Stop Stuttering

There are no instant miracle cures for stuttering. Therapy, electronic devices, and even drugs can't help make it an overnight process. Those who stutter, however, can fight the condition on their own, as well as make significant progress toward fluency by seeing a speech therapist. If you're serious about putting stuttering behind you and beginning your new, more-fluent life, read these tips and techniques.

Steps

Home Treatments

  1. Mentally and physically relax... Tell yourself that you really are going to do fine. When you are worried that you are going to stutter, you make it likelier that you will. Relax both your body and your mind.
    • Relax your body:
      • Release the tension in your back, neck and arms. Relax your shoulders; let them sink down to a natural level.
      • Buzz your lips for a couple seconds before you start speaking. Singers do this sometimes to warm up.
      • Shake out any tension that you have in your legs and arms. Twist your torso.
    • Relax your mind:
      • Tell yourself: "I am bigger than this stutter; this stutter is not bigger than me!"
      • Don't tell yourself it's a life or death situation. Stuttering is annoying, but it's not as much of an issue to other people as it probably is to you. Let this thought relax you.
      • Concentrate your attention inside your head. Gently let your attention drift to the furthest tips of your body, breathing evenly. This can be done as a form of meditation.
  2. Stand in front of the mirror and imagine the person in the mirror being someone else. Just start talking about anything — how your day went, what you're feeling like, what you're planning on eating later on — and watch your stutter disappear.
    • Of course, talking in front of the mirror isn't the same thing as talking to another person, but this exercise should give you a good boost of confidence. Remember how well you spoke to yourself in the mirror when preparing to talk to somebody else.
    • Try speaking to yourself every day for 30 minutes. It might seem weird at first, but the exercise is hearing your voice without the stutter. It'll give you lots of confidence.
  3. Read books out loud. Your charisma skills will be improved. Just read out loud. It's going to be hard at first, but it will teach you how to breathe. One big problem most stutters have is knowing when to breathe while reading or talking while also giving you practice on recovering from stuttering.
  4. Visualize the words you're going to say before you say them. This is hard to master, but it really helps. If you can imagine words, you claim them and it'll be harder for them to slip into a stutter. If you cannot imagine it, they can't be yours. Have a clear mental picture of what you want to say.
    • If you are stumbling over a particular word, try using a word that has a similar meaning— a synonym. This word might be easier to use and one that you won't slip over.
    • Try to spell a word out if you stumble over it. You might have to pronounce it very slowly and letter by letter, but at least you'll get the satisfaction of knowing that you pronounced it.
    • Don't be afraid to pause as you visualize or spell out the letters in the word. We're trained to think of silences as frightening; you have to train yourself to think of the silences as opportunities to ace it.
  5. When you stutter, try letting out tension in between blocks. Work through stuttering by letting out deep, guttural noises at each block. For example: "It's s-s-s-s-s-. GRRRRRR It's silly." Try stopping by saying "Blah " and continue.
  6. Get in the right frame of mind. Before you go to talk, get optimistic instead of pessimistic. Often times, the fear of stuttering can cause stuttering itself.[1] Instead of fearing it and expecting it to happen, try to visualize succeeding. This will help you destroy any nervousness you might encounter.
  7. Try breathing exercises to make speech easier. Often, a stutterer will have trouble breathing while they are stuttering. Getting your speech back could be helped drastically by doing breathing exercises. Try these for more fluency while you speak:
    • Take a couple of deep breaths before you start speaking. Pretend you're diving down into water and you need to get a couple of deep breaths before you dive. This may ease your breathing and help regulate it. If you're in a social situation and you feel uncomfortable doing this, try to breathe deeply through your nose.
    • Remember to breathe when you speak and if you stutter. People who stutter often forget to breathe once they begin stuttering. Pause, give yourself some time to breathe, and try to tackle the word or phrase again.
    • Don't try to set any speed records. There are plenty of fast talkers out there, but the goal is not to speak how they speak. Your goal is to be able to express words and be understood. Learn to speak at a moderate pace. There is no rush here, nor are there competitions on who can out talk the other person.
  8. Try putting some rhythm into your speech. People who stutter tend to lose their stutter when they sing, for several reasons: the words they are singing are prolonged, and the voice they use is smooth and delivered easier than normal speech. If you can put a little bit of rhythm into your speech (give it an oratory quality, like Martin Luther King, Jr.) you might find that your stutter has lessened or even gone away.
  9. If you're making a speech, don't look directly at someone. Look over people's heads, or at a point in the back of the room. This way, you might not get as nervous and start a chain reaction of stuttering.
    • If you're talking directly to someone, see if you can make regular eye contact with them. You don't have to stare at them the whole time, but making eye contact with them will put them at ease, which will help you feel more comfortable.
  10. Don't sweat the small stuff. Understand that you'll make mistakes. But it's not the mistakes that define you. It's how you rebound from the mistakes, how you persevere. Understand that you will probably lose some battles, but that your goal is to win the war.
  11. Never give up. Even if people think poorly of you,you can't let their thoughts affect your mind.

