"I am extremely grateful for all the time and mentoring that Chris and Ayo have invested in me and I have no doubt they have the ability to have a similarly positive impact on many other people’s lives" - Anthony, SHB Community
Callum's Experience
Nick's Experience
Anthony's Experience
Anthony Hinchcliffe
My name is Anthony Hinchcliffe and I have had a severe overt stutter my entire life. I believe the worst thing about stuttering is the social anxiety that accompanies it. The most minor interactions such as ordering lunch or calling to make an appointment would fill me with fear and social situations were unbearable.
I moved to London in late 2017 to work at a small software firm as a software developer. Although I was proud of the work I was doing, after eight months, I still felt anxious going to work every day knowing I would struggle to speak to my teammates. I felt embarrassed that I couldn’t explain my ideas and interact with clients in an acceptable manner.
I can honestly say that everything changed for me the day Ayo visited my workplace to explain the “Stop Holding Back” mentality to my colleagues. Since being mentored by both Ayo and Chris, my situation has improved remarkably. The “Stop Holding Back” mentality they teach has changed how I view social situations and myself as a speaker. I now feel comfortable communicating with my colleagues, and better, I can see a clear path forward to replicating my success at work to other social situations.
I am extremely grateful for all the time and mentoring that Chris and Ayo have invested in me and I have no doubt they have the ability to have a similarly positive impact on many other people’s lives
Sourabh's Experience
Sanjog Sandu
Stop Holding Back is the future of speech therapy/stuttering support groups.
Ayo and Chris are two of the most genuine people I’ve ever met. I reached out to them when I was personally struggling with my speech, and I didn’t know what to do. I was part of a speech therapy programme but I felt that their ‘rules’ on following fluency shaping methods were far too strict. I felt ashamed/embarrassed to reach out to them, as my speech was not up to their standards. However, I rang Ayo on a whim, and he happily gave me tips and psychological advice to help me deal with the effects of stuttering.
Both Ayo and Chris took time out of their own busy schedules to personally coach me, several times a week, as well as regularly phoning me to check in. They didn’t charge me anything; they simply did it because they care about the stuttering community. I think this says more about their character than any words can ever do.
Stop Holding Back is NOT a strict stuttering therapy programme where you aren’t allowed to stutter; in fact, it is the opposite. It’s made very clear that you may stutter for the rest of your life, but the attitudes and feelings towards that fact CAN CHANGE. It is a welcoming community for any and all persons who stutter (PWS) to come, discuss and attempt to overcome their own stuttering problems.
They are not afraid to completely think outside the box, and are happy to add other approaches to their speech therapy programme. They realise that there is no ‘one size fits all’ for every PWS, and gladly adapt their approach to each person. They are ever evolving, and the only ‘rule’ they teach is to never hold back.
Alexander Kuzmenko,
cofounder of the first YT video stuttering podcast “FindingVoices99”, NSA, BSA member, PWS.
I met Ayo on a speech improvement program. Ayo aced the program and successfully finished staff training course to became a certified coach to help people with communication skills issues and stuttering in particular.
Ayo taught me a few major things about stuttering and a few things about myself along the way. Ayo and SHB team helped me to realise the importance of an Assertive Self-Actualization as a Person Who Stutter. That gave me a base for improvement, I finally understood who I really was and how different it was from what I thought I was
Stop Holding Back is a cognitive process of identifying ones psychological and social avoidances, facing them immediately and so much more.
Most social fears are irrational. Ayo helped me to understand that using SHB approach and a set of techniques. I wish Ayo and SHB team the best of luck and I wish every PWS would be lucky enough to apply what Charity has to offer.
I believe in SHB.
Leo Lähteenmäki (Living in Finland)
The SHB community has been an invaluable resource in helping me tackle all aspects of my stutter; it has helped me to refine the techniques I speak with, encouraged me to embrace and succeed in challenging situations and has changed my self-perception from a frustrated stutterer to a confident person who stutters, happy to work on their speech. Without its constant assistance just a phone call or message away on Whatsapp, I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t have dared lived the life the way I do now.
SHB community has helped me to find awesome people who stutter around the world. I get to see others experiences and I can ask everything about stuttering. I think there is always a solution in this group.