Sir Robert McAlpine health, safety and welfare manager Mark Straker has embraced a public speaking programme to learn to control a stammer he has suffered from since he was four.
Straker tried different types of speech therapy as a child, but continued to experience difficulties, including often struggling to say his own name without long pauses and freezing mid-sentence.
Nonetheless, he forged a successful career as a construction professional. As his career developed, he knew he needed help to face his fears when it came to speaking in front of people.
He came across the McGuire Programme, which is made up of people who also stutter and helps others to move beyond the fear and speak with control.
Through online and in-person intensive training, the community has taught Straker how to be in control of his speech and master the physical and psychological tools needed to speak with eloquence, which is the main goal and aim of the programme.
Four years on, he is now eager to seek opportunities for public speaking, and enjoys and takes pride and satisfaction in the experience.
When he first started the McGuire Programme, in February 2018, he was struggling through his words and kept trying to finish sentences, despite long pauses.
Training and public speaking challenges
At the end of this first four-day course in Newcastle, Straker took on the challenge of making a soap box speech in Northumberland Street.
Only three months later, following his refresher course in Wembley, he took on his next public speaking challenge.
As he developed new techniques and spoke more in public situations to raise awareness of stammering, his confidence grew. He has even spoken in front of 400 pupils and teachers at a school assembly.
He now wears a stammering belt across his chest, which helps control breathing, a technique he has learned through the programme. And he ensures he keeps up to date with his training through intensive courses each year.
Straker is now a certified primary coach on the programme and helps other graduates in their speech journey as well as his own.
