I attended my first McGuire
Course while I was at Durham University, having struggled through 3 years
of
Modern Languages, and found it made an immediate change to my life. I certainly
found the final year considerably easier and it was a huge pleasure to be able
to speak the languages that I had spent
such a long time learning! Having
finished my undergraduate degree I stayed on at university to study for a
Masters, the seminars and discussion groups representing a great opportunity to
practice my newfound public speaking ability!
Towards the end of this fifth
year at university I began to toy with the possibility of getting a job and
decided to pursue a career that I had had in the back of my mind since being in
the Cadets at school, considerably more possible now that I was on the road to
defeating my stammer. I passed the 6 days of selection and arrived at Sandhurst
in May 2003 ready to start a year of training to be an Army Officer. It was an
incredible year, full of challenges, mental and physical, extremely demanding
but equally rewarding. From endless parade square drill periods to classroom
lectures on military history and leadership to physical training ‘beastings’ and
frozen night-time sentry duty in sodden woods in Wales, it was a real test of
stamina and endurance.
At all times I was required to
be confident, articulate and outgoing in my speech and general demeanour, and
this was tested in numerous command appointments and leadership tests. On top
of this we did a course of Communication Studies, revolving around public
speaking and interview techniques. In this forum I was able to use all my
McGuire learning and thoroughly enjoyed being grilled in front of television
cameras or presenting arguments in debates. At the end of the year I was
extremely pleased to receive the Award for top student in Communication Studies
- a great reflection on my McGuire training.
I commissioned on 10th April
2004 into the Royal Green Jackets, an infantry regiment, and following 4 months
of specialist Infantry Platoon Commander training in Brecon and Kenya, was
posted to Northern Ireland as a Platoon Commander. Here, all my 16 months of
training came to fruition as I took command of a Platoon of 25 soldiers, and
became responsible for them 24 hours of every day. From giving orders before
operational deployments to commanding a patrol around the fields and villages of
South Armagh, to assisting the Police in riot control in the streets of Belfast,
my speech had to be on top form, expressing myself eloquently and clearly
whether it be to my soldiers, helicopter pilots or would-be rioters. For a
series of challenging speaking situations every day of the week you really
couldn’t do much better than being an Infantry Platoon Commander!
After 18 months of commanding
my Platoon, I was asked by the Commanding Officer to be his Intelligence
Officer, responsible for monitoring and assessing the enemy’s movements and
actions and briefing this to the Colonel and other staff. On my second day in
the job I found myself at a Brigade study day briefing an auditorium of senior
officers, the front row of which comprised a General, a Brigadier and half a
dozen Colonels - an excellent opportunity for voice projection! Not as good
however as trying to give an eight-figure grid reference to a helicopter pilot
with the rotors turning as I had discovered in a field in South Armagh the year
before!
During my time as Intelligence
Officer, the opportunity came up to spend 3 months in Baghdad as an Aide de Camp
for a Brigadier, a job that I was very happy to take on and which proved to be a
fascinating insight into the higher levels of Coalition planning and
operations. Again, I was required on a daily basis to speak confidently and
articulately to some very senior officers, and often found myself meeting and
greeting distinguished visitors as well as making regular phone calls to
ascertain the whereabouts of helicopters, liaise with hosting officers, and
discuss meeting arrangements with Iraqi and Coalition Officers.
I return to England shortly to
resume my role of Intelligence Officer, with a 6 week exercise to Canada and the
prospect of another 6 months in Iraq to come in the next year. The Army is
certainly keeping me busy, but also providing amazing opportunities to travel
and work around the world as well as keeping me on top of my speaking game. As
a career it depends on the ability to project oneself articulately and
confidently, two of the principles taught so well by the McGuire Programme, and
there is no opportunity for refusal or backing down from challenges. More than
anything else it just goes to show what you can achieve once you start to make
progress along the road to conquering your stammer!
Capt. Andrew Boardman
but towards the end, I talked to everyone. Again the subject of the McGuire Programme came up so once again, I was the ‘center of attention’, ‘TEACHING’ them, would you believe, about speaking! I decided to dedicate my next Toastmaster speech to the ‘McGuire Technique’, which is the speech I did today.
Hi all,
