Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Become less afraid of stuttering
• Method 2 of 3: Dealing with stuttering
• Method 3 of 3: Helping a child who stutters
• Tips
• Warnings

Most people have experienced a fear of public speaking or severe nervousness right before an interview. Although stuttering and stammering is a physical problem, it often causes fear of everyday conversation, and this fear in turn makes stuttering more prominent. While there is no way to completely cure stuttering, the cycle of anxiety and stress can be reduced, making this condition less of an impact on your life.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Become less afraid of stuttering

1. Understand how stuttering works. When a person stutters, this can cause the speech ability to be completely blocked, causing sounds to be repeated, or the person to get stuck in a particular sound. During such a blockage, the vocal cords push together with tremendous force, and the person will not be able to speak until the tension is released. Accepting the stutter and doing the following exercises can help ease this tension.
   • While there is no cure for stuttering, these techniques will help you reduce it to a manageable level until it has become a much smaller obstacle. People with stuttering problems have won awards in fields where speech is important, such as sports commentary, TV journalism, acting and singing.
2. Stop being ashamed of stuttering. Stuttering has nothing to do with lower intelligence, personal mistakes, or poor upbringing. It doesn't mean that you are a particularly nervous or anxious person, just that you will stutter in those situations that would make everyone nervous. Realize that stuttering doesn't say anything about you as a person. It's normal to feel shame, but understanding that there is no logical reason for it can help you feel less embarrassed, and may make it less painful.
3. Practice speaking in front of a group of people who support you. Your friends and family probably know that you stutter, so there is no reason to be anxious around them. Just be open about the fact that you would like to practice public speaking and read them aloud or try to join in a conversation. This is a good step to take and you can expect people who want to support you to do the same, if you make it clear what you want to achieve with it.
4. Do not avoid situations where you speak. Many people who stutter try to hide this by not making certain noises or by avoiding stressful verbal communication altogether. You don't have to push yourself to talk to bullies, but don't hold back or switch to safe words when talking to friends, family members who support you, and strangers. The more conversations you have while you stutter, the more you will notice that it doesn't have to hold you back or that it annoys other people.
5. Address the behavior of people who tease you. Bully's are a special case; they intentionally try to irritate or make you angry and it is best to just ignore them, or indicate to the leadership that you are being bullied. Friends, on the other hand, should support each other. If a friend teases you for stuttering in a way that makes you nervous, let that person know it's bothering you. Remind the person if they revert to old habits, and indicate that if they don't stop, it might be better to spend less time together.
6. Join a support group for stutterers. Search online for a support group in your area or join an online forum. As with so many problems, stuttering is easier to deal with when you have a group of people with whom you can exchange experiences. These are also great places for more tips on how to deal with or become less afraid of stuttering.
   • In the Netherlands you could take a look at the site of the Dutch Stotteren Federation (https://www.stotteren.nl) for more information.
7. Don't feel obligated to get rid of stuttering completely. Stuttering will rarely go away completely, but that doesn't mean you've failed in your attempt to get it under control. Once you can speak in company with a minimum of nervousness, there is no reason to panic if the stuttering becomes more frequent. Reducing the fear of stuttering helps you learn to live with it and minimizes the amount of stress it causes.

