Résumé
"The Eloquence of Stuttering" is a training program for speaking followed by an eloquence contest specifically for people who stutter. Since its creation in 2019, this event has been a success, and in 2023 no less than 6 editions will be taking place in different French cities. Following this success, we have tried to analyze the effects of public speaking on people who stutter. Indeed, many studies have demonstrated the impact of a fluency disorder on communication and the different spheres of life. More specifically, it is about assessing the impact of "The Eloquence of Stuttering" on the communication skills and quality of life of people who stutter as well as on the acceptance of their stuttering. We also noted the differences and commonalities between this program and speech therapy regarding the therapeutic strategies used. Method: for this purpose, we conducted a survey by using questionnaires with participants in the program of certain editions. According to the editions, the candidates responded to questionnaires before the competition (T0) and/or after the competition (T1 and T2). The material used consisted of the OASES questionnaire, a calibrated scale that evaluates the impact of stuttering on the daily life of people who stutter, and questionnaires created specifically for the study. These different questionnaires were self-administered via an online platform. The collected answers were processed afterwards by a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Results: our study demonstrates that speech training followed by an eloquence contest significantly improves the quality of life and communication of people who stutter as well as their satisfaction with their speech and acceptance of their stuttering. The results showed a decrease in feelings of vulnerability, self-stigmatization and the overall impact of stuttering on daily life as well as an increase in empowerment and self-reflection. Furthermore, it was observed that this program and speech therapy share several common complementary strategies. Indeed, although the means to achieve this are different, the final objective is the same: that the people who stutter experience free and natural speech despite her fluency disorder. Conclusion and perspectives: speech training as proposed in "The Eloquence of Stuttering" is complementary to speech therapy. In order to generalize these results, it would be appropriate to conduct this study with a larger sample of participants. It would also be wise to add an evaluation of the potential negative effects of an intensive program in order to find ways to improve them. In addition, an analysis of the impact of the competition on the audience present at the finals would be interesting, as would the point of view of speech therapists who had patients participating in this experience. In addition, given the benefits of this program for adults, it would be interesting to see if the same effect exists for children and adolescents. This study also highlights the importance of non-verbal communication in everyday communication.