Floz
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Ooh. Try this one. Its doesn't come up on the search for Gareth as the poster has spelled his name wrong.
Its Gareth presenting the award at the MTV award show.
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What's World Vision 2006 I wonder?
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Gareth, as we know, has a stammer. He has worked hard to conquer it, through the McGuire Programme, a course run for stammerers by recovering stammerers.
Gareth has passed his coaching qualifications and has qualified to be a course instructor - the youngest ever to qualify through the Programme. As we would expect - he passed with flying colours.
Part of each McGuire Programme course involved the participants speaking in public. Here is Gareth speaking on a programme in Stirling 2004.
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The following thread brings together a small collection of newspaper and magazine articles and course reports that relate to Gareth and his involvement with the McGuire Programme.
Bournemouth 9th-12th Oct 2003 - Course Report
...
We had a special guest appearance from Sat evening onwards with the presence of Gareth Gates. Gareth is really working hard on his speech now and was a great example to the new students who were obviously excited by his presence. It was stressed though that how on the McGuire Programme everyone is the same. Everyone comes on to work on their speech and is no different from the next person whether they are a brain surgeon, a window cleaner, or a popstar. No-one is special. We are all special. This hit home and Gareth was treated as normal as the next guy. Any autographs and photographs were kept until Sunday afternoon.
…
Gareth Gates also did his best Russel Crowe impersonation from Gladiator. Good fun.
From the Sunday People. March 2004.
From the Coventry Telegraph 2004
Scottish Mail on Sunday April 04
No screaming fans, but Pop Idol Gareth is in fantastic voice
He usually plays to huge audiences of screaming teenage girls.
But pop star Gareth Gates appeared before a much smaller audience in Scotland last week - to give a lecture on how to deal with a speech impediment.
Famously, Gates became known for his pronounced stutter as he auditioned for Pop Idol, but he managed to overcome it to get to the contest final.
Early last week he appeared for an intensive four day course at a hotel in Central Scotland to talk to 55 people on the McGuire Programme, a course that is run across the U.K 'for stammerers by recovering stammerers'.
Among them were Graeme Duffin, guitarist with Wet Wet Wet, a footballer who used to play for Celtic and a young policeman.
Gates has been attending the programme for long enough to become a voice coach to some of the recruits.
Talking frankly to the group last weekend, he revealed he was driven on by his ultimate fear, 'the fear of repeated relapse'.
Using the techniques taught by the programme to keep his speech fluent, Gates told how his stammer was so bad he avoided certain words and sounds.
He said he found relief when he came across the progamme in 2001. He said: 'I picked up the technique quite well and for a couple of months I was strong'
But he revealed that the sudden fame thrust upon him when he lost out to Will Young in the Pop Idol final had knocked him off course.
He added: ' My career became number one priority. I learned the moment you make speech number two in your life is the moment things get difficult and you relapse, and I did'.
Gates admitted that his stammer had been a massive hurdle to overcome psychologically. He said: 'Putting myself up to perform, to be interviewed and voted on was an ordeal.
'Thankfully, the support I had from the programme helped me through'.
The programme was set up by David McGuire, an American who quit his homeland because his stammer made it impossible to find work.
Woman's Own June 04: Finding her Voice
Lifelong stammerer Janey Watt found that conquering her speech problem transformed her personality and won her a special celebrity friend. Believe it or not, even pop idols get stage fright. And when an attack of nerves make a star freeze up before a life show, it can spell disaster.
That’s exactly what happened on 7 February 2003 , just minutes before teen heart-throb Gareth Gates was due to broadcast live on Radio 1 to promote his single, Spirit in the Sky. Terrified that his stammering might ruin the interview, a distraught Gareth was considering abandoning the show altogether. For although the singer had managed to sing fluently in front of huge television audiences during the first series of Pop Idol in 2001, the stammer that had plagued him all his life meant he often found one-to-one conversations nerve-wracking.
At that moment, rendered speechless with fear, there was only one person who could help – his personal speech coach, Janet Watt. A qualified speech therapy instructor, Janey toured with Gareth and was on 24-hour standby to offer the young pop star support when it was most needed. As a former stammerer herself, Janey, 40, was perfectly placed to understand her star client’s anxiety.
For years, even the simplest social situations had been traumatic for Janey because of her severe stammer. ‘I felt a horrible mix of anger and self-loathing because of my speech impediment’, she says. ‘From the age of five, when I first started school, I had to put up with teasing cries of, “J… J… Janey” from the other kids.’The idea of making a telephone call or chatting to strangers in the street filled her with dread, and she became shy and introverted.
‘When you can’t make yourself understood, it creates a spiral of shame and guilt that drags you down’, she says.
In her job as an administrator at Lothian and Border Police, where Janey has worked for almost 25 years, she felt she was often overlooked for promotion.
‘It was frustrating because I wasn’t stupid’, she says, ‘I just had a speech impediment.’ Having tried conventional speech therapy and even alternative treatments such as hypnosis and acupuncture, without success, Janey was understandably sceptical when she first heard about the McGuire programme on television. But despite her initial reservations, she booked a place on a McGuire workshop being held in her home city of Edinburgh, in April 2002.
At the work shop, Janey along with all the other attendees, was made to introduce herself to a camera, in front of about 60 people. She froze, and it took her a full ten minutes even to utter her name. ‘It was so humiliating, I was in tears’, she says, ‘But it’s done the world of good and we are able to highlight how much progress everyone’s made by the end of the course.’ After a few hours of focusing on relaxation and ‘costal’ breathing – a breathing technique used by opera singers to help them prepare for high-pressure performances – Janey was able to feel a sense of control over her speech that she had never experienced before.
