Meet the man who is now delivering speeches to students after previously being unable to answer the phone because of his stammer.

John Dean, 30, struggled with a stammer for most of his childhood and teenage life and was regularly bullied for it at school.

He was unable to put his hand up in class for fear of not being able to answer the question and if he did he would be "laughed at and mocked."

His stammer also played an unwanted part in a school play when he struggled to complete his lines.

Outside of school, people often mistook John's stammer for a bad signal when he answered the phone.

John decided he needed to get help after his stammer was preventing him from answering calls from potential employers.

In 2015, he decided to join The McGuire Programme - an intensive course aimed at helping people overcome their stammer and improve their speech.

In the nine years since he joined, John has completed a number of courses and now helps support others going through the same.

He has gone on to deliver speeches at his former school - something he said he "wouldn't have dared" to do 15 years ago."

John, a kitchen porter from Peterlee, County Durham, said: "I always avoided employment calls or talking over the phone. "

"It was never an option for me and I would never be able to do presentations."

"When I did the talk at my former secondary school my head of year at the time was there and she could recall how severe it was."

"It went really well - that's something I wouldn't have dared to do 15 years ago."

John's stammer began when he was just a boy and it quickly and progressively got worse.

He said: "I'm not sure when I picked it up - when I was six or seven perhaps."

"But I was in primary school and I did stammer a bit."

"When I was in secondary school it was really severe - I was laughed and mocked at."

"Sometimes If I put my hand up to answer a question people would mock and laugh at me. "

"I would try not to put my hand up in a class even if I knew the answer. "

"I'd avoid using the phone often too as I couldn't say 'hello' when answering the phone. "

"I used to enjoy performing arts at school as well and at one point whilst we were rehearsing I couldn't say the word 'look' and I was stammering every single time."

"I've had other situations outside of school when my friend's mum rang me and I stammered so badly she thought the signal was bad - I felt so down and embarrassed."

"There was another time when I went to the chip shop and the woman asked what I wanted and I couldn't get my words out so I had to show her a piece of paper with the order on - thankfully these are just memories now."

It was only when John joined the McGuire Programme that he thought he might have a shot at improving his stammer.

He said: "When I was in speech therapy I did think it might eventually go away but I did find out that there was no cure."

"It's a lifetime membership - it's not like a college course when you do a few years. "

"You can do different courses and after you graduate there's aftercare and you can become a coach on the programme which is voluntary work. "

"We were given techniques to focus on like costal breathing - a form of deep breathing to control speech."

"I think it depends on how much work you put in though - if you have words you often struggle on you have to do as much work as possible to overcome it. "

"However long it takes is down to how much work you put in and how many times you do it."

The programme has also given John the confidence to apply for jobs.

Whilst primarily a kitchen porter, he also does waiting which gives him a chance to interact with customers.

He said: "It's not a cure but it's under control."

"I never thought I would have been able to get to this point nine years ago."