Short answer - yes. A person who stutters can be a good public speaker. My stutter was one of my biggest fears going into law school, especially since I knew I wanted to go into litigation. I was so afraid that a jury or a judge would never take me seriously with a sitter, that they’d think I’m nervous or unprepared, or worse, full of shit. First semester went by and I hadn’t really had to speak publicly much yet. I got cold called on a few times throughout the semester, but so far so good. Then second semester came. And the first year mock trial competition. You’re given a case, a side, and all the first years are scored against each other. I was so nervous going in there. I got up there. I got through my argument. I answered their questions. I stuttered, but I did it. As the judges are giving us their comments, he asks me if I have a speech impediment. I say yes, embarrassed but not wanting to lie. He proceeds to tell me that I shouldn’t let it bother me, that it might even gain a few brownie points with a hurt. I’ve done given a lot of arguments since then, and I’ll occasionally ask someone I don’t know if they thought anything of the stutter. Almost all of them said they pretty much tuned it out after the first minute or so. All of this is to say that a stutter should never hold you back from speaking in public. Will you ever be on stage giving speeches in front of thousands of people? No, probably not. Will there be the occasional numb nut who makes a joke? Yeah, but those are also the kind of people that rip on overweight people who are trying to get in shape, or on the lil’ non-athletically gifted kid for trying to shoot hoops. They’re just assholes. Those aren’t reasons to not get up there because anyone who does matter isn’t going to care. They might notice it, but they aren’t going to think anything of it. It’s a unique part of you, and you should never be ashamed of who you are.