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I always wanted to have a girlfriend, however this involves meeting her parents and friends, lots of socialising, phone calls including
initial phone call. Stuttering would be more prevalent on
phone than in any other situation for myself. This for me would take courage and it was not until I was eighteen that I went on my first date. I took a young lady to a public house and to say I was nervous was an understatement, mainly it has to be said about stuttering in front of her. When entering
pub I stated that I needed to go to
toilet and asked if she would order
drinks including a diet coke for myself. I did not need
toilet; I just did not want to order
drinks. I later explained to her about
stutter I had and she was surprisingly fine about it.
At
age of twenty-two I had been dating a young lady for a couple of years and she started talking about marriage. Fear of stuttering as usual held me back and I could not go through with
wedding. I felt it was a certainty that I would stutter when saying
vows and making
speech. A few months later she left me. This was
final straw I was now desperate to overcome
stutter.
Gaining employment and working your way up
career ladder can prove difficult for somebody who has a stutter. Most people stutter more when under pressure, therefore interviews can be very stressful. On a personal level it took a number of months to find my first position in employment. I always felt that stuttering held me back and that my full potential in my career and on a personal level could not be reached.

Stephen Hill is somebody who has overcome a stammer/stutter and who now helps other people to achieve fluency. Stephen runs one to one speech courses held in Birmingham, England. For people who are unable to attend there is a seventy minute dvd available.