Leading Motivational Speaker, Mike Blissett, Applauds 'The King's Speech' for Turning the Spotlight on Stuttering and Hopes New Film will Build Public Understanding for Fellow Stutterers

LONDON, ENGLAND, January 16, 2011

With last week's release in the UK of 'The King's Speech', starring Colin Firth as the late King George VI, stuttering is being thrust into the public consciousness. Widely acclaimed by critics, this movie balances first class cinematography with successfully tackling a subject so often overlooked or even still taboo.

Stuttering affects more than 500,000 people, or 5% of the population, in the UK today and an estimated 42 million individuals worldwide. Whilst UK laws are aimed at supporting and protecting individuals with such disabilities, the reality is so often very different.

Motivational speaker, trainer and business coach, Mike Blissett, suffered a debilitating and severe stutter until his mid-20s.

Sharing his memories of school days, Mike says, "Whilst teachers were to varying degrees sympathetic, invariably they didn't know how to deal with a child that couldn't speak easily, or protect himself from ridicule."

His experiences included being asked to read aloud during English and when he couldn't, being instructed to stand on a chair and continue, to being the only child who could answer a question during a maths class yet being ignored by the teacher who instead turned and wrote the answer on the blackboard.

This type of experience at school and then in the jobs market left an indelible imprint, one which shaped his life and provided the passion as a communications consultant today.

According to Mike, "In the short term, experiences such as those mentioned above destroyed my confidence and self-esteem, making the stutter even worse. Today however, I know the stutter shaped me into becoming the person I am today, and I am grateful for that."

The 49 year old is now one of the foremost speakers on communication skills training in the UK. A former professional singer and stage performer, he has managed to use the harsh experiences of his earlier life to gain a deep understanding of the human psyche, and particularly how we communicate with each other and ourselves.

Whilst legislation has moved forward in the intervening decades with regard to discrimination, Mike believes personal attitudes have not. Speaking without a trace of his former stutter, he wonders whether society has really moved on since the days of George VI with stutterers still often left to fend for themselves whilst in education, and overlooked in the jobs market.

Like Lionel Logue, the speech therapist in 'The King's Speech', Mike advocates that sufferers should work on their confidence before the stutter. It doesn't matter how many techniques a stutterer has, if they're not confident when they speak, then they will stutter.

Whilst 'The Kings Speech' may well be difficult to watch in places, Mike's hope is that the film will encourage society to accept people for who they really are, and not simply judge them by their stutter. He believes one of the greatest gifts a listener can give is to take the time to listen and be heard, which in itself helps rebuild confidence and self-esteem.

For further information, please contact Mike Blissett on 020 8920 0847 or at mike@mikeblissett.com.

Editors notes:
Mike Blissett is an accomplished Speaker, Business Coach and Trainer. Over the past 8 years, he has worked with 25,000+ people, delivering 90-100 days of training, workshops and keynotes per year and is regarded as an industry expert.

Mike helps corporate clients and entrepreneurs to communicate better with staff and customers in order to grow their business. Great communication is a big deal for Mike. Having suffered a severe stutter until his early 20s, he truly knows the importance of good and complete communication on all levels, from personal interaction, though to business and leadership.

Mike is an accredited Coach, Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP - the 'science' of communication. He is also an accredited Sport and Clinical Hypnotherapist.