Luz Mireya Castillo

Eloquence is the master of all arts.

I’ve suffered from a stutter for more than 30 years, and the anxiety and the fear that I felt got worse in any situation that involved public speaking.

In my first course taken in July 2016 in Bogota – Colombia, I attended because I had the responsibility in my job to start dictating training sessions and seminars, something that I avoided all my life in school and university.

I arrived at the course worried and to be honest, with not many expectations, because I didn’t think that talking freely and eloquently could be possible and especially not for the week next to the course when I needed to start with the first training session, but to my surprise, I tried and I did it and I keep doing it.

Up to now, I’ve run 12 successful training sessions since I took the course and there are more to go. I’m beyond happy.

Thanks to the programme and all the tools and techniques, today I feel free and I’m honest with myself, I do not hide what has happened in my life, on the contrary, I feel free by saying it, I always make revelations before each training session and I accept myself.

I’m still working on my speech, I don’t give up, I keep moving forward, I do not avoid, I accept challenges, I strive, but above all, I live happily and I do not worry about public speaking, I enjoy it to the fullest and I don’t want to stop, eloquence is the master of all arts.

“Feel the fear but do it”

It was the phrase that marked a before and an after in my life…

Today I can say with complete assurance and certainty that the McGuire Programme exceeded every expectation, I felt it like a shock therapy that marked my life positively, I understood that I can control my stutter, and I am the one that has that control, even with the fear I do it and I feel good, that is what really matters, how I feel and that is what has driven me. I felt the fear, yes, and a lot of it, but I did it and the fear went away. Today there is nothing that I like more than standing up and talking, I feel like a kid with a new toy, what I dreamt of my whole life.

Today I thank God for allowing me to find a community of people that support each other, thanks to the McGuire Programme for helping me and keep doing it, thanks a lot. Keep moving forward.