and was just what I needed to read at this moment in time. There was a lot in here that was so relatable. It is my favourite of Cotton’s books that I’ve read so far. Short and sweet but that about sums it up!

[Hannah Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reassuring and relatable read - much needed as the world starts to open up again.

[Lynn Coleman · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no need to get the words 'your truth' every 5 minutes. We get it! Nothing new.

[Rob Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened on Audiobook

Such a lovely book, helpful to serve as a reminder to just turn up and be yourself.

[Janet farrow1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a self help book now and then. I have read Fearne’s other books and enjoyed them so decided to listen to this. Great when out walking, she discusses finding your truth, slowing down and being yourself. I really liked it.

[Hayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* for a life line to speaking your truth!

I have read all of Fearne's books over the years and always found them to be a life line in helping me live my life in my most authentic way. This book didn't disappoint and, like her previous work, felt like catching up with an old friend who just 'gets it'.

Speak Your Truth - Just picking this book up began my journey to living in a more honest way. I'm a person who personally struggles with the word "no", despite how heavy my load already is. Fearne's voice is clear throughout this book that this is not simply a "quick fix" but more of a journey - one you're about to embark on in parallel with her. Each chapter leaves you pondering, assessing and re-evaluating how you live your life and how you may/may not have been withholding and silencing your true self.

I cannot speak highly enough of all of Fearne's books and genuinely believe they helped prompt me change my life for the better. If you haven't read this book or Fearne's others (Happy, Calm and Quiet) these are a MUST, even if you're a sceptic.

[Bookishgamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite of Fearne’s books. I found this had less practical advice than the other and was more anecdotal.

[Laura Lightfinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has become somewhat of a Bible to me. It speaks to the way I have hidden my true self and been afraid of speaking my truth for fear of the consequences. I have underlined so many fragments of wisdom from Fearne, as she works through her own challenges of speaking her truth and finding her inner voice. The worksheets provided after each chapter really help to analyse your own experiences and how they may have led to certain outcomes. While some sections of the book were so easy to read and whizz through, some parts really made me stop and think. I had to put it down and come back to it after taking some time to consider the messages Fearne addresses. Sometimes it was difficult (due to issues I had buried down deep) but mostly a really wonderful and enjoyable read. I did feel like the last third resonated less with me and was more about the world in general re: culture, politics, wider movements, so while it was interesting it wasn't as thoroughly encompassing as the first two thirds. I have already highly recommended this book to a few friends I know would benefit from it.

[Amiey Westwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Fearne cottons previous books so much, I prefer them to a lot of other self help books that are out there. I feel like I can always relate to Fearne’s experiences and she seems so relatable.

I felt that this book was good! However, I feel like it was a bit of a let down to previous books. I just think I set the expectations too high as her other books were so so good!

[Estelle Chambers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this book but after about 70 pages I was hooked. I really interesting perspective. Worth reading if you like this sort of book but not my favourite of the genre.

[Aimée Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

After enjoying Fearne's previous books so much, I didn't think twice before ordering this and I got a copy on the day it was released. Although there were parts that I enjoyed, especially the bits where you had to reflect and write your own ideas down, I just didn't feel this lived up to the other books. I don't feel that Fearne had enough to cover in this book to justify writing it personally and quite often I felt that she went from one random thought to a next and off on different tangents! I did however gain a few useful insights into my own truths and picked up some good tips on how to start speaking them! 3/5 stars.

[Cassandra Marie Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think if you need this book then its brilliant. If you struggling being true to yourself and honest in your spoken life then this is amazing. However for me, it has just confirmed that I do not need it and at this moment in my life I am happy with who I am, what I am about and the honesty that flows rather freely in me. So I didn't need this book at all, but others might need to hear it.

[Brooke, · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to #SpeakYourTruth as Fearne reads, is like hanging out with a friend and having one of those BIG conversations. The sweeping reassurance & the relief that what you think is happening only in your head, is also occurring in the head of someone else.
.
This book doesn't sit easily in self help & I'm not convinced it's supposed to. Anyone reading this, expecting to find a specific sort of assistance, won't have much luck. What you do find is reassurance that you're not alone.
.
One thing I did find sat awkwardly was the privilege. Fearne, by her own admission has had many opportunities in her life, as well as counterpointing them with even more hard work. Where many have praised Fearne for her honesty, others have pointed out that this is a book written during lockdown when numerous outside responsibilities were lost. I don't, however, understand the equation of this with more time to write. Fearne writes about the struggles of home school & a spouse with less work opportunities. She tells the listener (or reader) about the challenge of being home together with restricted outlets. Many of us experienced the same. I feel the criticisms inflicted on this book, and Fearne, fail to take into account that we each of us can only speak or write of our own experiences. We acknowledge other life experiences but there is simply no way they can all be addressed. To expect this to occur is another form of gas lighting. Read. Engage. Be conscious of the world. It is as much as any of us can do.

[Sarwat Bond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not blown away by this book. It was an easy read and did not require me to concentrate much so in that sense it was relaxing however it sounded more like I was reading Ferne's daily journal as some of the parts almost felt like a rant. It was very one sided and lacked depth and substantial research. I did not necessarily mind that as I want to be open and tolerant to reading different styles of writing. What did irk me a little was at the start of the book Ferne mentions a surgery she required for a vocal cyst and after she finished writing this book where she has apparently spoken her truth the cyst actually disappeared and she believed it was due to her writing this book. I thought it was quite irresponsible as if you do have an ailment or cyst or lump, it is so important to research and get professional advice on it.
I did enjoy and could relate to the parts where we end up saying yes to things when we really want to say no. I'd suggest read it if you want something easy to read.

[Kate Erased · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I adore Fearne Cotton and have looked up to her since I was a kid in the 90s. More recently, i love listening to her podcast "happy place". I was really excited to read this one as speaking my truth is definitely a subject I'm trying to focus on myself at the moment. As I'm sure a lot of us are...
I've read quite a few "self-help" books in the past couple of years, and so this one seemed a bit like a book for beginners, or people just dipping their toe into self-discovery. It also felt like fearne was figuring herself out during writing, and drew a lot from her own experience so it was more like an autobiography for a lot of the book.
Some interesting points to take from the book of course, and some parts definitely resonated with me, but nothing I hadn't heard before on her podcast while talking to fantastic guests