Right help, right time, right place
by Tony Roberts, Cornwall

Stammering can have a profound effect on the way that a person lives their life. Avoidance (of words or situations) becomes part of the normal way of life and quiet resignation of not being able to do certain jobs or mix socially because of speech problems does affect one?s self esteem.

I only found out about City Lit, London and the stammering courses it offers by chance. My first thoughts were: London is a long way from Cornwall, would the stammering course really help me (stammerer for almost 40 years), two weeks is a long time to spend learning about stammering techniques, would attending the course really make my speech more fluent?

The first step was a lengthy telephone interview with Rachel at City Lit - what a nightmare (not Rachel: she was lovely) but my stammer was severe, lots of backtracking and blocking on words. By the end of our conversation, I knew that I had to try the course. My stammer could not get any worse so what did I have to lose! I also realised that if I wanted to improve my fluency then I would need to put in the effort and be prepared to actually use the techniques. Fair enough, if the Speech and Language Therapists at City Lit were prepared to spend time and effort to try and help stammerers improve, then the stammerers have to be prepared to put in time, effort and step outside their comfort zones to improve fluency.

My added incentive was that now being single again, the onus would be on me to be able to communicate fluently with other people. My thoughts about attending the course included apprehension, fear, inability to blend into the background (over 6 ft tall, so not an option), but the phrase 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' was my motto. The tutors and course participants were a great bunch of people and the course content was good. To get the best out of the course, you have to be prepared to give it 100% at all times, listen to the advice and practice the techniques.

Two years later, I can say that the course did change my life by giving me the confidence to expand my comfort zone, and by practicing certain techniques it has made my speech much more fluent. Remember 'Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained'.

From the Winter 2008 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 8.

See also: City Lit courses