Do You Stutter?

[justin_havu]

Only when I'm angry/panicky. Combination of stuttering and talking a bit faster than normal.

 

[Dillon]

I had to present a research presentation for like 5 minutes or less just on things I had found from a 10 page paper I’ve been working on all semester which was due today. We had to pick any thing we come up with that is sub-cultural and I chose to write over the growing homeless population after incarceration (release from prison) and what are how it actually evolved in such a way.

Getting off topic here but anyway while I was talking I was forming the whole presentation into my whole words and such was not nervous at all or anything. When I was done and class was about to end one of my friends which I swear has a crush on me lately. She told me how I have a natural stutter a little bit which is not a bad thing given that she told me it was cute sounding. I’ve noticed other people pointing it out throughout my life but I never realize I ever stutter. I guess I don’t worry about what goes on with myself but worry on what I want to get done. I assume thinking what to process what to say gets me some what but it was all good everyone thought that was the best presentation out of everyone else’s today.

Do any of y’all maybe stutter without realizing it?

 

[Fino]

No one has ever told me I stutter, so if I stutter without realizing it I don't know it yet! I have noticed myself stutter every once in a while, but it's pretty rare. I back track a lot or say something wrong and repeat it differently or have trouble getting a word out, which is similar to stuttering but a little slower, I think..

 

[Isadoorian]

I've always stuttered; typically when I'm nervous/anxious or excited about something.

 

[Graphin]

People think I fail presentations because I'm shy which is wrong, and yes I am stuttering.
But it's actually because no matter what I do I just am not able to memorize what I have to say or think it up.

 

[Dillon]

People think I fail presentations because I'm shy which is wrong, and yes I am stuttering.
But it's actually because no matter what I do I just am not able to memorize what I have to say or think it up.

For me I had so much for talk about but with this presentation I could not go over 5 minutes so I had to condense it and break it up to where I can summarize my main points in that amount of time. Trying to within that time limit I noticed I slipped up some forgetting what I was going to say even though I know it in my head.
On the bright side my presentation was the best in the class which I’m surprised!

 

[Graphin]

Practically in my new school I end up holding presentations at least once a week

 

[Progster]

Yes, I do sometimes stutter, but I spoke to a speech therapist about this once and she told me that it was normal and ok to stutter when nervous and that I shouldn't worry about it.

 

[Suzanne]

When I do not feel comfortable in a situation, where I have to ask, I stutter and spit. I take a deep breath and excuse myself and try again.

But thinking on it, even with someone I feel OK with and have to ask something, I will still stutter.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Sometimes I feel I stutter cause I can't get my words out, but people tell me I don't stutter.

 

[rubicks52]

I used to stutter a lot, but I outgrew it for the most part and now I only stutter when I'm particularly stressed, tired, or excited. The one time I still stutter a lot though is while reading out loud, or doing something like a presentation where I have what I'm going to say prepared. When I'm just talking to someone, if I get to a word I know I'm going to stutter on, I can change what I'm going to say, but I can't do that for reading out loud. It's quite embarrassing and makes me dread courses that involve a lot of reading out loud or presentations.

I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to avoid stuttering? I know seeing a speech pathologist would be ideal, but that's not an option right now.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I tend to stumble over my words both when talking and reading for two reasons:
1) My mind gets ahead of my mouth. Speaking at a moderate and rhythmic pace helps with this.
2) Trying to formulate the words on the fly while talking is difficult - not an issue when reading.

 

[tlc]

I tend to stumble over my words both when talking and reading for two reasons:
1) My mind gets ahead of my mouth. Speaking at a moderate and rhythmic pace helps with this.
2) Trying to formulate the words on the fly while talking is difficult - not an issue when reading.

This is about it for me. I spent a long time in speech therapy but it don't think it does any good for these reasons. I can make words just fine, just not when put on the spot.

