The King's Stammer

The new film, "The KIng's Speech" is a delight to watch and also a stunning piece of social history. It also brings home to the audience how very difficult it is to speak with a stammer. This morning on BBC Breakfast television, the Chair of the British Stammering Association, Leys Geddes, came to speak about the film and its influence on the British public. What struck me again (as I have written about this before) was how we, as a society, expect everyone to get their message across in double quick time. We are so used to high-speed communication that we interrupt if we are not receiving information quickly enough to suit our multi-tasking world!

I am sure everyone watching Breakfast noticed how the presenters just had to slow down, they had to be patient and wait for Leys to finish his sentences. Otherwise they would have been seen as very insensitive and over bearing. Perhaps people with stammers can teach the rest of us to savour each word we hear, to listen without interrupting before the end of a sentence, to wait patiently for the end of a phrase and to reflect on what they hear. These are things we seem to find difficult, possibly untenable, particularly in business. Think about your conduct on the phone: if there is a silence for more than a millisecond you feel the need to fill it, and a sentence is hardly finished before the interlocator (good word that!) intercepts with their contribution to the conversation.

I hope "The King's Speech" does indeed bring attention to people who stammer, and perhaps allow them a stronger voice. It is only by listening completely and effectively that we can ever hope to understand others.

Finally feeling human again

I had a bout of flu or something nasty, which kept coming and going like a boomerang. I am finally back to feeling human enough to use my fingertips! I have been musing about New Year. I prefer this time - about mid-January - to New Year itself. There seem to be so many assumptions and expectations for New Year, that one moment., and the moment never seems to be as interesting as it should be! As a child, I used to hide behind the sofa as mid-night approached, calling out to my parents, "See you next year hee-hee!" because I was convinced that something dramatic would happen as the clock struck twelve. I wasn't nervous, just anticipatory! I thought the world might blow up and I would find myself somewhere completely different!

Yes, I love that quiet time in January, when everyone and everything is supposed to be silenced and recovering from all the celebrations. I suddenly feel motivated to clear out my cupboards, and clear out my mind. Having got over the crazy rush or working and shopping before Christmas, you can finally find time to relax, and to think, to reflect deeply and to throw loads of things in the bin. I love it! It clears the way for me to decide what I am going to do this year. I have decided on two major things in 2011: I am going to Mexico finally. My brother has lived there for 25 years, and I am ashamed to say I have never visited him. At first, it was because the children were small and Mexico City was too polluted, then there was too much going on with their studies, my work etc and I didn't get round to it, but now the time has come! The other major thing is quite a different journey. I am going to do the Hoffman Process. You may have read about it in journal articles. It is a ten-day psychological course, which explores your past in depth and takes you to places you probably never wanted to go, but being the curious sort of person I am, I have to do it! Apart from this, I have the usual New Year's resolutions, like everyone else. Why do we suddenly feel so virtuous because it is January? I would love to know if you have plans for 2011 - do tell if you dare!