Method 2 of 3: Dealing with stuttering

1. Speak at a leisurely pace when you are not stuttering. There is no need at all to change your speaking rate or pattern when you are not stuttering. Even if you can only get out a few words in a row without stuttering, try to express them at a normal pace and don't try to avoid the stutter. It is more effective to relax and focus on what you want to say than to get tense and deal with how you say it.
2. Take all the time you need to get through a moment of stutter. A huge source of tension and a major reason people start to stutter is the feeling that you have to break through it immediately if a word gets stuck. In fact, slowing down or pausing when you encounter a verbal obstacle can actually train you to speak more fluently and be less nervous.
3. Don't hold your breath. When you get stuck in a word, the first reaction is often to hold your breath and try to squeeze the word out. This only worsens the situation. You will have to focus on breathing when you talk. If you are stuck, pause, take a gentle breath, and then try again to say the word while breathing out gently. When you breathe, your vocal cords will relax and open so that you can speak. This is easier said than done, but gets easier with practice.
4. Pretend to stutter. Paradoxically, you can gain more control over your stutter by intentionally repeating difficult sounds. If you are nervous about how often you cannot control your ability to speak, make deliberate stuttering noises to regain control. Saying "d. D. D. The dog." feels different from the stuttering of "d-d-d-the dog". So now you're not trying to force yourself to say the whole word, but you're just making the sound, clear and slow, and moving on to the word when you're ready. If you do start stuttering again, repeat the sound until you are ready to try again.
   • This can take a lot of training to get along with easily, especially if you've gotten used to hiding the stutter instead of accepting it. Practice it in a safe environment first and eventually try it in public.
5. Introduce an obstacle with an easier sound. A common problem for people who stutter is knowing that a vocal obstacle is coming. Make this obstacle easier to deal with by introducing it with a sound that you know will not cause you problems. For example, create a nasal "mmmm" or an "nnnnn" sound so that you can slip "past" a difficult hard vowel, such as a k or d.With enough practice, this can make you confident enough to say the difficult sounds normally, and have this trick at hand for stressful situations.
   • If you have trouble with m and n sounds, try an "ssss" or "aaa" sound.
6. Consult a speech therapist. Hiring a speech therapist to help you can greatly reduce the impact of stuttering on your life. As with the other techniques described here, the exercises and advice a speech therapist will provide you with are designed to help you manage your stuttering and minimize the effects on your speech and feelings, not to completely stop stuttering. to undo. It can take a lot of practice to use these techniques in the real world, but with some patience and realistic explanations, your speech can improve significantly.
   • If the advice offered or the exercises don't work, try to find another therapist. Old-school therapists may advise slowing down or suggest other exercises that many modern researchers, and people who stutter, find counterproductive.
7. You can also use a speech improvement tool. If your stuttering is still severely bothering you and is causing you a lot of stress and anxiety, you may want to consider an electronic feedback device that lets you hear yourself speak in a different way and with a delay. However, these devices cost many thousands of euros and are by no means a guaranteed or perfect solution. They are also difficult to use, especially in public places such as social gatherings or restaurants. Remember that these are only aids and not remedies, and it is always advisable to practice techniques to reduce your fear of stuttering or to hire a speech therapist.

Method 3 of 3: Helping a child who stutters

1. Don't ignore the stutter. Many children develop a stutter in the first years of learning to speak, but although in many cases this is temporary and disappears within a year or two, it is wise to help the child with this. Speech therapists who are unaware of current developments often say "it will go away on its own," but it is much better to be aware of the child's stuttering and follow the steps below.
2. Talk just a little slower. If you are a fast talker, the child may adopt your way of speaking by speaking faster than the child's language skills allow. Try to speak a little slower and make sure you maintain a natural rhythm and articulate clearly.
3. Make sure the child's speaking environment is reassuring. Give the child time to form words and sentences without being interrupted or teased. If the child is excited about something they want to tell you, pause what you are doing and listen. Children who feel that they are not allowed to speak may be more prone to speech disorders or less likely to open their mouths.
4. Let the child finish. Make the child more confident by listening to what the child has to say in a supportive way. Don't try to finish sentences for the child or walk away when things get stuck.
5. Learn more about giving feedback. A relatively modern form of treatment against stuttering in children is a system where parents give feedback, such as the Lidcombe Program, developed in the 1980s, where a therapist trains the parents / carers to help the child, instead of handing it over to professionals. Even though you cannot find a suitable program in your area, you can take advantage of some of the fundamentals of this program.
   • Talk to the child about stuttering only if the child wants to.
   • Compliment the child if they manage not to stutter for a while or if there are days when the child stutters less often. Do this once or twice a day at consistent times, rather than making a fuss by constantly giving compliments.
   • Only rarely criticize by indicating when there is stuttering. Do not do this when the child is angry or frustrated.

Tips

• If you no longer find a conversation between you a problem, but still suffer from telephone anxiety, practice on it. Some people are less afraid to call friends than strangers or organizations.
• Take a deep breath before speaking if you feel nervous.
• Keep practicing at home. Pretend you are standing in front of an audience and giving a speech. This will boost your confidence and will also make you feel more comfortable in larger groups. But this can take a while, so don't give up.

Warnings

• Stuttering can cause or worsen nervousness or depression. If you suspect that you are depressed, talk to your doctor or therapist as soon as possible.