TJ Walker recounts how Joe Biden stuttered through childhood, college, and his twenties, then became a senator and vice president known for public speaking. Walker uses Biden's story as proof that you can overcome major speech challenges as an adult.
I stuttered as a child. I stuttered in high school. I stuttered in college. Even as a young man. In my early 20s, I stuttered. But by age 29, I got elected to the United States Senate. By my late 30s and early 40s, I was considered one of the best public speakers in the Democratic Party and ran for president. In fact, I ran a few more times and I ended up serving as Vice President of the United States for eight years. My name is Joe Biden. Folks, this is a remarkable story, and amazingly, so many people don't realize Joe Biden had a massive stuttering problem. Many people who stutter actively try to avoid any form of career that involves speaking, especially speaking in front of large crowds and on national television. And yet Joe Biden overcame this problem, and he overcame relatively late in life. He was an adult. Many children stutter and get treatment and are cured or at least have the problem manageable at a very early age. Joe Biden was still stuttering in his 20s. He overcame the problem and went on not just to be a competent public speaker, but is viewed by at least Democrats as a great speaker. And in certain crowds, organized labor crowds, he is considered wildly charismatic. The real lesson here, it's never too late to learn to be a great speaker. It's also never too late to completely overcome massive problems that others would consider debilitating when it comes to public speaking.
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