Anne Hallward really focuses on How our silenced stories can change the world, specifically addressing the concept of shame and how shame creates isolation. The “silenced” things we don’t talk about create shame. Shame is the cause of all health and social issues, which is why Hallward challenges herself to better understand the whole concept of shame. Her claim was her passion, “How can I work with shame in a bigger way? How can I come up with a public health intervention to reduce shame? That was my passion. It still is my passion”. Hallward did an endless number of things to provide sufficient evidence to qualify her claim. In addition to her research, she found several studies. One study from Thomas Houston at the University of Massachusetts found that “when you listen to a story told by someone like you, who you can really identify with and who is struggling with an issue, your blood pressure goes down and it lasts for months”. Hallward backs up her main claim on how she wants to help improve the health and social issue of shame. She really focuses on her personal connections in addition to peer connections, which has really allowed to her to hear from other people to help maximize her goal and passion of reducing shame.

Similarly, Hallward and Davis both strongly focus on a similar concept about how telling our “silenced stories” can actually help change the world. One story opens one door, for many people to enter and make a connection with. Both of these powerful individuals share their feelings and passions on many of the same social issues. Both of these women have not just exceeded at their own personal stories but have also surpassed. They have done this by doing their own research in addition to listening to other stories to help them even better understand their own. Its individuals like these that have the courage to stand up, speak out, and help create change to better our society.