Heya! Currently in speech therapy and stutter has improved DRASTICALLY in less than 6 months. Even gave a presentation last week to a class of ~50 people, of course I stuttered here and there but never got blocked which is wild?? Genuinely the only presentations I’ve had in my entire life where I wasn’t struggling to finish a sentence. That little tidbit said, the BIGGEST piece of advice I’d give you is to understand that it’s okay to stutter. More exactly, understand that stutter will happen, and there’s no way to turn it off. For people who stutter, we’re fighting a war on two fronts: having to speak to crowds/groups and wanting to do it fluently. That said, I know a lot of people will say something like “The best advice is to just own it.” Or “I became fluent when I quit letting my stutter bother me.”. Sadly, it’s much more nuanced than flipping a switch labeled: “Fears and insecurities of stuttering”. Here’s a metaphor I’ve learned that helped me put my stutter into perspective: • The Balance Beam Metaphor • ~If I lie a 10ft plank on the ground and asked a passerby to cross it, they could. Little-to-no issue, just one foot in front of the other. Now, let’s raise the plank 10-feet in the air and have them do it again. Suddenly, the person begins to struggle. They become uneasy and keeping balance seems near impossible. The objective hasn’t changed: cross the plank. Why can’t they keep their balance? Answer is obvious: Their biggest concern isn’t about crossing anymore. It’s about falling. They become self aware, they try their damndest to walk in a straight line. Still, their coordination is overshadowed by their fear of falling. So they often do. ~ For people who stutter, we’re constantly putting ourselves 10-feet in the air. When we’re asked to give a presentation or introduce ourselves we’re, more often than not, immediately assigning a secondary objective: Do it without stuttering. Why do we do it though?? Because we think we need to be fluent?? Because we subconsciously think people will think lesser of us if we stutter?? Hell, maybe it’s because we think lesser of ourselves when we do. It wasn’t until I de-stigmatized stuttering for myself that I was finally able to act towards fluency. Personally, I began disclosing my stutter in situations where I know a stutter is imminent: Meetings, presentations, restaurants, etc. I never encountered a single person who looked at me differently for doing so. Even if they did, who cares, right? Not only did my disclosure help to avoid confusion from others, it also helped me recognize that it just doesn’t matter if I stutter. Good communication comes from much more than a seamless string of words. It’s in understanding one another, active listening, and accepting our role in the conversation. So, to close this rambling Reddit speech, I’ll leave you with the simple advice of: “Stuttering is inevitable even in the most fluent of people. So take the first step towards what you want to achieve and don’t be afraid of the fall.”.