asking myself this question I struggle
with and within an obstacle which I will
tell you it’s not my mind it’s not my
height and I have what people call it as
a speech impediment as you probably can
tell now I I teach part time I I teach
in a few schools and I have a few
students i have one on one or two I have
a few friends I have one friend with I’m
known for about 12 or 13 years two years
ago after going through this this
trouble with my speech for many many
years since I was in my late teens two
or three years ago I started asking
myself what what do I do with this thing
and that was a time when I when I put a
few of my friends and I feel llamara are
quite close friends that I that I have
this struggle yeah some some thought
when I when I spoke to a few of them and
tell them that is there is something
about me that I’ve been hiding in and I
have been hiding very well for them for
the many many years that you’ve known me
but I have to tell you this very day of
your games oh you mean you’re probably
gay there’s something which I which I am
occasionally I can feel that some of my
students they can tell me yeah I have a
starter all right I have a stunter i’ve
been i’ve started i have started
stuttering for many many years I think
since I was 16 years old it’s not one of
those things that you that you have joy
because you have to live with it every
single day of your life yeah and I’ll
share with you some of the very painful
things what it means when you have a
standard yeah I have a starter that’s
one and I have won that one the internet
says is called glossophobia it’s a very
extreme fear so it’s not just here it’s
a very extreme fear that that a person
will will experience when when he or she
set us on on stage here I was looking
for a word that they can they can
explain this ends as I’m speaking with
you right now my heart is pounding
usually if it’s about 60 beats per
minute I think now it says is probably
two or three times so when I when I went
online to look for a while I i find this
with i’m not sure if if if that’s the
right word but i have used this with
this is the third such talk that I and I
have done the versus the first one was
to a much smaller prod of a 1650 people
have a pop of the prop right so I vote
you you you don’t start crying so if you
put these two things together you will
have someone who is will face extreme
challenges just coming up here to speak
and the interesting thing as most of my
friends in but your day job is teaching
yeah and I telling yes it’s amazing that
someone who suffers and someone who is
this what is this what glossophobia yeah
can one day find himself the station of
his life and teaching people all right
so where these two things come together
in my classroom which I teach in in the
classroom my mind my great challenge
will always be the one hour before break
time yeah I
I don’t know why I’m much better after
the coffee break so I started realizing
they’re not that I don’t just have this
sudden I got this thing where I were
very very nervy in front of a crowd yeah
someone someone took someone pass me
this is this or people who also suffered
I am NOT shape it might be my good
friend was trying to make me feel heavy
there are famous people who suffered
yeah keeping judge one movie that i did
that i didn’t watch why because I didn’t
have the courage to watch them dead dead
flu when I when I saw this and it’s just
part of a long they’re part of a lot
listen there are famous people who
managed to overcome this this problem
right life as as someone who has this
problem is very very tough a lot of
things that I can do when I go and buy
food is a challenge I have to read us in
my mind when I’m in the Q 1 i’m going to
buy 1 i’m gonna say including no gb when
i when i go and eat when i raise my hand
to get the attention of that the waiter
when I was younger in my 20s it takes a
lot it takes a law for me to come up
here and and speak with you if you want
like a clock 20 years ago 15 years what
I will never be able to do this yeah so
buying food is a challenge speaking
speaking there will be worth that I will
not use yeah there will be words out
that I will that will try not to use if
you have friends who stutter they will
tell you the same thing here for some
people there there are it could be worth
that start with any yeah i know of
someone who struggles with words that
start with m for myself i struggle we
were sat sun became so i’m not sure why
my daddy gave me this this name I
struggle with what’s a sudden k
I have a problem with what sets up with
all when I need to say the word
opportunity i’ll use this for chance
yeah you get by you live with it I
struggle with words that start with S so
in the class I never say I think
another one or two words that I struggle
me go go yes yes I struggle occasionally
with words that some you see f ck k s
occasionally oh and what’s that son
would be very challenging and if you
have to teach you the slice if the
slight point number three has a word
that starts with B one good thing is you
learn to create new phrases and words
that has the same that needs the same
thing yeah without the people who are
here knowing that you have that you that
you started when I one of the moments
that let me do this yeah I told you that
this is probably the third time that I’m
that I’m doing this the first time was
one and a half years ago when my close
friend when we Swiss right here this
this this afternoon I was sharing with
him that this is one problem that I have
with my life three years ago when I when
I sat down and I think what can I do
with this I can keep the problem to
myself yes I can I can deal with it but
one of the things that I started to do
see is a there is a purpose in my life
and what end and the purpose is to take
this problem and share with people live
as someone who suffers is a challenge
when we talk we are never invited to
speak here except for this one right
I’ve not received many petitions to
speak I teach because teaching tourism
is the only thing that I can do and
contents are all up here for many many
years yeah life at someone who who
stutters can be emotionally very very