‘In one day I seemed to turn the corner’, she says, ‘I began speaking without fear, and it felt great.’
Janey left the four day course a changed woman. Two weeks later, she felt confident enough to apply for a promotion at work. The position of secretary to the Chief Inspector of Lothian and Border Police was an important one, involving inspectors work and dealing with members of the public. Formal situations had always terrified her, but this time, Janey was able to draw on her new-found courage.
Janey passed the interview with flying colours and landed the job. ‘My collegues were amazed’, she says, ‘They couldn’t get over it. Now they tell me what an accomplished speaker I am.’
Janey’s confidence grew and she began to enjoy speaking to people. There was a downside though. A month after the McGuire programme workshop, Janey’s normal telephone bill of thirty pounds had rocketed to £284. ‘I almost fainted when I saw it’, she says. ‘I used to hate talking on the phone and avoided it like the plague.’
Having turned her own life around, Janey decided to help other stammerers by becoming a McGuire programme instructor. Qualifying in just over a year, one of her first jobs was as a voice coach to a very ambitious young man – Gareth Gates. Taking time out from her desk job, Janey mentored Gareth for several months, joining him on publicity trips to Belgium, Norway, Spain, Ireland and the UK. She provided the singer with one-to-one guidance as he dealt with magazine interviews, and television and radio appearances. The two became firm friends.
Now Janey’s success as a recovered stammerer has helped the star, and Gareth announced recently that he, too, has qualified as a McGuire programme instructor.
The Pop Idol runner-up says, ‘I never dreamed I’d be able to handle simple things like phoning up to order a takeaway, never mind speaking on stage at Wembley. Thanks to Janey Watt and Michael Hay, who taught me the McGuire technique, any situation in which I have to talk is no longer daunting.’
Looking back at his stage fright more than a year ago, 19 year old Gareth added, ‘Performing in front of massive audiences is always an ordeal, but thankfully the support I’ve had from Janey and the McGuire programme has helped me through.’
From the Bradford Telegraph and Argus June 2004. - just after he had passed his exams
Pop Star Gareth Gates says he has fulfilled many of his life's dreams after topping the charts and achieving celebrity status.
But the 19 year -old made a special trip back to Bradford to give an inspiring public talk about how controlling his speech problem is the one thing that really turned his life around.
To a crowd of about 30 people at Bradford's Central Library,Gareth spoke clearly and confidently about the days when he stammered through his live interviews on ITV's Pop Idol.
At an open day promoting the Mc Guire Programme,which helps stammerers fight the speech condition,the former Bradford Cathedral choirister from East Bowling revealed he now delighted in giving media interviews and loved speaking.
And he said he was now able to order a Big Mac from McDonald's,a snack he was never able to pronounce clearly before.
"Having that freedom to ask for the food you want and other things in shops makes all the difference in life",he said.
"Taking part in the McGuire project has completely changed my life and i would never have thought I could stand and talk to people like this".
Sun-tanned and relaxed,Gareth spoke for 15 minutes without a single stammer about how he took his first McGuire course in 2001 before pop idol.
But after clinching a place on the show his speech improvement was no longer his first priority.
"But eight months ago I got back on track,went on the course again and now I'm a qualified speech coach,"he said."This time I really put the work in and when I started the course I really was the worst one there.
"Everyone had to say their name on the first day and I just couldn't say my name and I broke down in tears in front of everybody,It's all about being aggreassive with yourself".
But after his emotional journey,which he said he would not have beem able to do without the support and encouragement of his parents Wendy and Paul Gates,Gareth said he now no longer feared interviews.
"I love speaking now.As soon as you take that step of faith and make your speech the number one priority in your life,that's all it takes."he said.
He said it was hard work,and likened it to being an athlete,as exercises in breathing must be done daily.
He said his new ambition was to run a Mc Guire programme and help fellow Stammerers."
"I've got where i want to in terms of my music career but now i want to reach as many people as i can" he said.
"People aren't in control of their own lives because they can't speak and i wnat to reach people and tell them there is a way out"
Hayley Dryden, 15, who has a stammer, travelled from Blythe, in Northumberland, with her family especially to find out more about the programme.
And she said she was delighted when Gareth rang her at home on Thursday evening to encourage her to attend the talk.
And the singer also took time to speak to her personally in the interval.
A tearful Hayley, who is a huge Gareth fan said "He has really inspired me and i will hopefully be going on the McGuire course in October"
Other recovering stammers also gave moving talks about their progress, and how many wished they had taken the course years ago.
They included Alan Rogers, 58 of Baildon, who developed a stammer at the age of three.
Close to tears he told visitors how at meetings it was like "creeping death" as he waited to say his name,
"You get to the point where you aviod those situations and you are always five minutes late but life doesn't have to be like that," said the maintenance manager. I went on the course and i couldn't believe that at the end of four days i could stand on a soap box and talk publicly. It was truly amazing.
Cambridge Course Report - August, 2004 by Alan Wyatt (Intern: Rich Whincup)
If the number of phone calls received following a course is an
indication of how successful a course has been, then the Cambridge
course has to be seen as a success. This week, from the time I get home
from work on an evening to the time I go to bed, I have been on the
phone either taking or returning calls from both new and older grads. I
try to return one call and by the time it's finished I have another 3 or
4 messages.
At the welcome evening and first day videos we were introduced to
sixteen people with ages varying between seventeen to early fifties
displaying a wide range of stammers.
