Inner Speech

Inner speech is talking to ourselves in our head.
- Sometimes, it can sound like full sentences. Other times, it might just be like “thinking in meanings”
- It might be only one voice, or sometimes sound like a conversation
- You might use inner speech on purpose, or inner speech could be spontaneous
Not everyone has inner speech (or is aware of it)
Persons with aphasia say that their inner speech is often good, compared to their speech
Knowledge of inner speech may be helpful for planning therapy
- If a word has inner speech, but can’t be named aloud, that word might have a higher chance of being relearned in speech-language therapy
Inner speech is used for different reasons in life, like:
- Problem solving
- Motivation
- Rehearsing conversations

Multimedia presentations on inner speech from our lab

Dr. Stark discusses our inner speech work through an invited presentation at the Center for Research Excellence (CRE) in Australia:

Thank you to the following for supporting this research!