What do the two most inspirational people of the past week have in common? President Joe Biden and Amanda Gorman, America’s first ever youth poet laureate, inspired the world with their words of hope, eloquence and passion. And they both have communication difficulties.
Gorman had the privilege of sharing her original poem, The Hill We Climb, at Joe Biden’s inauguration celebration on 20th January. An interview with her by CNN’s Anderson Cooper unites three notable individuals who share the challenges presented by communication difficulties. Both Biden and Cooper overcame the speech impairment of stammering. Cooper also had dyslexia as a child. Gorman reveals in her interview that she has a language impairment that makes formation of English language speech sounds difficult. All three of these highly successful people had a communication hill to climb.
So, what positives can we take away from this interview?
You are not limited – Communication difficulties, whether they be related to speech or voice, don’t define a person. You can overcome the barriers presented by these challenges; they need not hold you back.
You are not alone - Voice and communication problems do not discriminate. People of any age, ethnicity, gender or socio-economic background may possess communication difficulties.
You are not alone – People are there to help. Amanda speaks of the incredible support she has received in nurturing her writing talent, not only from her family, but from numerous organisations, which she claims, “lifted me up to climb this mountain.”
You have what it takes – Gorman spoke of her lingering difficulty pronouncing the /r/ sound. She continues to work on that sound, even now. During university, Gorman practiced rapping “Aaron Burr, Sir” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit rap musical, Hamilton, because the song was laden with that particular speech sound. She explained, “the more that I recited out loud, the more in which I practiced spoken word in that tradition, the more I was able to teach myself how to pronounce these letters which for so long had been my greatest impediment.”
The greatest inspiration from Amanda comes from her personal mantra. She ends it with the phrase, “They broke their chains. They call me.” Follow Amanda’s lead and don’t let fear hold you back. Dig deep. Reach out. Find the support you need. Practice.
Break your chains. Have your say. Have your voice.