Rich Whincup (undertaking his internship) and I had already decided,
that as fairly old grads, we wanted to instill the sense of discipline
that we had experienced on our first courses. This was made evident very
early on by confronting Kevin Phelps & Gareth Gates when they noisily
entered the room five minutes late. The look on Kevin's face as I bawled
him out and sent them out of the room was perfect. Yes, it was a setup
but I got the point across - thanks guys!
At the earlier session with the new students talking about demystifying
stammering, I asked Rich's wife Vicky, who was at the back of the room,
to unexpectedly pop a balloon. I don't know whether this has been tried
before but it had the exact effect I was after. It demonstrated muscle
response to fear - crouched shoulders (fight or flight) and sudden
intakes of breath (diaphragm contracting).
Thursday was the usual very hard work and everyone was rewarded by the
excellent performance given by the new students saying their names and
addresses late in the evening.
Although two of the original sixteen new students had left by Friday
morning, this did not detract from the efforts of those remaining.
It was always our intention that despite working tremendously hard, we
should also have as much fun as we could. Little word games (to aid
concentration) were used before breaks, sometimes involving everyone,
sometimes two or three volunteers, thereby ending sessions with smiles
on peoples faces.
Before one of the breaks on Friday morning, Terry Cardwell presented the
guidelines for DD in his own inimitable style. Immediately after the
break, I showed Terry's and Rich's first day videos. The effect was
stunning. Absolute uneasy silence (those who have seen these videos will
know the effect that it would have had). All I had to say was "do you
think this programme works?" I think it was at this time that the new
students and some older grads realised what is achievable if you have
the commitment. (Thanks Terry).
As usual, contacts were demonstrated to the new students on Friday
afternoon, every paired grad achieving the magic 100. Reporting back by
the new students was as disciplined as ever. Whilst Rich and I took the
new students in a split session on Friday evening, we gave the old grads
the option of a sports mentality game (the new tennis game in its latest
version) run by Gareth or a session on positive thinking and
assertiveness run by Nigel Cherry and Jonathon Holt.
Following the phone calls, early Saturday morning saw Rich and Terry
running a problem surgery whilst I led the new students in the checklist
and reading out loud.
Later on Saturday, some "big guns" arrived. As soon as Michael Hay,
Edouard Maze-Sencier (short version!) and Chris Meintjes arrived they
were pressed into service. The Harrison workshops, organised by Rebekah
Beevers, were a great success - so much noise in the room with lots of
smiling faces. Then it was time for the new students to go out and do
the business.
I am keen that unpaired old grads are set a challenge (apart from 100
contacts) before they go out. Twice in the past I have set a target of a
15 minute sprint drill. On this course I wanted something different. I
put a PowerPoint slide on the screen with options numbered one to six.
The throw of an oversized dice determined what their challenge would be.
The six challenges were 15 minute sprint drill, disclosures (the number
of disclosures determined by me depending on the person), walk away
drill, telephone hang-up drill, exposure, and bring someone that you do
not know to the public speaking. (It was funny how fate seemed to pick
the one least wanted).
I know that a lot of the grads felt uneasy about their challenge but all
stood up later and said that they were achieved, some even going further
than necessary.
Public Speaking, as always, was a great success. Brilliant sunshine &
large crowds (swelled by the efforts from the previously mentioned
challenges).
Reporting back, once again so disciplined, was a pleasure to watch and
listen to. Smiles all round!
Positive thinking and sports psychology were the subjects of the new
students split session on Saturday evening whilst Keith Ludwig and
Gareth took the older grads for a fun session ending with Family
Fortunes. From the amount of noise heard in the room with the new
students, I gather Family Fortunes was very well received!!
After the students had been sent to bed on Saturday evening, it was time
for the old grads to let their hair down with Matt Wilton's Karaoke
machine in the bar. What a night!! When we were evicted from the bar at
around 00:30, a group of around twenty sat on the grass outside talking
until one of the college Porters insisted we remove ourselves from the
grass - just like naughty school kids.
Phone calls, making and receiving, started off Sunday followed by a
motivational session by Gareth whilst new students were told about going
home. After breakfast a new idea was tried out, a separate session for
the under twenty year olds old grads where school/college/uni issues
could be discussed as well as a different form of goal setting.
The rest of Sunday morning was fairly normal giving some new PC's/CCII's
opportunities to show us what they could do in presenting the Hexagon,
Self Actualisation etc etc. To round off the instructional side of the
course, three staff trainers and two course instructors stood at the end
of the room for twenty minutes answering any questions that were asked.
Before starting the farewell speeches, there was a 45 minute break
during which Vicky (Rich's wife) & Sandra (my wife) held a session for
the friends and family that had arrived to watch the speeches. This took
the form of a short talk followed by question and answers about living
with a Mcguire grad i.e. changes, what to do, what not to do, etc etc.
We purposely kept Mcg people out of this session so as not to inhibit
any questions. This session was very well received - thanks ladies.
The farewell speeches included every new grad reading out a different
inspiration quotation before making their speech before a group of 65-70
people. It was during the so disciplined speeches that Rich showed how
much it had all meant to him - big man, big heart!
There are so many people that I need to thank in making the course so
successful, the new grads for their hard work and trust, the older grads
-without you, it would not have happened. The older grads that took
topics and checklist points - far too many to mention but you know who
you are. Grads that took split sessions as mentioned above.
Special thanks to Rebekah Beevers in taking the bookings and helping out
during the course.
