Got a dictionary handy? If not, try picturing one in your mind. Now open it and have a flick through. There's lots of words in there, isn't there? The Oxford English Dictionary has over half a million of the blighters listed between its covers. Now try to comprehend how many trillian combinations are possible. It's a lot.

And yet somehow we expect our poor brains to pick the best combinations many times each day. It's not an easy task - it's one of the most complicated things people do. And yet because everyone learns the basics of language in school, and uses it every day, putting words together and saying them is often treated like the simplest thing in the world.

If you've ever found yourself struggling to turn the thoughts into words, or even just to get your thoughts to make better sense in your head then you may have felt embarassed and ashamed. "Words are easy," you may have thought.  A thought like, "Even primary school kids can speak properly," may have found its way into your mind.

If you have these feelings again, just remember that it's not easy. It takes years of training to use a language properly, and even longer to use it well. And even if you can find the right words, it can still be difficult to say them in many circumstances. The fear of speaking in public is one of the most common fears that people describe. There are plenty of people that often don't feel comfortable to speak in private as well. If you have either of these fears, there's no need to keep them or have them grow stronger.

Helping people not feel flustered in difficult situations is one of the main aims of Rostrum. Our activities, tutorials and kind, quiet words in private have helped many people find just the right words in all sorts of situations. We can help shy people talk to larger and larger groups. We can help people who get muddled sometimes to more clearly express what they want to say. We can even help masters of the English tongue to maintain the sharpness of their linguistic blade.

So come on, contact us, and find out how we can help you find all the words you need. We won't bite.