Hey! First off, it's totally normal to feel what you're feeling right now. I think speaking slowly does help people who stutter. I'm also a person who blocks on words which prevents me from saying certain words, just like you. Speaking slowly helps as it promotes airflow; the lack of it is why blocks happen in your speech in addition to other genetic/biological reasons that we cannot change. The other thing I wanted to mention was that it has been well-researched that anxiety does not cause your stutter. In fact, it's probably the other way around. Your mind thinks you're going to stutter in social situations so you naturally get a little anxious, and trust me, that's totally normal. So what should you do to reduce your anxiety? Well, speaking slower is a start, but as a person who stutters, you'll always have a stutter so actually no way around it. Acceptance is the best strategy in reducing anxiety. This means, accepting that you're a person who stutters and telling other people so it's not as awkward and they understand what is happening. Building acceptance is hard. People who stutter represent only 1% of the population so we're constantly surrounded by people who speak differently than us. I created a community for professionals who stutter - feel free to join for free using the link in my bio, but overall, the idea is, when you meet more people who stutter, you start realizing it's more normal than you think. This where we can really start to build more acceptance in our speech and truly stutter freely. This will help you disclose to your friends more and be less anxious. Out stutter is just our accent and nothing else. Don't let it stop you and feel free to join the community if you're interested in meeting other people who stutter! :)