Free course offering ‘life-changing’ help for people with stammers set to launch in Peterborough
Three-day course will see former stammerers teach simple yet highly effective Costal Breathing method of speaking
A newly-formed charity which aims to help people with stammers to speak clearly and confidently is set to launch its first-ever course in Peterborough next month.
Empowering Voices, which was set up earlier this year by former stammerers from across our region, will be putting on the free course at City College on from 28-30 October.
The charity’s chairperson, Ian Trevor – who spoke with a noticeable stammer for much of his life – told the Peterborough Telegraph that those behind Empowering Voices all have one thing in common.
“The trustees and the members are all people who have learned a costal breathing technique to control our stammers,” he said.
Costal breathing – sometimes known as ‘shallow breathing’ – is a relatively simple technique which involves filling the lungs with air and then emptying them just before speaking.
The technique was made famous by former Pop Idol star Gareth Gates, who won the hearts of millions by refusing to let his stammer define him.
Chatting without any noticeable stammer whatsoever, Ian adds: “I’ve got a stammer but I’ve learnt this technique to allow me to control it.”
The charity’s aims are simple. “We set up the charity… for the pure joy of giving stammerers basically what we’ve got, which is the freedom to say what we want, when we want and without any fear,” Ian said.
The three-day course will see attendees learn costal breathing, then work on the technique so that they’re able to use it “in every possible scenario.”
Ian noted that, while much of the course is classroom-based, he and his fellow mentors will be looking to help attendees’ self-esteem by giving them “the confidence to step out of their comfort zone.”
“At dinner-time, we’ll go out in Peterborough and we’ll have meals, where everybody else has meals, so that they can practise their [new] technique,” he explained.
“But they can do it while having the safety of having me or one of the other mentors stood next to them.”
The course normally costs £250. However, the charity has financed this initial course for free to help mark International Stammering Awareness Day, which falls on October 22.
Visit to find out more.