Thanks to Michael, Edouard & George Samios who acted as sounding boards
and let me plagiarize some of their material.
Thanks to Matt Wilton (RD). I know how much work I put into this course
(and am still putting in). I can't even imagine what work Matt has to
do. Lots of respect for all RD's, past and present.
Thanks to Rich Whincup for asking me to supervise his internship. It was
because of Rich and his parents that I joined the programme four and a
half years ago so it was a real privilege and pleasure to be asked.
Thanks finally to our two wives who have had to put up with so much
during the last couple of weeks - water-carriers extraordinaire.
Finally, Rich, Vicky, Sandra and I are going out next Thursday for a
celebratory meal. We will raise our glasses to you all. CHEERS!!
Gareth's own course report from the Swindon course in Feb 2005 - the first course that he led, co-facilitaing with his friend Michael Hay.
Months of preparation. Weeks of careful organisation. Hours of clinical revision, and still I had to be excused 6 times within the first few sessions for
a "toilet break"! I was bricking it, for want of a better expression. But
once the nerves began to settle and those butterflies began to find gentle
formation in my stomach, I began to enjoy instructing.
There is no greater feeling than knowing you've had some input into changing
someone's life. Guiding them to the freedom they've so desperately been searching for. Hence the reason I jumped at Matt's idea of me instructing the 'Swindon 2005 course'. The McGuire programme has changed my life and so I couldn't let the opportunity of me giving something back, pass by.
Wednesday night was quite interesting; it’d been sometime since I'd spoken
to an out of control stammerer and, being so psyched about the course, I
found it an effort not to ask them 'if they'd like to cancel that?'! I got
by in the end and enjoyed my time with the new students. This evening’s events included 5 or 6 grads giving their testimony to how the McGuire programme has changed their lives; an inspiring and motivational session which gave the new students hope for the forthcoming few days.
My sleep was quite unsettled Wednesday night, hoping and praying we'd covered all bases and everything was ready. Surprisingly, this was my latest night on the course...and this was without alcohol!
James Tobin did a great a job of managing to get the students spitting and
blubbering on their feared words! So well done James, mission completed!
It was then that myself and Michael put on our Marigolds and got to work.
23 new students, all eager, pliable and hungry to learn. Some adopted the
technique well, others needed a little assistance. But all ended speaking
strongly and getting out their names and address (and feeling positive) by
the time Thursday was over.
And so began the four day drinking binge for lots of the older grads! But joking
aside, it was so refreshing to see the amount of grads that turned up on the
course. Never before have we had to have three sets of Harrison workshops
to accommodate everyone or had to split the older grads into three very large
groups to ensure everyone fit into the room! There was so much success on
the course and this is essentially down to the grads. They do the majority
of the hard graft, the long monotonous tasks. They shape and mould the new
students, into what they become. So a big thank you to everyone who attended the course, YOU made the difference.
Myself and Michael felt it was important to challenge and give responsibility
to other grads on the programme. This ranged from course instructors to grads not more than a few months old (...in McGuire years). The tasks varied from reading out dinner pairings to teaching a thirty minute session to everyone.
Our only requirement from everyone was to deliver the allocated information
in a new & fresh manner. Michael and I felt that each course is done in the
same old way, using the same old methods, often by the same old people; which is fine for the new students but for lots of the grads who turn up on every course, this becomes a little tedious. So, not only would the new students be learning a vital part of the technique, the older grads will be viewing it in slightly different light. Everyone really stepped up to the mark and
used a different analogy or prop, of some sort, that would make their session
stand out and therefore encourage people to remember. Aaaalan Wyatt dressed up as a judge and delivered the Laws in a way I've never seen before! ... Something so simple, but so effective.
Thank-you to all the grads that accepted the challenge and delivered well.
All the students had achieved a certain level of disciplined fluency and
by the time Saturday came, all were eager to get out on the streets and face
their greatest fear. By 3pm , everyone had congregated in the centre of Swindon for public speaking. Some of the students were a little apprehensive to start
off with, but eventually they were up there, enjoying the people of Swindon 's
attention. It was incredible. They began to believe in what we had told them
and, most importantly, believe in themselves.
By the time Saturday night came, everyone had well earned a celebratory drink. Me, Michael and Matt cracked open the champagne and began to enjoy the fruits of our labour! Everyone really let their hair down and blasted out some tunes on the karaoke. Myself and Michael kicked it off with 'Summer Nights'...obviously I was John whilst Michael enjoyed being Olivia! Winks took to the stage with his rendition of 'I've had the time of my life', which went down a storm! ... Just in case any of you was wondering what the 'JUST REMEMBER' line was about... forget it, it's a personal joke between myself & winks! ... it did catch on though! Such a great night.
Sunday came and everyone was both physically and mentally exhausted, but
the mix of emotions created a buzz in the room. Speaking to the new students
one last time enabled me to see how excited they were about taking their
new found technique out into the real world. Excited about having a conversation with their parents for the first time. Excited about telling their partner they loved them without any struggle. That's what it's about.
Thank yous:
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone. I'm not going to list you
all...you know who you are. But a couple of people do stand out:
Matt - I've accomplished some of my wildest dreams and achieved lots
of my life ambitions, but instructing was the next milestone. It's because
of you that I was given this opportunity. Thank you. I hope our friendship
continues to become stronger and stronger.
Dave McGuire - It's because of one man's dream and desire to help people
that we can now enjoy our freedom to speak. Thank you Dave, you inspire me
and always will.
Keith McManus - It ran perfectly! … that's down to you. Thank you.
