Throughout human history, light has captivated artists and viewers alike. From ancient cave paintings illuminated by flickering firelight to today's digital masterpieces glowing on high-resolution screens, the presence of light has always carried profound emotional and visual weight. In modern digital art, one of the most powerful and versatile representations of light is the glow effect. It adds vibrance, mystery, and energy to visual compositions, turning ordinary images into unforgettable expressions.
Photoshop, as the go-to tool for countless creatives worldwide, offers immense capabilities for crafting these glow effects. Mastering the glow isn’t just about technical execution’s about understanding how light behaves, how it interacts with surfaces, and how it influences mood. When done right, a glow can make a simple object feel divine, futuristic, or otherworldly. It can hint at hidden power or a sacred presence, shift the narrative tone of an image, and invite viewers to pause and feel. The glow effect transcends aesthetics; it’s storytelling through luminosity.
This comprehensive four-part series focuses on teaching digital artists how to harness the full potential of glow effects using Adobe Photoshop. Part one lays the essential groundwork. It’s here that we focus on the core aesthetic of the glow effect, what makes it so powerful, and how to construct it from scratch using Photoshop’s fundamental tools. Understanding the foundations is crucial before diving into advanced glow techniques and integrations with other digital workflows.
Constructing the Glow Effect: Tools, Canvas, and Technique
To begin crafting your glow masterpiece, launch Adobe Photoshop and create a new project. Whether you’re working on a conceptual art piece or experimenting with techniques, a clean, fresh canvas is ideal. A good starting point is a square canvas, around 2000 by 2000 pixels, which gives you enough room to practice detail without overwhelming system resources. The canvas acts as your creative space, where the illusion of radiance will take shape.
The background plays a critical role in showcasing the glow. Light is most visible against darkness. Create a new fill layer and choose a rich, deep shadeblack, midnight blue, or charcoal gray works particularly well. This dark backdrop enhances the luminosity of your focal point, giving it space to shine. Name this layer "Background" to keep your workspace tidy, especially as the layers begin to build up.
With the base ready, move to your subject origin of the glow. Use Photoshop’s shape tool to draw a simple form. An ellipse or circle works beautifully, but feel free to choose any geometric figure that suits your creative direction. The key is to make this shape your light source. Set the shape’s fill to none and apply a vivid stroke color. Choose hues that suggest energy or emotion, like neon pink, molten orange, deep electric blue, or bright gold. These vibrant strokes will serve as the foundation for your radiance.
Next, duplicate this shape layer. Rasterize the duplicate to convert it into a pixel-based image. This is essential, as rasterized layers allow manipulation at the pixel level, which is necessary for the glow process. Once rasterized, navigate to the Filter menu, select Blur, and apply Gaussian Blur. Start with a modest blur radius and increase it gradually. The result will be a soft, ethereal halo surrounding the original shape. This is where the magic begins.
To deepen the glow, duplicate this blurred layer multiple times. Each copy should have a slightly different blur radius. This stacking technique creates a dimensional, multi-layered glow effect that feels organic and alive. You can vary the opacity of each duplicate to control how intense or subtle each glow layer appears. These small adjustments help simulate the way light naturally diffuses and varies in strength as it travels.
One of the most powerful enhancements comes from changing the blending mode of your glow layers. Set each duplicated layer to “Linear Dodge (Add)”. This blending mode allows the lighter pixels to intensify as they overlap, mimicking the natural behavior of light in the physical world. Unlike simply layering white or color, this method creates the illusion that the light is emanating outward with realistic radiance.
Experimentation is key. Try adjusting hue and saturation slightly between different glow layers. A touch of red around a golden core, or a hint of purple fading into a blue glow, introduces complexity and beauty. This kind of chromatic layering reflects real-world light behaviors such as dispersion, refraction, and environmental reflection. These subtle additions can elevate a basic glow into something visually poetic.
Integrating Realism and Expression into Glow Effects
The true artistry of glow effects comes not from just making something shine, but from knowing when and how to use the glow to serve the narrative. A common pitfall among new digital artists is over-glowing elements, which can result in garish or artificial visuals. Glow should be a tool of emphasis, not distraction. It works best when applied with intention and restraint, echoing how natural light subtly influences its surroundings.
