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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Motivated by his own struggles with having a speech impediment, a business student at Western Michigan University has been awarded a patent for a device that he said can change lives by helping people around the world enhance their speech.
Daniel Floyd, a Chicago native, is the founder of SpeechMasterPro, a universal speaking device designed to help improve enunciation skills, slow down speaking pace, and build confidence in public speaking. He was issued a design patent by the U.S. Trademark and Patent office.
"This patent validates the design of my product and my hard work to this point," Floyd, 20, told the Kalamazoo Gazette (http://bit.ly/1A5JAeg). "I'm happy to see that I'm able to help others that have speech problems or just want to enhance or improve their speech in general."
Floyd was born with an articulation disorder. By the time he reached third grade, he said his impediment became more noticeable and affected his ability to be understood by people. From there, he began going to speech therapy and continued through high school. Although speech therapy was beneficial, he was still bullied and made fun of.
"It was hard growing up with a speech impediment," Floyd said. "I got bullied a lot in middle school and high school by other people saying that I talk funny, imitating the way I sound.
"Although it wasn't easy to cope with, it did motivate me to keep going," he added.
Despite constant bullying and regularly attending speech therapy, Floyd still looked for other ways to enhance his speaking skills. However he was surprised to learn that there was little to nothing available in the marketplace to aid him in overcoming his speech impediment.
When Floyd was a junior in high school, he watched a movie called "The Great Debaters," an Oprah Winfrey production starring Denzel Washington as a teacher who led a debate team.
He said his "a-ha" moment came after watching one particular scene when Denzel Washington's character had his debate team practice for their debate with a radish held in-between their teeth to promote clearer speech. This unconventional technique inspired Floyd.
"That's when the idea hit me," he said.
"After seeing the movie, I went to the kitchen to see if I could find a radish, I couldn't find one, but I did find a wine cork," Floyd continued. "So I practiced by putting the wine cork in my mouth, and it was just as beneficial as the radish in the movie to enhance my speech."
He began collecting wine corks from area restaurants as prototypes, reshaping them like a whistle so it could rest naturally between the upper front teeth.
"I tested this (cork prototype) by letting friends and neighbors practice using it," he said. "I got a lot of positive feedback."
Over the last two years, with the help of his parents, he worked with two Chicago-area firms: The product Development Technologies to create a marketable design for mass production, and Accurate products to make Food and Drug Administration-approved silicone prototypes.
Last year, Floyd participated in Starting Gate, WMU's business accelerator, to help take his business to the next level while his patent was pending. He was the first and only freshman to be a member of Starting Gate.
Starting Gate connects students to valuable resources to develop their start-up companies. It is available to students through a competitive application process.
"Starting Gate provided me a wonderful opportunity to meet other young entrepreneurs and be able to share, compare, and critique our business strategies," said Floyd. "Dr. Kay Palan (dean of Haworth College of Business) was very encouraging and supportive from the day I met her and helped me to focus as a freshman."
Lara Hobson, director of operations for Starting Gate said in a WMU news release, "We at Starting Gate are so proud of Daniel's hard work and dedication to launching his product. His story of how he came to create SpeechMasterPro and his work ethic are truly inspiring. It is rewarding to see one of our student entrepreneurs reach this level of success."
Floyd practices with SpeechMasterPro every morning for a minimum of 15 minutes. He particularly uses the device while going over material before giving a speaking engagement.
"The mornings are the best time to practice when your mouth is a little stiff, it helps loosen facial muscles," Floyd explained.
Floyd's two long term goals with SpeechMasterPro are to create a high quality demonstration and promotion video and expand his business by developing alternate distribution channels, such as retail outlets.
He has currently sold several dozen speech aids which can be purchased online at speechmasterpro.com for $19.95. A utility patent for this product is still pending.
"Daniel has been laser-focused on this project since high school. The motivation for the product was his speech impediment. But the dedication and passion to help others is all his," said his mother, Karen Floyd.
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Information from: Kalamazoo Gazette, http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo
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