What can stuttering voices teach us about good communication and employment culture?

Ahead of International Stuttering Awareness Day, 50 Million Voices is delighted to host this online event on 18 October focusing on stuttering, communication and employment.

Join us and a panel of experts who will challenge the long-held negative assumptions about stuttering and explore it as a different way of communicating. One which is valuable for both speaker and listener and, consequently, also for the benefit of employers.

Our expert panel will consider the theme from the perspective of the speaker who stutters and the listener who may or may not stutter.  Sub-themes will include how culture affects individual choices around speaking up or staying silent, ableist expectations of fluency, the power of the stuttered word, the power of attentive listening and more....

When: Tuesday 18 October 5:00 - 6:30pm UK time (BST)
Where: Online on zoom
What: An exploration of how stuttering voices can help us all improve our communication as speakers and listeners.

We hope the event will provide you with an opportunity to listen, contribute and learn.

Programme

Panel presentations

The evening begins with short talks from speakers chaired by Iain Wilkie. Our expert panellists include:

• Elias Apreko – Co-founder Ghana Stammering Association
• Megan Reitz - Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult Business School
• Joshua St Pierre – Canada Research Chair in Disability Studies, University of Alberta

Breakout discussions

This will be followed by smaller breakout sessions where you can reflect, share and listen. There is no obligation to talk and you can keep your camera off and shorten/remove your onscreen name if you wish to.

A plenary and Q&A hosted by Sam Simpson will provide the plenty of opportunity to ask questions of the panel and round off the event.

Our team

Iain Wilkie - Iain is the founder of 50 Million Voices, Trustee of Business Disability Forum (BDF) and former EY partner.  He is a person who stutters.

Elias Apreko - Elias is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Ghana Stammering Association, and a person who stammers. He also serves on the Advocacy Committee of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD).

Megan Reitz - Megan is Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult Business School and Founder of Reitz Consulting. Her work focusses on how we can flourish in our workplaces through the way we speak with, listen to, learn from and care for one another. Megan does not stutter.

Joshua St Pierre - Joshua is a person who stutters and a leading voice in the global stuttering pride movement. He is also Canada Research Chair in Critical Disability Studies and an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta.

Sam Simpson - A leading advocate for global stuttering pride, Sam is also an internationally respected speech & language therapist and supervisor. She does not stutter.

Becca Wood - Becca is a Client Manager in the EY General Insurance team and a person who stammers. She focusses on introducing the best of EY to clients, covering services from assurance to actuarial with a focus on consulting and strategy. Becca is also Co-Chair of the EY Stammering Network, a community to connect and support those who stammer within EY.

We're truly excited about this event and believe it can be a catalyst for changing the conversation about stuttering in the workplace.

Booking your place

Thank you for everyone who registered. Registration for this event is now closed.

50 Million Voices relies on donations to provide you with this and future events. Please donate what you can to support our work and enable us to provide more development and networking opportunities for those of us who stammer and our allies.

Employers: to book places for your employees, information and suggested donations are available from Shilpa Sagwal info@50millionvoices.org

Individuals: donations are welcomed from independent attendees at www.50millionvoices.org/donate

We are very grateful to EY for generously supporting this event