When integrating a glow into a photograph or illustration, masks become invaluable. Use layer masks to control where the glow appears and where it gently fades. This is especially important when working with photographs or complex illustrations, where light should respect boundaries. Suppose you're enhancing the eyes of a mythical creature or accentuating a glowing streetlamp in a foggy alleyway. A properly masked glow will feel like it's embedded within the environment, illuminating it softly and believably, instead of floating unnaturally above it.
Another way to refine your effect is by introducing directional glow. Light rarely spreads evenly in the real world. It bends, it falls off, and it’s often shaped by the textures and objects around it. You can create directional focus by subtly masking out portions of your glow layers. This gives the appearance that light is falling off to one side or casting shadows. Such control over light direction adds drama and believability to your design.
Constant observation is the best teacher. Study how light behaves in everyday situations. Watch how neon signs softly spread their color across wet pavement, or how candlelight wraps gently around a person’s face. Observe the way sunrise leaks through curtains and how reflections shimmer across water surfaces. These real-world phenomena can inform your creative decisions and deepen your understanding of light, leading to more expressive digital glow designs.
Mastering glow in Photoshop is about balancing technical precision with artistic sensitivity. The process described above is a foundational method, ideal for building skill and confidence. With each steplayer, creation, rasterization, blurring, color adjustment, and blending you are constructing not just an effect, but a visual language of light. As you become more fluent in this language, your ability to tell stories through illumination grows.
In the upcoming parts of this series, we’ll delve into alternative and more advanced methods. You’ll learn to use layer styles for quick glows, harness Photoshop’s brush tools for painterly light effects, and build atmospheric glows using selections, gradients, and advanced blending techniques. Whether your aim is to enhance a character’s magical aura, make environmental lighting more dynamic, or simply add a touch of cinematic beauty to a scene, the techniques in this series will guide you every step of the way.
Light is more than just brightness in an image. It's emotion, context, and narrative power. As you practice and refine your skills, remember that glow is most effective when it serves a purpose. Each layer, color, and blur radius should support your creative vision. Mastery of glow begins with understanding, evolves through experimentation, and is perfected through subtlety and storytelling.
Unlocking the Power of Layer Styles for Dynamic Glow Effects
Creating glow effects in Photoshop is more than a stylistic choice, it's an art form that combines light, texture, and intention. In this advanced stage of mastering glow techniques, we delve into the immense potential of Photoshop's layer style system. Unlike traditional raster methods, which commit changes directly to pixels, layer styles offer a dynamic and non-destructive approach to crafting luminous visuals. These editable effects allow for fluid experimentation and refined control, making them an essential tool for digital artists, designers, and photo editors alike.
Begin by selecting your target shape, object, or text layer. Right-click on the layer in the panel and select "Blending Options" to reveal Photoshop's rich menu of layer effects. Among these is the Outer Glow feature, a cornerstone of glow design. Here you’ll find adjustable parameters including blend mode, opacity, spread, size, and color of which contribute to how the glow interacts with your image.
For a more intense and dramatic result, set the blend mode to Screen or Linear Dodge (Add). These modes heighten luminance by allowing the glow to build brighter tones without darkening the image. The size slider determines the radius of the glow’s diffusion, while spread governs its density and sharpness. Tweaking these values allows you to simulate a variety of light sources, from the subtle radiance of candlelight to the vibrant pulse of neon signage.
Color selection is another critical factor in achieving visual harmony. Depending on the tone of your artwork, your glow may feel warm and welcoming, cool and ethereal, or even harsh and synthetic. Using the color picker tool, you can sample tones already present in your composition to ensure cohesion. For more dramatic impact, consider introducing contrast through complementary hues. To add complexity, layer multiple glows with subtle gradients or use the gradient glow option to transition smoothly between two or more tones, enhancing realism.
Layer styles shine in their adaptability. You can return at any time to tweak parameters, enabling a workflow that evolves with your artistic direction. Whether you're highlighting UI elements, illuminating typography, or adding atmosphere to a digital painting, the layer style approach ensures your glow effect remains flexible and responsive.
Hand-Painted Glows and Creative Precision
While layer styles provide a fast and flexible solution, there are times when only a hand-crafted touch will suffice. The brush tool offers granular control over glow application, perfect for creating organic or nuanced lighting in complex scenes. This method is especially effective when working with hand-drawn illustrations, fantasy compositions, or photo manipulations where realism and detail are crucial.
