themes. FIGURE 4. Open in a new tab Scenarios associated with overt self‐talking. FIGURE 5. Open in a new tab Scenarios associated with covert self‐talking. GENERAL DISCUSSION Since socially inappropriate speaking is one of the characteristics of ADHD, we made the pre‐registered prediction that people with ADHD‐like traits would exhibit greater frequency of self‐directed speech. This proved to be the case. Responses on two different self‐directed speech inventories (STS, Experiment 1; VISQ, Experiment 2) were associated with ADHD‐like behaviours, as defined by scores on the ASRS‐v1.1. Furthermore, we found that the effect does not distinguish between overt and covert speech (Experiment 3). Interestingly, we also observed greater prevalence of self‐directed speech in ADHD‐like behaviour when participants were simply asked How often do you talk to yourself? (covertly and overtly), as opposed to completing a full self‐directed speech inventory (Experiment 3). This reveals how robust the association between ADHD‐like traits and talking to oneself is. The present results necessarily lead to the question of why a greater prevalence of self‐directed speech is associated with ADHD‐like traits. Although only speculative, we present two possibilities. As with many neurodiverse conditions (e.g., ASD), individuals with ADHD are known to mask or ‘camouflage’ symptoms associated with the condition (Godfrey‐Harris & Shaw,  2023 ; van der Putten et al.,  2024 ; Wicherkiewicz & Gambin,  2024 ). This, one can reasonably assume, is to reduce social isolation, with socially unacceptable behaviours being one of the highest causes of self‐esteem issues (Stets & Burke,  2014 ). Because individuals with ADHD exhibit (what is often considered to be) inappropriate talking (e.g., speaking over others, excessive talking), such behaviour can be camouflaged by performing the act privately. Furthermore, suppressing behaviours that feel automatic, such as emotional expression, are known to have n