commentr/StutterFebruary 8, 2022

Content

This sounds a lot like me. Nobody knows I stutter and I've tried my whole life to hide it and I've been pretty successful at that. That's probably not the best thing to do, but back when I was young (I'm 44 now), I had to do what I had to do to get by. I also went to college and was f'n terrified of any public speaking. I almost dropped out over speech class and many other classes, lol. I didn't and graduated and I have a great career because I stuck it out. My advice for speaking in class - practice! Know what you're going to say and say it out loud, in front of a mirror. You'll be able to see how others see you as you speak and it will calm you down because you won't "look like you stutter" to anybody. Trust me. I managed to make it out of all my speeches, relatively stutter free, my entire college life by practicing every single speech I had to give. Also, for me, if I am anxious about it, my stutter would get worse so I tried really hard not to dwell on it on the days leading up to a speech. That also helped me. Once I got up there and started to talk, I calmed down a lot and wasn't nervous anymore. Smile. Be confident. Nobody will know you're nervous because EVERYBODY else is just as nervous anyway. Not a lot of people like public speaking.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceSchool & Work

Subthemes

Hiding & ConcealmentSchool & Academic LifePreparation & Rehearsal

Codes (1)

public_speaking