To begin, create a new layer above your subject and set its blending mode to Overlay, Soft Light, or Color Dodge depending on the desired intensity. Select a soft, round brush and reduce its flow to around 5% to 10%. This low flow rate allows you to build the glow gradually, producing soft edges and natural gradations of light. Paint in gentle circular strokes around the object meant to emit light, focusing on symmetry and consistency to emulate a believable light source.
In portrait photography, this method can emphasize the sparkle in a subject's eyes or bring life to an enchanted accessory. For landscapes or fantasy scenes, use this technique to highlight moonlight breaking through trees, glowing embers drifting in the air, or bioluminescent plants illuminating a forest path. Because you're applying the glow manually, you have complete authority over where light gathers and how it disperses, offering unparalleled realism and artistic freedom.
For added depth, incorporate multiple painted layers using different blend modes. One layer can serve as the intense core of the light, while another can represent diffused outer illumination. This layered approach creates dimension, allowing the glow to feel like it genuinely interacts with its surroundings.
To make your hand-painted glows more believable, consider environmental interactions. For instance, if the light source is surrounded by mist or fog, gently blur the edges of your painted layer to simulate atmospheric diffusion. If it's raining, use subtle scatter brushes to introduce water-refracted glints. In watery environments, replicate glow reflections and add wave ripples to simulate surface interaction. These extra touches not only enrich the image but also elevate your skillset by acknowledging how light behaves in different conditions.
Selections, Surface Highlights, and Realistic Integration
Precision is essential when applying glow effects to photographic or detailed graphic compositions. Uncontrolled glow can easily bleed into unintended areas, diminishing its impact and creating visual confusion. That’s where selection tools become indispensable. Tools such as the Pen Tool, Object Selection Tool, or even the Lasso Tool with refinement settings allow you to isolate specific subjects or zones with accuracy.
Once you’ve made a selection, use the feather option to slightly soften its edges. This ensures your glow transitions naturally and avoids creating hard, unrealistic boundaries. Apply the glow effect to a new layer or as a style to the selected area, maintaining full control over how and where the effect manifests.
Beyond direct glow sources, you can also simulate bounced or ambient light to create a more immersive atmosphere. This secondary lighting involves painting soft highlights on surfaces adjacent to the glow source. Create a new layer beneath your main glowing object, select a color that is a slightly muted version of your main glow color, and gently brush along nearby surfaces where the light would logically scatter. Use reduced opacity and a soft-edged brush for these highlights to avoid overpowering your main source.
This technique adds depth and environmental realism, showing that your light source genuinely affects the space around it. For instance, a glowing lantern on a cobblestone street might cast subtle illumination onto nearby bricks, or a magical orb could reflect light onto the hands holding it. These delicate touches turn a basic glow effect into a cinematic experience.
Combining glow sources is another advanced practice. Use layer styles for the foundation glow and enhance it with brush-painted highlights and environmental reflections. This hybrid method merges the efficiency of non-destructive edits with the artistry of manual detailing. It allows for a spectrum of possibilities, whether you’re designing fantasy artwork, manipulating photos for advertising, or enhancing UI elements in digital interfaces.
As you gain confidence with these layered techniques, consider applying them across different media. From enhancing glows in science-fiction posters to adding realism in game concept art, understanding the interaction between light and form can dramatically increase the emotional and visual impact of your work.
Elevating Your Photoshop Glow Effects with Specialized Optical Plugins
Creating beautiful glow effects in Photoshop has become an essential part of many digital artists' workflows, particularly in projects where light, atmosphere, and emotion must blend seamlessly. However, not every creative professional has the time or desire to build these effects from scratch. That’s where optical plugins come into play. These tools are designed to simplify complex visual tasks while delivering high-end results. In this part of the Glow Mastering series, we dive into how specialized third-party plugins can elevate your glow effects, save you time, and maintain professional quality.
When working on tight deadlines or managing large-scale compositions, speed becomes as important as creativity. Specialized optical plugins are built with this challenge in mind. After installation, these plugins integrate directly into Photoshop’s interface, often accessed from the Filter menu. Once launched, the plugin suite typically reveals a powerful, user-friendly panel designed for easy navigation. By simply typing "Glow" into the search field, you're instantly presented with a wide variety of preset glow effects, each ready to preview in real time.