There were certain people on my first course that inspired me as a new student.
Heather Lucey (my course instructor), I was speechless when you walked into
the room on Thursday. Thank you for being there, it really did mean a lot;
Martin Coombs; your one of my main inspirations on the programme. Without
you, I couldn't enjoy saying my name... 'cos lets face it, it is a beautiful
name! George Samios; again, you're one of the people I hoped and prayed would come. You being there meant so much. Aaaaalan Wyatt (...& the lovely Sandra!), thanks for being there whenever we needed you, I felt safe having you around!
The list is endless...
Michael - Thank you for all you've invested in to my life. I couldn't have
imagined sharing my first instruction with anyone else. We made it fun right
from the start and had some giggles in the process! I'd have never been a
course instructor without you dedicating 6 months of your life to me and
my recovery. Thank you.
One last thought;
Saturday afternoon. Public Speaking.
Stood there, watching the students was indescribable. I had a lump in my
throat from start to finish. I remember turning to Michael half way through.
We both nodded and smiled. We'd done it. We were living our dream, and helping
people on their way with theirs.
Link to the newsletter here
Reply from Julie Brooks. Course participant on the Swindon course led by Gareth and Michael Hay
I would like to say a big thank you to Gareth Gates and Michael Hay for instructing such a fab course and Matt and Keith also for organising and preparing it. It came to my attention that Gareth Gates has an amazing confidence, no wonder! He is a very successful person and has inspired people all over the world. This got me thinking: “How can one person be so confident and successful and the people standing next to him are not?”
Last year I participated in a course called People with Potential through an organisation called Edinburgh Cyrenians. This was a 3 week course and focused on building self confidence and team work, which was brought together by taking part in several activities such as, climbing up a 40ft climbing frame and walking blind folded through the woods. More importantly as a recovering stammer, I found very interesting the fact we had the opportunity to see how the brain works. Do we see with our eyes or our brains??? This point I found intriguing!
There was a one week residential course that was all about how to break through to excellence, being the best you can possibly be. This is used by Corporate, education, social groups but most of all Military leaders and sports professions, to become a ‘very successful person’. First of all the following text will show you how to make things you want happen. I know I would like to be a very confident fitness instructor and hopefully have a chain of fitness centres in the next 10 years! But the goal of the McGuire Programme is to be an Eloquent Speaker.
Break through to excellence- this will cover many things that interlink with the McGuire programme so you will recognise but will discover more!
Out of control stammers are self trained to react in certain ways, we call this how we are conditioned. Do you remember looking away from a person whom you were speaking to, because you were too ashamed to look them in the eyes? This is conditioning. I can’t say my name so I look away, I use high shallow breathing, I tense up and I use tricks and I don’t give myself time to pause and centre myself.
Do you only see what you want to see? Have you had a conversation with someone and they laugh? You thought they were laughing at the stammer. Why wouldn’t they be laughing at the context? We call this a blind spot a scotoma. You created a picture and blocked out with your senses what your picture did not want to see. This is because you taught yourself over the years that the person only noticed the stammer. You are so negative towards the stammer that this is the only thing that you thought could be the possible answer. You do not believe in yourself to a funny confident person. This doesn’t mean another truth is not there.
I learnt on the people with potential course that our subconscious will do what ever we tell it. If we say to ourselves ‘I can’t, I don’t know’, then because we have told this to ourselves so often it believes this to be the truth! We have to be careful of how we self talk to ourselves. How we think and who we speak to is more important than we think! The right help can make us see what is really there.
Example – Is your diaphragm controlling you or do you control the diaphragm?
You are only able to concentrate on one thing at a time. You therefore block out other ideas and information. You ‘lock on’ to many ideas and beliefs about yourself, then you miss out on other possibilities. You therefore only see and agree with the information that we have looked onto. The rest is ‘locked out’.
People learn in different ways. If you don’t understand one way, you may understand another so don’t say to yourself that you are stupid. All negativity is recorded in the subconscious. A well researched fact states that if we are more positive about our lives, a better life starts. So if we do not understand the checklist or laws it does not mean we are slow or stupid, it just means we need another explanation that we can relate to and understand.
We all forget information we don’t care about. If we are not interested in one subject we will not take in the information as we are selective information gathers. The part of the brain that protects us from input you don’t care about is the reticular activating system- this only lets through things that interested you.
You don’t except compliments, praise or accept your success in life. You gain high self esteem if you can accept all your good qualities and achievements. Feeling the emotion and telling yourself immediately will build your self esteem and confidence, you feel worth it and you attract positive experiences and people into your life. The subconscious records these positives as being truths. Do you remember the first time you made a public speech? Smiling from ear to ear, confidence rising and feeling that you can do anything in world.
“Only by changing some of your beliefs about yourself would you know what your true potential is” by Pacific Institute.
What do you want? You need to programme into your mind exactly what you want. You need to practice, practice and practice until it is easy to see yourself succeeding. By doing this you can change and improve. Your thoughts build into beliefs and self images. Once your version of the truth as we have told it to ourselves is stored, you will then act like it.
How often do you expand your comfort zone? When you are no longer satisfied with the same things we expand comfort zones. Your life becomes exciting and adventurous rather than a scary new situation that you want to avoid. You can visualise exactly what it is going to be like, what emotions you are feeling. You should be seeing yourself confident, relaxed, happy and successful recovering stammerer.
What exactly do you want out of life? We, as recovering stammers need to write one line affirmations. We say exactly what we want to happen in each point in our lives, as if it’s happening already. We should read, picture and feel this and pause to let it sink in. We should try to do this twice a day morning and night.