draining even when I speak to my wife I
started that’s quite natural because she
is very very fierce so I started I I one
of the one of the things that I wanted
to do as a teenager was I I had this
dream I didn’t drink to be a teacher one
of my my dreams that I had when I was
when I was when I was young so i’m i’m
still young when i was 18 years over
supposed to be a flight crew yeah so I
fell on two counts what was my speech
the other one was my height the second
1i i bring my mom that the first one
which which is my my starter someone
asked me this question what do you think
caused this sudden I thought about it
for 12 years I don’t have the answer yet
yeah I sometimes feel that it it could
once again be be jeans but my father
didn’t didn’t didn’t stutter I thought
it was some kind of dark forces I’m a
Christian that we want to like switch
which may have some some verses from the
scriptures I hope it’s okay with you my
walk we’ve got group because of this
starter and I’m going to tell you a few
things that this is there is stitch
impediment Rodney yeah if I have to put
in a title for this 15 15 minute time
slot speech I will not call I will not
give them that the title I
starter if I think if I if I have the
chance to do I Bible my son my speech I
will most likely call it an the purpose
of an impediment yeah it was about two
or three years ago when i started to
have a ship off of what he called
perspective right because it was about a
couple of years ago when i when i had
one of the worst stuttering episodes and
he was in this school teaching a module
i have always considered my favorite one
I can you can write for me and I can
teach it and from from death day I
started to sit down and spend some time
with myself there were one or two
question that I asked myself yeah my son
is like a very high wall when you look
at a very high wall there’s only two
reactions reaction number one is you can
look at his high wall and you can walk
away thinking that is a very very high
wall and there’s no way that you can
claim the second choice we actually
never do is that you can look at this
very very very high water and you can
tell yourself then you’re going to
muster enough strength to overcome this
wall which is whatever I which is what I
put myself that I we do there was about
three years ago yeah so I started to
look at this speech thing and I took
told myself that it will be with me 430
40 a lot long time yeah I can see
there’s a very very high wall in and
just walk away but there is a better
choice I can look at this wall and tell
myself that I have like that i can and
have to steal it so if it was one fine
day three years ago where I started to
tell myself that there are things that
you can do to overcome this thing yeah
now I share with you just now that them
having an obstacle is not all bad yeah
in the in the first 10 / years what I
want to felt and what I thought because
what I see was all there people were
nothing me and I have had quite a few
people will post all on me people will
tell you things that you your weakest
which is very very unlikely that you
will ever make it on stage to speak some
people were very shocked when they when
they saw me back 10 years 10 years ago
tennis tennis on day they saw me beggin
and anyone when I thought that bit that
I actually teach I think some of them
would be very very short there was a few
things that I discovered that having
this starter actually rock brought me
quite a few things it made me mentally
very strong because what one of the
thoughts that came to my mind is I if I
can overcome or find ways to control
this problem there are many many things
in life that I can go forward and you if
i can find somehow ways to do to
overcome this problem the process will
give me strength that i will need to
meet with that the challenges that i
will face in my life so that those two
thoughts came to me at a time and I
sometimes ask myself why why didn’t I
hope look at this way 10 10 years ago
when I when I had this this this thing
this is one person from from the
scriptures that there is very very close
to my heart yeah sis as the years go by
sutter asking myself more and more what
is what is what is one reason why i am
going through this when what made me
there are so many people why the delay
why did he let me have this other right
having an obstacle is actually blue
there are more good things than then
then then bed once the bed one is that
your speech will take along the time
because you start array1 one good thing
is you can draw strength which I share
with you yet you can use this to inspire
people you can let people know that
where there are where there is a very
high wall there will come someone with a
rig with with greater strength that is
required to scale this wall yeah I
started to be more hard-working I will
take time to prepare all right i
discovered that with this sudden you you
can you can ever take away this warm so
one of the things that I that I discover
is that this sucker will stay with me
most likely for a very very long time so
I can’t change things that i can change
but i can change things that i can so i
spend more time preparing for my classes
yeah i will go through points i will
rehearse in my mind what I want to say
all right I’ve been rehearsing for this
speech for five years having an obstacle
makes you humble yeah because one of the
things that I then told myself is is I
will most likely be someone who is very
variable and in full of myself if one
day I i if one day people started
telling me that that I then I am a very
good teacher and
and I have nothing to control me yeah
and the last one is very very true it
makes you it makes you feel more great I
this is one well this is one of the one
of the vessels which I which I will
recite one on one of the verses which
will come to my mind each time I ask
myself those few questions why do I have
to struggle with this cover and the last
statement that i want to make up here is
trust your struggles whatever struggles
that you are going through trust them
your struggles have a have a purpose in
your life you just have to trust it
thank you very much [Applause]