This convenience opens up a world of possibilities. Artists can instantly view how different glows interact with their subject without manually building layer effects or blend modes. Whether you're working on fantasy artwork, product photography, portraits, or cinematic posters, these plugins offer tools that respond intelligently to light sources, textures, and image depth. They do this by utilizing complex light simulation algorithms that mimic how light scatters, refracts, and reacts in real-world settings. This adds a level of realism and sophistication that often surpasses what can be achieved through Photoshop’s default tools alone.
From dreamy halos to atmospheric ambiance, the glow presets cater to a wide spectrum of artistic needs. These effects aren’t just superficial they're technically refined and deeply adjustable, allowing users to make them their own. After selecting a preset, you're given control over a secondary editing panel where you can fine-tune the glow’s behavior. Variables such as glow radius, light intensity, softness, falloff, and edge treatment can all be customized. You can choose whether the glow should wrap around your subject gently or burst out with radiant power, how softly it fades, and whether the edges stay sharp or melt into the background.
What makes these tools especially powerful is their non-destructive approach. Instead of flattening the glow effect onto your image, many of these plugins apply changes as smart filters. This means your original work stays intact, allowing for further adjustments or complete reversals without affecting your base composition. It also fits neatly into any layered Photoshop project, preserving flexibility and editability for both short-term fixes and long-term revisions.
Unleashing the Power of Presets and Custom Controls for Cinematic Impact
In any visual art form, glow can dramatically shape mood, tone, and narrative. But achieving a believable and compelling glow manually can be painstaking, especially when the desired result involves intricate light interactions or layered brilliance. With optical plugins, you gain access to a curated library of glow presets that stretch the possibilities of what can be done quickly and artistically. These are not basic, overused effects, they are professionally designed simulations that mimic the subtle beauty of cinematic lighting and atmospheric luminance.
Think of radial glows that pulse with organic motion, spectral halos tinged with color gradients, or ambient glimmers that seem to shimmer based on surface textures. Some presets even incorporate controlled noise patterns to introduce gritty realism or grain, echoing the analog feel of film photography. Others provide refracted light behavior, bending and distorting the glow across edges and surfaces for added dimension. These are the kinds of nuanced results that would take hours to construct from scratch. Instead, with the plugin, they’re just a click away and infinitely customizable.
Once an effect is chosen, users can dive deeper into its controls. The glow radius determines how far the light spreads from the subject, affecting the atmosphere and focal separation. Intensity controls how bright and vivid the light becomes, which can either push the glow into center stage or let it linger subtly. The falloff parameter lets you manage how light decays from the source, either sharply or gradually. This is key to achieving depth and avoiding overly flat results.
Equally important is edge behavior. Glows that wrap gently around edges give a soft dreamlike quality, ideal for fantasy or surreal themes. Conversely, sharper edge interactions can make a subject pop or suggest harsh lighting conditions. The ability to toggle and blend these settings with precision ensures the glow becomes a storytelling tool, not just a decorative layer.
These effects also maintain full compatibility with Photoshop’s blending modes, masks, and adjustment layers. This means the glow can be selectively applied to certain parts of the image or harmonized with the color palette through hue, saturation, and gradient maps. Moreover, the presets can be duplicated and stacked to create compound glow interactions, adding even more dimension and complexity. For instance, you might combine a soft ambient glow with a punchy light flare on a focal point, controlling each layer independently.
The result is a professional-grade glow effect that looks handcrafted but is achieved in a fraction of the time. This combination of instant results and granular control enables digital artists to maintain their creative vision while staying efficient and deadline-focused.
Blending Automation with Artistic Vision for Polished and Purposeful Results
One of the most compelling advantages of using optical plugins is how they bridge the gap between automation and artistry. It’s tempting to rely on the eye-catching presets and call it done, but the real magic lies in thoughtful application. Artists who use these tools as a starting point and then refine the results through layering, masking, and intentional editing can achieve outcomes that feel both stylized and sincere.
A key to mastering glow effects is understanding the narrative role light plays in your image. Are you trying to convey warmth, mystery, magic, or drama? Does the glow emphasize a subject, isolate a background, or create spatial depth? Plugins make the technical side easy, but these artistic decisions still rest with the creator. That’s why restraint is crucial. Overusing glow or relying on it as a crutch can diminish visual impact. When used with purpose and subtlety, however, glow effects become integral to the story your image tells.