 

[Ladybird2013]

Hi! I am actually a speech- language pathologist, and I have a few tips that might help. But first, I’d like to commend you that you have a strategy that works for you in extemporaneous speech! Self-awareness is a huge tool when working on stuttering.

1. Try to figure out which sounds in particular give you a hard time. Do you block up or repeat certain sounds? Try finding a passage to read aloud and video record yourself. Highlight the words that you stutter on, and see if there is a pattern. (Maybe “s” and “z” give you a hard time, or maybe it’s often “g” and “k.”)
2. If you’re able to pick out certain sounds that are difficult- this is very helpful! If you have a presentation to give, go through and highlight the words you know you are going to have trouble with. This way you can anticipate when you are likely to stutter.
3. A couple strategies you can try: when you come across a word you are likely to stutter on, take a gentle breath and as you breathe out, “stretch out” the sound or the word. (For example, *breathe* *exhale* sooooup) This might make the word sound a little elongated and unnatural, but it might minimize feeling blocked up or stuttering. another strategy sounds very counterintuitive, but it is to actually stutter on the word on purpose! So when a tricky word comes up, repeat the first sound in the word a few times (example, “suh-suh-soup”). Of course, this absolutely does not get rid of the stuttering, but with practice it minimizes the anxiety around stuttering . Also you are in control of the stutter and it might not be so effortful.

I hope some of this is at least a little helpful. Wishing you all the best!

 

[Progster]

Stuttering is something that everyone does to some extent, but I do it quite a lot - similar to @Nervous Rex. I make a lot of false starts - I start to say something, then need to start again. It's because my mind is ahead of my speech, or because I lose confidence in what I'm going to say, or need to reformulate.

I once asked a student who happeded to be a speech therapist about this, and she told me not to worry, it was normal and I sounded ok. Perhaps she wanted to reassure me and give confidence - if I can relax a bit more and feel less self-conscious, I might stutter less.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I'm pretty much the same as you; stammered badly as a child, saw a speech therapist and with that plus age I grew out of it mostly, but still stammer when I'm tired or stressed or when I'm reciting something aloud! Luckily I haven't had to read aloud for years (I assume you're at school if you have to do that, and you won't have to any more once you leave, so that problem will solve itself).

For presentations it helps me to not have a set script, more just a series of points that I have to cover, and I will practice them in a variety of ways, so I can say whatever flows best at the time. I still always stutter badly during presentation because of the stress, but I've made my peace with that. And that's really the best advise I have - you will always stutter occasionally, so you just have to accept it, learn not to be embarrassed by it. I think of my stuttering as an amusing personal quirk which I can laugh about.

 

[BraidedPony]

This is different but might help.
I used to record voice overs for PBS documentaries, but I have trouble pronouncing words with two R's, like the word rural.
My director had me just....not slow down to pronounce it perfectly, but just say the word quickly. So I would pronounce rural more like roowel.
It worked.

 

[rubicks52]

Thanks for all the advice! I'll try figuring out if any specific sounds are harder to say. I like your perspective, @NothingToSeeHere. And you're right that I'm in school, one of my majors is French so there's a lot of reading for that. I hadn't thought about the fact that out of school, there's not much reading aloud. The feedback on this post has been super helpful and given me a lot to think about!

 

[Judge]

Look up "biofeedback" in conjunction with stuttering.

Technology that has been around for a long time in terms of an effective way to diminish stuttering. Where you speak into a microphone with a headset and hear your own voice, but with a very slight delay. The process allows one to stop stuttering rather dramatically. (Saw this demonstrated on television many years ago.)

 

[Nervous Rex]

Look up "biofeedback" in conjunction with stuttering.

Technology that has been around for a long time in terms of an effective way to diminish stuttering. Where you speak into a microphone with a headset and hear your own voice, but with a very slight delay. The process allows one to stop stuttering rather dramatically. (Saw this demonstrated on television many years ago.)

You can probably do that with two phones.