The Art of Speaking Well

            My name is Davontae Henley and I have a speech impediment. A speech impediment is a type of disorder that disallows an individual to produce the proper sounds needed to formulate words. Growing up I was always teased for having a stuttering problem. In class I would always sit back and not participate, and on special occasions when I did, my voice would sound shaky, which made it seem as if I was unsure of what I was saying. The thing is, I wanted to participate but I physically couldn’t. I’d know the answer, but my mouth wouldn’t formulate the words. This disorder has and continues to have a heavy impact on my educational journey.

My first encounter with literacy at LMU occurred the moment I stepped into Rhetorical Arts. Upon arrival the teacher opened the class by defining rhetoric. She said, “Rhetoric is the art of speaking well, and if you are not prepared to speak well, then I suggest you get ready and get ready soon.” She laughed after saying it, but her eyes appeared to be serious. She then went on to explain that the grade would be based on three speeches. There weren’t any tests, essays or quizzes. In other words, there was no way for me to improve my grade after bombing the speeches, so I immediately tried to web drop.  However Rhetorical Arts is a requirement at LMU, so I had to deal with it.

Take a second to try and imagine how I felt. I was a freshman and this was my very first college class. The first thing that popped into my head was, “I’m not going to make it.” Scared was an understatement. I was completely mortified, but I knew it was time to stop using my speech impediment as an excuse. In ”Eloquentia Pefecta” John O’Malley’s section argues that ideas do not carry any value if they can’t be expressed through word of mouth. O’Malley says, “Furthermore, the theorists realized, at least implicitly, that thought and finding the right word to express it were not two acts but one. Without the right word one did not have thought but, instead, a musing or rumination. They believed that “ya know what I mean” meant you did not know what you meant,” (O’Malley 4). Throughout my entire educational career I let my disorder limit and define me. I realized that when my back was against the wall in Rhetorical Arts. The only way out was in fact the way through. It was time to stop assuming teachers would understand my situation and work towards accurately expressing my knowledge so that I didn’t need compensation. I worked twice as hard as the other students to improve my verbal communication skills, and it helped a lot with my stuttering problem.

Being born with a speech impediment slowly became a blessing prior to Rhetorical Arts.  The lack of proper verbal communication from elementary school to my sophomore year of college helped find my calling. After numerous occasions of writing serving as a more efficient platform of communication, I realized I wanted to be a writer. Through personal struggle and experience, I decided to use written language as a way to give mute individuals, physically and/or economically, a voice.  Mainly because I know how much of a shitty feeling it is when you know exactly what you want to say, but aren’t physically able to do so. Therefore, as of now, I want to write for VICE Magazine and use my platform to empower other individuals who have yet to move past their verbal indifference.