These plugins also provide tools that enhance iterative workflows. You can apply a glow as a smart filter, experiment with it, turn it off, or adjust it days later without harming the integrity of the original file. For professionals, this flexibility is invaluable, particularly in client work or collaborative environments where revisions are frequent and quality control is paramount.
The real-world benefits are clear. A product designer can highlight features with targeted glows that guide the viewer’s eye. A photographer can add atmosphere to a portrait without overpowering skin tones. A digital matte painter can enrich depth and dimension without manually painting light layers. This makes optical plugins not just a shortcut, but a smart enhancement tool that aligns with professional-grade expectations.
At their best, these tools allow the artist to maintain a natural connection with their work. Rather than getting bogged down in repetitive layer creation or time-consuming glow constructions, creatives can focus on expression, composition, and story. The plugin handles the heavy lifting of simulation and refinement, freeing up mental space for higher-level decisions.
Transforming Glow into a Storytelling Tool in Digital Art
Mastering the glow effect in Photoshop isn't simply about knowing which buttons to click or filters to apply. It’s about understanding how light behaves in the real world and translating that into an expressive digital form. At its most powerful, glow contributes to narrative, atmosphere, and emotion in a composition. As we step into advanced integration and creative synthesis, we shift our focus from technique alone to the deeper artistry of glow.
Imagine a vivid cyberpunk alley where every surface pulses with life. Neon signs flicker overhead, each one casting sharp reflections across rain-slicked concrete. In this type of scene, glow doesn't just decorate it tells a story. It conveys mood, sets the time of day, and immerses the viewer in a specific setting. The execution begins by isolating light sources using layer masks. Once these sources are set, multiple Gaussian Blur layers are applied in gradually increasing radii. Each new blur layer builds the sense of light dispersion, with the Color Dodge blend mode creating that electric neon vibrance. To enhance realism, you can create another layer for reflections. These are typically hand-painted using duplicated shapes of the neon elements, flipped and then softened using a directional blur to mimic how light might appear on a wet surface. This attention to reflection and softness adds to the illusion of depth and realism.
In scenes like this, glow is more than an embellishment becomes a visual anchor. It leads the eye naturally through the piece, directing attention and pacing the viewer's visual experience. The trick is to make the glow feel like it's genuinely part of the world you're building. It should bounce off nearby objects, affect the overall color palette, and harmonize with all other light sources in the scene. One critical practice is applying subtle color overlays or adjustment layers on top of the glow to help unify tones and blend everything seamlessly into the environment. Consider how light naturally cools or warms surrounding materials. A bright blue sign, for example, should cast cool light onto nearby structures and objects. Observing and mimicking this interplay adds authenticity to the work.
Using Glow to Convey Magic, Movement, and Atmosphere
In the realm of fantasy or science fiction art, glow takes on an almost ethereal role. It’s the aura around a levitating crystal, the shimmer of an enchanted staff, or the radiant glyphs etched into a spell circle. These light sources often defy real-world physics, yet they must still feel visually believable within the internal logic of the scene. A successful fantasy glow builds upon layered complexity. Start by applying soft gradient colors to represent various magical energies. Stack these layers using Screen or Linear Dodge blending modes, and rasterize them so you can control each with custom blur and masking. By using masks, you can sculpt the shape of the light and create gradients that feel organic. A glowing rune ring, for example, might be brightest along the top edge and gently fade toward the bottom to reflect a natural light falloff.
Glow can also play a powerful role in suggesting movement. Think of a streaking comet racing through a night sky, or a spell flying from a wizard's hand. In these moments, the glow becomes dynamic. You can achieve this effect by duplicating your main glow layer, then applying motion blur or manually smudging the edges to create a trail. Adjust the opacity of successive trail layers to build a sense of fade and momentum. Often, a short burst of light with a tapered tail visually communicates speed far more effectively than a sharply defined object alone. When used this way, glow transcends its typical function and becomes a narrative device.
Atmospheric glow is equally essential, especially in scenes that demand depth and nuance. A lantern hanging in a foggy forest or a distant spaceship hovering just above a misty landscape benefits from a subdued, expansive glow. Use large, low-opacity brushes to paint soft glows that gently merge into the background. Build these in stages with increasingly faint outer layers to simulate the light diffusing through air or moisture. This layered approach adds realism and helps separate elements in your composition by depth. Color temperature plays a key role here. Warm glow suggests comfort or intimacy, while cool tones might imply mystery, solitude, or danger.
