Jason D’Souza

OH, MY WORD(S) !!!!! Words, those dreadful words. Why won’t they just come out? Why all the chaos? Why all the drama? No one else seems to have a problem, why only me? 

Eyes blinking, face twitching, feet tapping, hands slapping, oh why won’t you just come out? Let me be normal, let me fit in, let me just be able to string a few words together, to tell a joke, to bring a smile. 

Each time I open my mouth, all I can think of is, will I be able to finish saying what I need to say? Will the other person understand? Why can’t these words just fall into line? Time and time again, the enemy (stuttering) beats me down, every day I pray to God to give me a miracle. Many therapies later and no end in sight, I glance upon a video which could shed some light.

The McGuire Program, what is this they say? I can find freedom in just 4 days… A whole lot of convincing (by Kaushik Valluri) and some research later, I decided to give it a try.  Booked my course and waited patiently. The long flight from Singapore to Bengaluru (India). Gave my 110%, followed everything my coaches and grads said, did the breathing, learned the techniques, made the contacts & gave the public speech. Wow, that was a breeze. The words were actually falling into line. How could this be possible after 28 years of things not being fine? 

Something had changed, and changed it did.

Life was so much more meaningful and full of colour. Something had changed and changed it did. Life was so much more meaningful and full of colour. Gone were the days when my words held me back. A new day had dawned and a new person was born. So much to say, so much to do, keep moving forward, no looking back.

Practising my techniques (physical & psychological) in the coming months and years is my path, leading to articulate and eloquent speech. On this journey, I am especially thankful to every single one of you who has played a part (knowing or unknowingly), be it my family and extended family (a big one at that), my McGuire family (which is even bigger), my friends and colleagues. With your support and understanding, my journey ahead looks all that more promising.

Every (costal) breathing moment forward I promise to be true to myself and never let you all down. Hard work and dedication is what it is going to be, no more fooling around.

Special thanks to Dave McGuire, Kaushik Valluri, Paul Paluch, Christophe Dupuis, Mustapha Cham, my primary coaches Steven Wilkinson & Rishabh Panchamia, all the coaches around the world on the IPSL and all the India course members and refreshers. It is because of you that I am here today. A CHANGED MAN. Words and ideas can change the world. So keep ‘em coming!!!