In my opinion Gareth Gates is successful because he can accept praise, believes in himself and is a positive person!
Hopefully, this will help you all. Now I know the tool to become successful and reach my potential, my life has become more positive. What about you?
“If it’s to be, it’s up to you”
Emma Middleton (course participant) wrote:
I found Swindon the most inspiring,
enjoyable, refreshing and motivating course I've ever been on. This
was because the old grads' needs were made as important as the new
students, and so everyone benefited. I can't find a fitting word that
does Gareth justice, but let's just say he could give up the day job!
Extract from March 2006 course report (Swindon)
One of the highlights of Saturday is undoubtedly the Harrison
Worksop, brilliantly led by Gareth Gates. This got everyone buzzing,
the atmosphere in the room was amazing as everyone was letting go
and having fun! My only regret was that Gareth didn't use the
whistle that Winks had lent him to move the Harrison coaches around,
it is supposed to be the most powerful whistle in the world. Quite
why Winks needs this, we will never know ;-) The New Students felt
empowered and were ready to show unsuspecting members of the public
how eloquent and confident recovering stammerers can be.
Article in The Times April 2006 - about stammering and the McGuire Programme in general
S-s-stuck for words
From Moses to Marilyn, former stutterer Iain Finlayson is in good company
Aesop, Lewis Carroll, Winston Churchill, the Emperor Claudius, the orator Demosthenes, the writer Margaret Drabble, King George VI, the actor James Earl Jones, Gummo Marx, Somerset Maugham, Marilyn Monroe, Porky the Pig, Tiger Woods, the novelist John Updike . . . all these people are stutterers — even, apparently, Moses, who according to Exodus iv,10 said unto the Lord: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent . . . but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
For us stutterers, there’s comfort in associating our difficulty with similarly afflicted celebrities. And the thing is not to suffer in silence. Stutter, a provocative and imaginative new book by Marc Shell, a recovered stutterer and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University, points out that stutterers are often isolated, though they tend to deny it.
That’s how I used to feel. For most of my life, I’d pass only the occasional remark in company. Conversations circled around in my head like planes in a holding pattern above an airport unable to land. Talking to myself in my head, I was wickedly witty. I silently laughed a lot at my terrific unspoken jokes. Best time I ever spent was when I met a happy deaf-mute guy in a New York bar: we passed the evening scribbling to one another on beer mats.
But then it all changed and the speechorientated world, the glorious global babble, opened up to me as a participant. It started four years ago when I was an out-of-control stutterer, virtually incoherent. Then I took part in something called the McGuire speech-recovery programme — something I wrote about in The Times not knowing what the outcome would be. Well, it’s been successful.
Now I can articulate by controlling my breathing, pausing to formulate my words and talking assertively in a deep and breathy tone, to the extent that a friend once remarked: “Darling! You sound like some terrible old actress!” I like to imagine that I sound more like a laconic Gary Cooper than a tanked-up Tallulah Bankhead, but any technique that gets my words out is fine with me.
There is a continuing debate about whether a stutterer is genetically predisposed to dys- fluency (the technical name for stuttering or stammering) or whether stuttering is a learnt behaviour. (Is it, for example, acquired for some obscure personal benefit?) It has often been believed to be “infectious” and anxious parents or teachers will sometimes isolate stuttering children from siblings or schoolmates.
But not all people with family predispositions end up as stutterers, and not all people who live around stutterers become one. There are usually other contributing factors, both physical and psychological. In Shell’s case, in the year or two after childhood polio, he says: “Paralysis probably affected my physical ability to speak fluently . . . dread of paralysis of both body and speech meant anxiety about both stumbling and stuttering.” Stuttering, of course, is basically a fear of stuttering. The more a challenging word or situation is avoided, the more feared it becomes and the fear is continually reinforced, creating a vicious circle of dysfluency.
The McGuire therapy uses the technique of deliberate dysfluency as an aid to speaking more or less fluently. The idea is to “come out” loudly and proudly as a stutterer, to stutter without shame, to desensitise oneself to the embarrassment of dysfluency, to talk with newly acquired techniques. By squarely facing the stutter, its potency diminishes and disappears.
The process is rather like learning a second language. It’s not uncommon for stutterers to have trouble speaking their mother tongue but to speak another language fluently. Shell, brought up in a Hebrew- speaking family in Montreal, says that he learnt three foreign languages in his life: English, French and Fluency.
The novelist, and stutterer, Margaret Drabble has asked: “Why are there so many professional writers who really stutter when they speak?” The answer lies in language: novelists, poets and other writers develop a vocabulary, style of expression and tone of voice that is their own identifiable language; because they have difficulty with the spoken word, they create a substitute in writing. In my case, critics comment encouragingly on the fluency of my books but I don’t often talk them. I wrote my school revue because I couldn’t perform it. I sang on stage because I couldn’t speak on stage. Again, this is not uncommon. According to Shell, Marilyn Monroe stuttered in her early years. “She overcame her stutter on stage not by speaking normally but instead by breathy singsong,” he writes.
Some speech therapies, including the McGuire Programme, use this technique, too, teaching stutterers to adopt a deep and breathy tone, to speak from the chest rather than from the thorax.
Like some actors, opera singers also learn the technique of breathing from the lower (costal) diaphragm rather than from the upper (crural) diaphragm to maximise the flow of air over the vocal cords. The result is a moderated fluency and, as a bonus, a sexy voice.
