I stutter. Can I be an MBB consultant?
The title really sums it up. I believe I have the requisite credentials on my resume to get an interview at MBB. I'm in the finance field right now, and I really haven't seen anyone whose stammering is bad as mine. It's slightly more discernable than Colin Firth in King's Speech. Naturally, I've receded from any active, vocalizing roles in my firm and almost only communicate via email internally. For other all hands calls, my supervisor would always answer my questions for me.
The problem is that I really like the idea of management consulting. Other than gaining personal experience, I've done as much research as possible and I think I would really enjoy the analysis/problem solving aspect of the job. I've done plenty of practice cases on my own, and I have enjoyed it and been able to solve them relatively easily. The only problem is that I am not able to verbally articulate it. I really don't see how I can pass the interview and even if I miraculously did, how I can make oral presentations before the clients. So I've been desperately looking for reasons other than my impediment to not apply to consulting, but in the same time, I'm reaching out for advise hoping that someone would tell me that my impediment would not matter in consulting. I honestly don't know why I'm posting this. I guess it's just a "what would you do if you were me" question.
I've seen a consultant with the worst stutter I've ever heard (sounded like he was gasping for air) WITH a strong Japanese accent pitch for 15 minutes to a fortune 10 CFO. The CFO simply ignored it and focused on the data the consultant was delivering. Mind you, once the meeting was over, the consultant's speech returned to close to normal.
A lot of lessons were learned in those few minutes.
1) If you're smart, have gained the respect of your peers, and can deliver value, not much else matters.
2) Lack of self belief or self doubt exacerbate those very insecurities especially in a professional setting. Chill... just be useful.
3a) If a CFO can kindly tolerate a heavy japanese accent with a heavy stutter for 15 minutes only to focus on extremely boring data analysis, you should probably think twice when before you judge someone on their faults.
3b) If a CFO of a fortune 10 company takes 15 minutes out of his day to listen to you, you might want to think about paying that kindness forward by taking care of your ticks. You want your next audience to suffer less than the last.
I know a guy going to one tier below then with a stutter.
I'd imagine so.
Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose.
Search for Bill Wade (Senior Partner @ Bain) he is a life long stutterer and has written a number of articles on his career and stuttering... hope that helps.
Respect. You can do it.
Assuming you already have, but consider speech therapy. It can be helpful for many people.
Other than that, I don't have any MBB experience but just wanted to share my encouragement. Jump in with both feet and give it a shot if it is a goal of yours. It may suck and you might not get it at first and it might be a terrible feeling, but that's okay. I had a coach in college that used to say the following: "If you don't give this everything you have, losing won't hurt as bad. But winning won't be very exciting either."
Best of luck to you!
My dad was a stutterer and scrapped his way to get a McKinsey offer 20 years ago. It can definitely be done!
You can be an MBB consultant t-t-t-today, junior!
I suggest you give it a try. I have several friends with stutters (one severe to the point of barely being able to speak) and they all have high performing careers.
It will be tempting to find some non-client facing role where you can do your great analysis as an individual contributor and avoid the speech issue. This would be a mistake.
Assuming you want to have a top flight career then you are going to need to learn to communicate effectively despite the stutter. For example in a client presentation you could deliver compelling visual slides backed up by just a select few audio quotes. It will force you to be extremely concise and clear to get your messages across. In other cases you may choose email or written reports as your medium. The point is tackling it head on now will help give you the confidence and tool set to be successful later in your career.
Some of the junior analysts may be critical. But you will find most confident senior leaders will have tremendous patience and leeway if they are aware you are working around an impediment. They just want great content and if they have to sit through a stutter to get it-- they will be more than happy to do so.
One of the top skills required by a consultant is the ability to speak well and deliver clear and concise advice. So I would imagine this would make getting a role that much harder but I'm sure it can be done and would definitely give it a shot. I'd just warn it will be an uphill battle for sure.
Look into a small dose of propranolol or a beta blocker. Tends to reduce the effects of stage anxiety.
Barring some underlying physical ailment, I'm reasonably convinced that speech / public speaking issues can be alleviated by changing the way you think.
Most people believe it can't possibly be that easy, and in a way they are right. Actually changing the way you think requires a lot of work, and there is a lot of nuance involved. I know from experience.
I developed a pretty severe speaking problem towards the end of my banking tenure / beginning of my PE tenure. Any time I had to speak in a high stakes situation (e.g. in committee meetings, on conference calls, presenting a model to a senior partner etc.) my heart would race and I would basically start gasping for air to the point I couldn't really finish sentences. What was worse is that my speaking anxiety started to "spread" to other areas of my life to the point where I kind of had a flavor of constant, general anxiety. I tried a bunch of solutions (mediation, saw a psychologist, Toastmasters, etc.) but didn't really get relief until I started diligently breaking down my thought patterns. Basically doing cognitive behavior therapy on myself.
I still get adrenaline dumps / anxiety from time to time but I've been able to successfully interview, present to senior managers, give wedding speeches, etc. with little issue for the past couple years. I see no reason why you cannot do the same.
Christie Lindor ?
angelpe You raise a very interesting question. I had to think back through my years of experience and I do not recall working with a consultant that stutters. I do remember a senior partner speaking about this on a panel (this was many years ago) he mentioned that he did have a severe stuttering issue as a child and he worked really hard for a number of years to overcome it. I remember everyone in the room being surprised because we would have never known. Not sure what he had done - point being is, it is definitely something you can work on.
Looks like several folks provided some really good tips on this thread for you to consider. Most importantly (as with anything), it is all about your mindset; if you believe in yourself, you will not let anything get in the way. Similarly...if you think this will get in the way, it will.
Good luck - I hope to hear about your success story in the future!! :-)
Play the cards that life dealt you the best you can. Stutters can be controlled or eliminated. What you perceive you lack you can make up for in other areas like:
Check out this list: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/famouspeople
I know Sylvester Stallone stuttered and had speech problems as a kid. He did fine in Hollywood.
Be confident. It makes other people resonate on your frequency and it will bring them up. (Stratton Oakmont's Training Guide goes over this. Google: "Stratton Oakmont pdf"). When they feel good, that's when you can close them!
Check out this video of Tony Robbins coaching a stuttering man. It's part of speech therapy from what I gather.
Try it out and see if that helps!
I had a severe stutter as a child. With a combination of
*speech therapy (in my younger years) *lots of public speaking practice (think several years of acting in high school and college) "and a great deal of introspection and positive self-talk (eg, the type of self-administered CBT that labanker mentions)
...mine is mostly controlled. It definitely rears its horned and ugly head more when I'm anxious, and as a result I stuttered in places across all of my MBB interviews, but I still got the offer.
The first two buckets are fairly self explanatory.
I think one key in the third bucket is forgiving yourself for stuttering if it happens, rather than thinking of it being a huge problem and getting more anxious as a result, so that the stuttering then spirals. Just pause, take a deep breath, and start the word over/say it however you have to (I have a type of brisk staccato 'spitting it out' that helps me push through a roadblocking word or sound).
Then after you finish the sentence, look the interviewer in the eyes and smile. Eye contact and a confident smile will help overcome the impression that you're stuttering due to lack of confidence, as well as help eliminate any concern about your interpersonal communication skills - assuming of course that they are up to par for the industry.
I can guarantee that you are your own worst critic when it comes to your speech. Talking yourself out of pursuing something you're truly interested in would only make you your own worst enemy as well... Don't create a ceiling when you are the only one who sees it.
Best of luck and let us know how it goes!
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