What Parents Should and Shouldn't Do

  1. Try not to make the child feel concerned about stuttering. Parents who express too much concern about their child who stutters risk alienating the child and making him or her feel more self-conscious about the stutter.[1] This will harm the child's progress more than help.
  2. Try not to consciously put the child in stressful social situations. Putting the child in stressful social situations so that they can learn to be "comfortable" will backfire.[1]
  3. Listen patiently to the child without interrupting them. When a child stutters, let them finish their thoughts without interrupting them and finishing the words for them. Show love and acceptance to them when they stutter.
  4. Talk with the child about their stutter if they bring it up. If your child wants to talk about it, set aside time to discuss what they might be going through, and to discuss options in treating the stutter. Let your child know that you understand their frustration
  5. If your child goes to a speech therapist, talk with the therapist about when to gently correct and when not to. Listen to any other recommendations the speech therapist might have.

Seeing a Speech Therapist

  1. Don't be afraid to see a speech therapist if things are bad. Most stutters will go away after some time, especially if the stutterer is young. Seeing a speech therapist is recommended in some cases, however, especially those cases when the stutterer is depressed or views the stutter as a significant roadblock in their lives.
  2. Speech therapy may be beneficial in some cases. There are situations where therapy may be beneficial, and situations where it may not be. Speech therapy can help a child if:
    • The stuttering itself has lasted more than 6 months
    • The blocked speech lasts more than several seconds
    • There is a family history of stuttering
    • The child is emotionally drained, embarrassed, or depressed about their stutter.
  3. Understand what speech therapists may do. Speech therapists often put patients through a series of vocal training sessions in an effort to lessen the impact of the stutter on communication, not so much cure the disruptions themselves.[2] Patients then practice these techniques in real life situations.
    • Speech therapists may wish to talk to parents, teachers, and sometimes even friends in an effort to communicate their techniques and help them understand what the patient is trying to achieve. They do this so that patients receive help and understanding from the people around them when they speak outside the confines of therapy.
  4. Understand that a speech therapist may recommend a support group. Hundreds of stuttering support groups exist worldwide. A speech therapist, after consulting with a patient, may find it beneficial to try attending a support group, where a person who stutters is less likely to find therapy techniques and more likely to find opportunity to bond with others in a non-threatening environment.

Tips

  • Don't talk too fast. That will only increase your stuttering. Talk slower and more relaxed and that could decrease or reduce your stuttering when speaking.
  • Body language play a great role in our speaking. Always use body language and move your hand with words, sometimes shoulder and eyebrows etc. With this you can easily express your words.
  • If you're required to do a presentation try to prepare it ahead of time. One of the best ways to decrease a stutter is by regulating breathing. Try marking in your paper with a highlighter appropriate times to stop and breathe so you can be more fluid. If you don't have an opportunity to do that, try pausing to breathe at punctuation.
  • Learn your words before you say them, however, in spontaneous speech, let there be a medium-long pause between when you talk and when you speak, so you can think of words.
  • If you stutter around someone, just tell them so you won't be nervous. For example, when you find someone you like, just tell them and they'll understand.
  • Sometimes hand gestures help you stop stuttering.
  • Go through the information in the book Self Therapy for the Stutterer by "The Stuttering Foundation". It takes practice and patience but you can overcome your stuttering. Try the home pack from www.stop-your-stutter.com, which has been designed by an ex-stutterer and you can also go on his course and he will deduct the cost of the home pack! Watch his intro video which explains how he cured his stutter.
  • Don't talk very fast. Talk slowly and take your time. Breathing before you talk can help, too.
  • Try not to think extra miles before talking. Make your statement very precise and clear.
  • Take enough rest and regular sleep can help.

Warnings

  • Don't let anyone make you feel inferior because of your speech. Everyone has something about them that is not perfect. People who have the problem of being rude are far from perfect and have a worse problem than yours.
    • No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
      - Eleanor Roosevelt

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002400/
  2. ↑ http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm#j

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