Building a stammering app to help with phone calls

Image

Caption

Evan

Evan Belford explains how struggling to speaking on the phone has led him and his brother to create something that lets people who stammer pre-record and play back their voice.

My name's Evan, I'm 25, and on paper I've done lots of things in my life that should make me feel confident. I've travelled the world on my own, run half-marathons, progressed in my career and put myself in situations that push me. But for some reason, something as simple as speaking on the phone still makes me more anxious than any of that.

Whether it's calling the doctor, my garage, my insurance company, or even my favourite takeaway, it's something I feel like I should just be able to do. But the reality is, I still find myself putting it off or asking someone else to do it, just to avoid that moment of picking up the phone.

One of the worst is when recruiters call about jobs. I want to come across well, but I go into those calls knowing I'm not going to present myself how I want to. I know what I want to say, I know I'm capable, but it doesn't come out that way. That's the frustrating part, feeling like I'm not being judged on me, but on how I'm able to speak in that moment.

That’s the frustrating part, feeling like I'm not being judged on me, but on how I'm able to speak in that moment.

I've always struggled more with the phone than anything else. In person, people can see you. They can read your body language and your facial expressions. They can tell you're trying to speak. But on the phone, all of that disappears. The person on the other end has no idea I have a stammer.

Because of that, I've been cut off more times than I can remember. I'll start speaking, get stuck, and before I can get anything out, they think the line has gone dead or that I'm not there. Then you hear "hello?" or they just hang up completely. I don't have any bad feelings towards them, because how are they meant to know? Most people don't mean it, they just haven't been exposed to it.

Still, it doesn't make it any easier in the moment.

Those first few seconds

There's something about those first few seconds of a call that feel the hardest. Saying my name and explaining why I'm calling sounds simple, but for me it can feel like everything builds up at once. I can feel the block coming before I even start speaking, and once that pressure hits it's difficult to get past it.

I've had calls where I've completely blocked on my own name and just hung up. Afterwards I'll sit there thinking how ridiculous it sounds, not being able to say something so basic. But in that moment, it doesn't feel basic at all.

It’s not that I can't speak, it's that the situation makes it harder.

And it's not just speaking to people. I've had times when I couldn't even get past pre-call automated phone systems. Trying to say my details to a machine, stammering and being asked to repeat it again and again. I've sat there for 10 or 15 minutes just trying to get through, getting more frustrated each time, thinking how am I meant to deal with this? Why isn't this built for people like me?

What people don't see is everything that happens before the call even starts. I'll rehearse what I'm going to say over and over in my head, trying to get it right and make it flow. But as soon as the call connects, all of that can just disappear.

It's not that I can't speak, it's that the situation makes it harder.

It's not just one bad call, but the build up of all those moments: avoiding calls, feeling like something so normal for other people is something you have to work yourself up to do.

Changing things with our app

STAMMA's current campaign around phone accessibility made me realise I'm not the only one who feels like this; it's something a lot of people experience. That's what led me and my brother to start thinking about how we could actually change things. 

It's still early days... but it's already changed how I approach calls.

We started building an app around the part I struggle with most. We came up with the idea of making something that lets me pre-record the things I know I'll need to say, like my name, why I'm calling or my account number, in a calm environment. Then, when making the call, I can press a button to play back the recording when the other person picks up. Almost like having an on-demand soundboard to get me through those first few seconds.

The person on the other end has no idea. It just sounds like a normal conversation. But for me, it takes away that initial pressure that usually causes the block.

It's still early days and we're developing the app as we speak, but it's already changed how I approach calls. I still stammer, but I don't avoid the phone in the same way anymore.

We're building this for the stammering community, so if this sounds like something that would help you, you can follow what we're building and join the waitlist on our website calmcalls.com. There's also an interactive demo you can try.

We're also on LinkedIn if you'd like to reach out.

Help our phone call campaign

Have you had a bad (or good) recent experience when phoning a company? Fill in our short form to help us here at STAMMA push for change.

Want to write for the site?

Would you like to write an article? See Submit Something For The Site or email editor@stamma.org for details.