Free practice interviews for people who stutter

21 and 22 October 2020

Deadline for applications: 13 October 2020, 5pm GMT

Why?

Globally 50 million people of employable age stutter. This is a huge pool of talent.Interviews are a particularly difficult and stressful workplace hurdle that everyone has to face. Especially so for people who stutter. People who stutter often experience conscious or unconscious bias in interviews and selection processes that favour spoken fluency over substance. They also face difficult decisions about whether or not, and how, to disclose their stutter.

As a result, employers miss out on the very strengths people who stutter often bring to their workforce – while people who stutter miss out on the right roles for their talents.

This is where our Practice Interview Day comes in.

More about 50 Million Voices

Overview and what's in it for me?

There are 50 million reasons why you should take part!

50 Million Voices is collaborating with individuals, small employers and large employers such as Compass, Sage and TSB to provide support and interview practice for those who stutter – as well as for those who interview them.

The context will be personal to you: it could be a practice interview for a new job, a promotion, an appraisal or any other work situation where you might be expected to answer or ask questions.

This is an exciting opportunity to practice in a judgment-free workplace environment and learn from the feedback of people who really want you to succeed.

You can get involved whether you stutter or not.

If you stutter, you can take part as an interviewee, an interviewer or both, to practice your skills in both roles.

If you don’t stutter, and work in HR or recruitment or as a manager and have some experience of interviewing people, you are welcome to take part as an interviewer.

We welcome interviewees who stutter from age 18 upwards and interviewers from age 25 upwards.

When is it and how will it work?

The event will launch on 21st October and conclude on the 22nd October - International Stuttering Awareness Day.

Wed, 21 October 16:00 - 17:30 Mandatory briefing for all participants (Pamela Mertz, National Stuttering Association USA, Sam Simpson, Redefining Stammering, UK)

Wed 21st to Thu 22nd 1:1 online practice interviews and feedback sessions – 1 hour each (arranged by participants)

Thu 22nd 16:00 - 17:00 Feedback and learning in plenary (Pamela Mertz, National Stuttering Association USA, Sam Simpson, Redefining Stammering, UK)

Please note that to help ensure the quality of the experience for all participants, it will be mandatory for all interviewees and interviewers to attend the briefing led by Pamela Mertz and Sam Simpson. Non-attendance will result in immediate withdrawal from the programme.

Pamela, who stutters, brings invaluable experience of leading several practice interview days for people who stutter with leading banks on Wall Street. She also offers online practice interviews as part of her role leading the ‘Stuttering at Work’ project for the National Stuttering Association in the USA.

Sam is a UK speech and language therapist who brings extensive experience of working with adults who stutter in the workplace. She is well-known as a leading advocate for Stuttering Pride and is co-editor of the highly acclaimed book ‘Stammering Pride and Prejudice – Difference not Defect’.

We will create interview pairs by using the information which you provide to us to match you with your interviewees / interviewers. We will advise you of the name and contact details of your interviews / interviewer in advance. You should then contact them to agree the timing and platform you will use for your interview.

Interviewers and interviewees will be free to arrange their online interviews using their preferred medium (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype etc). These can take place any time between the initial briefing and the feedback session.

We’re planning that each interviewee will have two interviews - one with someone who stutters and the other with someone who doesn't. Each interview will last for an hour including time for feedback and discussion between the interviewer and interviewee.

We’re expecting participants from several countries, so this timing enables people from different time zones to participate in the shared briefing and feedback sessions and to hold their interviews at a time that suits them best.

To maximise everyone’s learning from the event, we’ll end the day with a feedback session again led by Pamela and Sam. This will be an opportunity to share your experiences and hear feedback from others, including participants from different countries and cultures.

How much time will I need to commit?

We’re asking for a minimum of 5 hours of your time to cover the briefing, two interviews and the feedback session. What about different languages? Currently 50 Million Voices is active in 16 countries with a rich diversity of language, culture, and attitudes towards stuttering – and big time zone differences. Because of this, we envisage that each interviewee will have both their interviews with people from their own country and ideally, in their first language. If this is not practical, we may be able to offer interviewers from other countries.

How can I get involved?

Please complete the expression of interest form.

There are separate forms for interviewees and interviewers.

In addition to the provision of some basic information, what you write will help us in the matching of interviewees and interviewers.

Please note that this is the first year we are trialling this and places may be limited depending on uptake and matching.

We’ll let you know whether your application has been successful within 5 working days of receiving it.

If you are successful, we will send you further details of the event and ask you to register on Eventbrite. If you are unsuccessful, we will of course let you know and will signpost other work-themed learning opportunities and resources that might be of interest.

Finally, thank you for your interest and if you have any questions, please email us at interviews@50millionvoices.org