All through the time I stuttered severely, a poem from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses stayed with me: “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.” My shadow was my stutter.
Like Peter Pan, I’ve lost it but, unlike Peter, I’m not going looking to reattach it.
Famous people with a stammer.
Taken from this site which providea details about a number of famous people who stammer.
Gareth Gates - by Gina Waggott (England)
"I lived through my music because I couldn't speak well," said an 18-year old Gareth Gates when asked about how stuttering had affected his life. Now in his early 20's, Gareth still lives through music as an international star, never letting his speech hold him back.
The British public took Gareth to their hearts after his participation in "Pop Idol," a talent show format that has since been recreated around the globe. Week by week Gareth sang his way through to the finals of the competition, despite struggling to speak between songs, to the judges, or to the press, who put stuttering on the UK map along with Gareth's increasing fame.
Since then, Gareth has had a string of hits in Britain and abroad, and continues to speak openly about his speech after his participation in the McGuire Programme. Although he still says he finds some speaking situations a challenge, he will never back down or give up, saying "You shouldn't let it stop you from what you want to do."
Gareth is currently in the studio recording his third album.
Gareth leads another McGuire course in August 2006 - in Galway.
To be continued ......
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An article in Sunday Times 4th June. I have highlighted the Fuller bit
Television: Playing to the crowd
Could footballers be the next reality TV stars, asks Stephen Armstrong
The two things that really get under Gary Neville’s skin,” Rio Ferdinand grins mischievously, “are scousers and policemen. A few months ago, he put yoghurt all over my brand-new car. He thinks I’ve forgotten it. I haven’t.” Ferdinand is crouched in a grubby room festooned with technology, watching on a tiny monitor as Neville, his Manchester United team-mate and England defender, swings his shiny black SUV into an underground car park. Then the payback prank unfolds.
Neville and buddy Ryan Giggs clamber out of the 4WD just as a police car, complete with uniformed Merseyside copper, pulls up. The bobby gently needles Neville — producing a list of red-light-jumping, speeding and generally dubious driving behaviour — with a tone of such mocking arrogance that the footballer is infuriated. Ultimately, says the boy in blue, you have a choice: come down the station under arrest, get six points and a criminal record or ... pose for a photo with me. Neville’s pride just won’t let him take the easy option. “Give me the six points,” he grunts, his face set with rage, “just give me the six points. I’m not negotiable.”
Neville isn’t alone. In total, six England players are pranked in the unimaginatively titled Rio’s World Cup Wind-Ups, a soccer Candid Camera that goes out on ITV1 on Saturday. Dog-lover Wayne Rooney inadvertently fails to save a dying pooch and has to tell an adoring fan his pet has snuffed it. David James is caught out at an art gallery. Ashley Cole accidentally erases a charity single, forcing the sponsors into bankruptcy and facing violent threats from a hip-hop producer. Peter Crouch is caught up in a bogus property deal. Shaun Wright-Phillips is involved in the vicious sacking of an impoverished waiter. At the time of writing, the Beckham scam hadn’t happened — but it’s probably safe to say he won’t spot the signs.
What is interesting about the show isn’t the standard-issue stunts or even the glimpse of the unguarded soccer superstars as they face calamity. In the long term, it’s the 27-year-old presenter and co-producer, Rio Ferdinand. He is an unusual footballer, not because of his skills on the pitch or his occasional brushes with the tabloid press, but in his attempt to become a bona fide entertainment player in the glorious US tradition.
In the States, the dividing line between sports stars and the entertainment industry has been blurred for a while. Wrestlers, basketball players and US football players have all moved effortlessly into Hollywood. Then there’s OJ Simpson, of course, rejected for the lead in The Terminator as the American public thought him too nice to be a killer. Over here, we have Gary Lineker’s crisp ads.
Ferdinand’s bid to reverse this began when he set up White Chalk Records, a dance music label. Last year, while securing the usual autobiography, he met Jordan’s agent, Chris Nathaniel, and the pair set up a production company, Next Generation. Rio’s World Cup Wind-ups is a co-production with ITV. There’s a film in the pipeline, and Ferdinand has plans for more telly. Of course, he’s also launching a clothing label, the first thing any self-respecting American celebrity does these days.
“Football is the most important thing in my life,” he says, “but I do have a life outside football, and this is one part. The TV, the music, the fashion — it all goes to make up Rio Ferdinand. There are a few series in the pipeline — a big reality show in development, an MC talent search show and a number of youth documentaries. There is a mini bidding war going on between the networks for the reality show, which is exciting. For most of them, I want to be behind the lens, producing and directing. I do enjoy the presenting, but I want to give new talent the chance to shine — DJs, presenters, actors, musicians.”
“When he first came to us, we were very sceptical,” says ITV talent executive Mark Wagman. “Footballers are usually unreliable and aloof, whereas telly is all about being reliable and warm. But he came across really well on camera, so we’re getting him to do the voice-over, which we hadn’t planned to before. And he delivered every player he said he would, which would have been impossible via the FA or their agents.”
Ferdinand’s charge may start a far wider cultural assault by the sporting world. Last spring, 19 Management’s Simon Fuller, the Pop Idol and Spice Girls svengali, took over Team England, with a contract due to start in August. Team England is the old England “players pool”, a cute hangover from the jumpers-for-goalposts era of football. Under the players-pool system, any money earned directly by an England player as an England player went into a joint fund to be divided up equally at the end of the year. Given the status of the players involved, it seems astonishing that the pool took a scant £3m in 2005.
