Marketers spend their careers perfecting how brands speak but my own voice has taught me more about communication than any campaign ever could.
Stammering, which affects around 1% of the population, is a speech difference where sounds or words can get stuck, repeated, or prolonged. My version was mostly “covert” - I learned to hide it, swap out words or avoid situations where I might get stuck. For 15 years I carried that silence which felt especially heavy in a career built on speaking, pitching and persuading.
Earlier this year, I joined the McGuire Programme a community and training programme that combines physical techniques, breathing control and psychological tools to manage stammering. More than that, it gave me the confidence to stop hiding and start owning my voice.And that’s where the marketing lesson comes in.
Communication isn’t about sounding perfect, it’s about being understood.
Rowena Pritchard
My stammer has forced me to slow down, prepare and choose words with intent. It’s made me a better listener, more empathetic to how people receive information and more aware of the importance of clarity.
In marketing, we often prize polish: the slick presentation, the clever line but campaigns, like conversations, resonate most when they feel human, honest and clear. That’s what builds trust.
What I once saw as a limitation, I now see as a hidden strength.
Rowena Pritchard
Living with a stammer has taught me that vulnerability isn’t weakness in fact it’s often the foundation of the most powerful communication.
As marketing evolves, the brands that will win are those that embrace authenticity, diversity and humanity in every form. Hidden disabilities aren’t weaknesses, they’re perspectives.
And perspectives are what make our industry thrive.
Authored by Rowena Pritchard
