Content
My Approach is to actually stutter freely, 'especially' when I get nervous or if I've having a bad stuttering day. As stutterer, we're conditioned to think that stuttering is 'bad'. Therefore we cringe at the thought of stuttering. But most fluent people I work/socialize with do not care whether I stutter or not. It's owr own reaction to our stutter that makes them uncomfortable. I've few tricks up my sleeve to overcome my blocks though - I simply say the initial letter few times lightly until the block is released. But this is literally the only 'trick' I use. During times when I get anxious about my speech or when I notice myself stuttering a lot, I simply start stuttering voluntarily. So when I introduce myself before a big presentation, I say "Hi, I'm PPPP-Punte (not my actual name)", slowly and loudly, making sure that everyone heard that I stuttered. After stuttering voluntarily for 3-4 sentences, my anxiety usually goes down from 100 to 10 in seconds. Once my anxiety is down, I start speaking normally (normal for me is mild stutter). During the speech, if I start getting nervous again, I start stuttering voluntarily again to calm myself down. I've applied this approach successfully to the point that I'm now confident in any speaking situation. Last few months, I've given presentation for large audience (100+ people), multiple times, with lot of success. After running away from stuttering for 35 years of my life, I finally feel free to express whatever I want without worrying about stutter. This might not work for all stutterers , But something that can work for people whose stutter is situational. I feel that I finally have control over my stutter, instead of letting it control me.