Fuller plans television shows, music releases, branding opportunities, a whole wall of commercial exploitation designed to increase Team England’s revenue tenfold around a major tournament. He’s even set up a special company to handle the contract, called 1966. Fuller, of course, has been looking after the Beckhams since 2004, and his 90-minute broadcast of their pre-World Cup party on ITV last weekend shows the kind of media spectacle he pulls off when working with sports stars. Fuller has also signed the Honda Formula One Team and the Muhammad Ali estate.
All of this is fine if you love sport. If you don’t, however, now might be the time to worry. Anybody who has been in America during Superbowl Sunday knows just how deeply a sports event can penetrate the culture. So enjoy the brouhaha around this World Cup. You ain’t seen nothing yet
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Ooh. I haven't seen that for ages. Great stuff.
I love the way Gareth harmonises on it
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It is a lovely thing for him to do.
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For those of you who don't go on or can't get on GG, its been posted on there that Tracie's mum (Pepper) asked to let everyone know that she received a lovely letter from Wendy Gates and also a very special card from Gareth, offering their condolences.
The thread is here, for those that can get on
She has also posted herself here to say thank you for all the lovely messages, card and flowers
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Hi everyone.
Heather I just PM'd you - I hope I sent it off properly please let me know if it doesnt arrive.
I have been feeling so upset all day - I used to speak quite a bit with Anita (Pepper) and I know it was her dread as without transplants Tracie had limited time.
Sadly I havnt been in contact for some time now and it was a shock to hear the news this morning.
I met Anita and Tracie at Birmingham NEC at Gareths Tour and at the Crowne Plaza and it was such a lovely time we all had together.
I'm just so glad that she got to meet Gareth.
I'll be writing to Anita - so I'll tell her that everyone is thinking about her.
Love Jill xx
Please do Jill. That would be much appreciated.
Its terrible that there are so few organs available for transplant, and its impossible to imaagine how awful the dread of not knowing whether a donor would be found must have been
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I hope people are ok with me copying the photo from the tour forum of Tracie when she met Gareth.
She looked so happy and proud.
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Oh my goodness. What awful news.
My thoughts and prayers are with Anita and the rest of Tracie's family
Thanks for letting us know.
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It's great on there, but, like SBG's wonderful site, you end up spending hours on there!!
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There are a few on there already. I think at least one of our members on here has already uploaded some, but it could do with some of the other videos (Sunshine maybe) and some stuff from live events, acoustic session, the tour or whatever you have.
check it out at http://www.youtube.com/results?search=gare...e=search_videos
maybe someone with a bit more technological know how that me could explain what you have to do.
It could be another way to get his videos and general loveliness heard.
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Maybe it shouldn't be a picture, but rather a signature and a strap line. We would have to get Gareth to sign something Gareth Paul Gates though. I wonder if we could do that?
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Rembrandt would have been proud to have painted that!
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If we are honest any really serious music artist wouldn't have a calendar at all. Even the 'natural' photos are posed.But who in their right minds would want a Coldplay calendar?.
However, the future music quality is important to me. I don't want him singing just anything..... that's not what this long wait has been all about.The calendar is a bit of frivolity. There's room for both.
agree completely. The calendar is fun, it raises a bit of awareness and hsa the added bonus of hiding nasty stains on the wall
but next time, it does have to be about the music first and foremost. The looking good is an added bonus.0 -
The eyes are following me around..........
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wow, wow and wow again
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Wow and wow again. Well done everyone.
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Wow.
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Gareth and Sweetie Pie at the meet and greet
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Gareth On Tour 2004 Sheffield Arena Pictures Courtesy Of Emma (Gareth 4eva fit n sexy)
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Wembley Photo's Courtesy Of VickyGates on ggates.co.uk
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and some little tiny ones .....Photo's Courtesy Of Charlotte Poon On ggates
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A selection of other Asian Tour pics. Thanks to the fans who posted them on GG and to Gareth'sHotChick for bringing them over here for safety
Photo's Courtesy Of PePp3rMiNT (Michelle)
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The Fuller File
in Archives
Posted
Hmm. Helping out the Little Britain crew http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5230832.stm
Little Britain's stars aim for US
The stars of TV series Little Britain have recruited the man behind the Spice Girls and Pop Idol to try to win over viewers in the United States.
Simon Fuller was approached by Matt Lucas and David Walliams to "develop" the show for an American audience, Fuller's spokeswoman confirmed.
She would not comment on whether the Bafta-winning comedy might change its characters or format for the US.
The first three series have already been broadcast on BBC America.
Fuller began his career by identifying up-and-coming talent for record company Chrysalis.
He named his company 19 Entertainment, after the 1985 number one single by Paul Hardcastle, whom he discovered.
Although Fuller did not bring together the Spice Girls, he secured the record deal which would see their debut hit Wannabe top the charts in 37 countries.
He also launched pop group S Club 7 and then doubled his fortune with the TV talent show Pop Idol.
The show brought fame to UK artists including Will Young and Gareth Gates, with US singers such as Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aitken emerging from the US version, American Idol.
Mainstream appeal
Lucas and Walliams took their first show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 and developed character-based comedies for TV through the series Sir Bernard's Stately Homes and Rock Profile.
Little Britain began as a radio programme five years ago and has gone on to become a stage show since the characters gained mainstream recognition on BBC television.
The BBC has now signed the comedy duo to an exclusive deal which means they cannot work for any other broadcaster.
It has announced they are planning a sketch show for next year which could incorporate Little Britain characters.
However, it is unclear whether this is the programme intended to launch them to a wider US audience.