The emotional resonance of glow should not be underestimated. A golden aura around a character can signify divinity or heroism. A green pulsating light might suggest toxicity or decay. These choices matter deeply, especially in visual storytelling, where light becomes a character in its own right. Integrating these ideas fluidly requires experimentation, careful masking, and a deep understanding of the narrative your image seeks to convey.
Harmonizing Glow with Composition and Artistic Intent
At the highest level, glow must operate in harmony with composition, color, and lighting logic. Random or poorly planned glows can easily distract the viewer or flatten the scene’s depth. Instead, glow should guide the eye toward focal points and reinforce the emotional tone. This is where compositional planning becomes essential. Before applying any glow, identify your subject, supporting elements, and background. Consider how the light will interact with these layers. Will the glow draw attention toward the subject, or will it support the ambiance? What materials are around the glow source, and how might they react? Does the glow reinforce or clash with the color story of the piece?
Using glow as a directional tool is particularly effective. It can create visual pathways or contrast that helps separate the subject from the background. For example, a character standing in front of a glowing portal will automatically gain a rim light along their silhouette. This rim light can be painted using soft brushes set to a Lighten or Screen mode, or created by duplicating the subject’s outline and applying blur to simulate a backlit edge. This small technique can dramatically enhance clarity and focus in your work.
To ensure consistency, it’s helpful to use a limited glow palette throughout your artwork. Avoid introducing too many competing light sources unless it’s thematically justified. A scene with multiple glows of different colors can work, but only if they follow clear logic. For instance, different colored crystals in a cavern might emit various glows, but their interaction with surrounding surfaces should be handled carefully. Reflections, secondary highlights, and shadow casting must all respond accordingly. Using soft overlays or color adjustment layers on environment textures helps reinforce the sense that all light sources are interconnected.
Finally, step back frequently and view your artwork at a reduced scale. This practice lets you evaluate the visual impact and hierarchy without getting lost in details. Does the glow lead the eye through the piece? Are areas of intensity balanced with rest areas? Is there a visual story being told? Answering these questions ensures the glow remains purposeful rather than ornamental.
Glow is most effective when it serves the composition, rather than competes with it. It should never be added at the end as an afterthought. Instead, treat it as a foundational component of your lighting and storytelling strategy. Its function extends beyond decoration into the realm of emotion, movement, and spatial clarity.
By embracing this approach, you move beyond replication of effects and enter the world of expressive visual design. You’re no longer just adding light you're shaping it, directing it, and using it as a creative force. Whether your focus lies in digital painting, photo manipulation, matte painting, or concept art, glow is one of the most powerful tools you have for imbuing your work with atmosphere, intent, and visual impact.
Conclusion
Mastering glow effects in Photoshop is not just a technical achievement, it's a creative journey into the heart of visual storytelling. However, glow is far more than a bright layer or aesthetic flourish. It’s a narrative device, a mood setter, and a subtle signal that speaks directly to the viewer’s emotions. From foundational techniques like Gaussian blur and blend modes to advanced practices involving layer styles, hand-painted highlights, and optical plugins, the glow effect offers boundless potential for artistic expression.
What sets effective glow apart is intentionality. A glow placed with purpose can transform a flat design into a living moment, whether it's the warmth of candlelight in a portrait, the mystical aura of a spellcasting scene, or the electric energy of a sci-fi skyline. The key is understanding how light behaves, how it radiates, fades, reflects, and influences the world around it. Whether you're building glows from scratch or enhancing them with specialized tools, every choice from color temperature to diffusion should support the composition’s tone and story.
As you continue developing your skills, remember that glow is most impactful when it feels natural and integrated. Observe real light. Study how it interacts with surfaces, textures, and air. Let those observations guide your creative decisions. When done well, glow becomes invisible in the best way not a distracting effect, but a seamless part of the visual narrative.
In the hands of a thoughtful artist, glow is not just light’s life. It breathes soul into digital scenes, evokes emotion, and adds depth to imagination. The real mastery lies not in making something shine, but in knowing why it should. Let your glows not just illuminate them speak.