Nick Prosser has had a stutter all his life but with the luck of the Irish it had almost disappeared completely.
The 28-year-old was trying out accents with his colleague when he discovered his stutter disappeared when trying an Irish accent for fun.
Prosser said he was amazed the speech disorder he had all his life had almost vanished from something so simple.
“I tried [the accent] and then next thing we are having a long conversation with no stuttering.
“I was like ‘woah, you just helped me stop stuttering’. I couldn’t believe it. I had been to so many speech therapists and doctors and they never suggested this technique.”
Prosser said his confidence was low and his stutter had previously held him back in conversations and jobs. He said he would struggle in social situations, not because he was shy but because he would become frustrated when he opened his mouth and the words wouldn’t come out.
“They would all be having their conversation and I would be by myself just not saying anything, because when I try to open a conversation it is a lot harder for me. But now that I’ve come across speaking in my new voice it’s made me a lot more confident.”
Having never been to Ireland, Prosser believed his ability to talk in the accent came from his mother who descended from the country.
He suggested other people facing similar problems should look at their genealogy and try speaking in an accent associated to them.
Hollywood actress Emily Blunt has previously revealed in interviews she too had a stutter and claimed speaking in an accent helped her.
The actress developed the speech impediment when she was 10 and was able to speak fluently only after her teacher made her a lead in a play and suggested an accent would help her speech.
However, Rotorua speech specialist Annette Stock said she had never heard of the technique before.
“We know as speech language therapists that singing certainly helps with people that have stutters but you can’t just go around singing in your everyday life.”
Stock said speech strategies needed to create sustainable control over “periods of disfluency” and an accent may not work.
“I think that this is something that works for him and that’s fine.
“But in six months time if it is still working I would be saying ‘wow that’s amazing’.”
Barber Ants Haines said he was happy to see Prosser, a regular customer, had some new-found confidence. Haines was blown away when Prosser came in for his regular appointment last week and was able to speak fluently.
“He didn’t even really stutter that day he came in with his Irish accent. He tried talking normally and that’s when he started stuttering again.” Haines said.
Haines believed the accent helped Prosser because he was spending more time thinking about how to say the words.
“He is thinking of how he is going to pronounce it in an Irish accent [and] that stops him from stuttering.
“And I think if it is working then roll with it, who cares?” Haines said.
-nzherald.co.nz