Personal achievements

For people who stammer, every word can represent courage and determination. This blog celebrates the achievements — big and small — of individuals who refuse to let a stammer define their potential.

Here, we focus on success, resilience, and the power of perseverance. Because fluency does not measure ability, character, talent, or bravery.

This space celebrates the empowerment of every voice.

Being part of Empowering Voices does not mean that we are all the same, it means we have something in common and we can help and support each other in different ways to be more comfortable with our speech and gain control.

Each of us has had different experiences and some things affect us more than they do others, we have been on our own journey and what I take from our courses is meeting each person and gaining something different from each of them.

Below are some quotes from some of our trustees and members on what they have achieved.

Work achievements:

“I have gained a lot of confidence in my career after being on the courses, it has enabled me to be more comfortable in interviews, gaining promotions and having more respect from my colleagues.”

“It's given me the courage to share my in-depth story throughout the business at Sellafield as well as to contracting companies.”

“Since my first costal breathing course, I have run client meetings in work where previously I would have a colleague with me for backup, and I have made and taken office phone calls that I would previously have asked someone else to do. While I still have a way to go before I feel as confident as I would like to be in all work scenarios, I have made a lot of progress when it comes to making my verbal interactions with clients better reflect my ability at my job! This has improved my confidence in the office and lowered my stress level around such interactions, which I feel would never have happened without learning costal breathing and having the support of the Empowering Voices community. “

Communication:

“I do not avoid making phone calls to people that I need to, I never ask someone else to call anymore. I feel more comfortable approaching people to have a chat with, and I say what I want to say.”

Inner voice:

“I used to have a very negative inner voice about how useless I was and how can I live a normal life. Now I am proud to be who I am, I am proud that I have achieved so much and I am proud to have a stammer and help others.”

“A radio interview with the BBC. And courage to facilitate my first course.”

“Costal breathing has been an important part of my life for more than two decades. I can remember watching someone with a stammer talking on my costal first course and seeing them block on a word but smiling through the block. This looked and sounded amazing, and I just wished I had the same level of confidence and acceptance to handle my stammer in the same way".

"Fast forward twenty years, and a group of us decided to set up a charity to help as many people who stammer as possible feel the power and relief of speaking with control and ultimately without fear".

"As Empowering Voices enters its third year of helping stammerers, I am proud to be part of starting something so powerful, and especially because it’s so personal to my own journey.”

These examples show that you can do anything you put your mind to, if you want to do something, you can always work towards it. You don’t have to be perfect, you don't have to do what everyone else is doing, but you can do what you want to do.

Without this community and support, I would not be where I am today and I get to share it with some amazing individuals who give me even more inspiration to keep going.