Additionally, I believe that this can also reduce muscle tension: Reframing demands/expectations to execute speech movements, such as: * Old (incorrect) expectation/demand: *"I apply or rely on muscle tension to execute speech movements" (or to make executing speech movements easier)* * New expectation/demand: "*I don't apply or rely on muscle tension anymore to execute speech movements*". For example, I rely on my body that already knows how to execute speech movements, I put complete faith in the automatic feedforward system, I simply instruct execution of speech movements. And, I stop blaming tension for not being able to move the speech muscles - because when individuals with Spastic Dysarthria, MSD (motor speech disorders), or MTD (Muscle Tension Dysphonia), excessively tense the speech muscles (such as, the vocal cords) - to the point of producing a strained forceful voice, it almost never results in speech blocks In my opinion: In my experience, when speaking alone, I've noticed that, if I deliberately tense my speech muscles to its maximum extent, such as, the throat muscles, I can still continue executing speech movements without experiencing speech blocks. So, I believe, instead of focusing on resolving issues related to tensed neuromuscular execution, it may be more effective to address **incorrectly** **blaming triggers and excessively relying on demands** to execute speech motor plans, that hinder speech planning and programming. Comparing stuttering: On the first day that [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/18mfgp3/comment/ke51jbo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) person started stuttering, he only stuttered on his romantic partner's name. Then months/years later it gradually spread out to stuttering on words starting with the letter /M/. Why the /M/? Because that was the name of his partner. Then, this gradually spread out even further to the other letters/sounds. So, what is so important about this? Well, the point of this comparison was not to underscore how powerful "feared words" are, rather how powerful incorrectly relying on certain beliefs is specifically to execute speech movements? I'm referring to: blaming triggers, and relying on demands to execute speech movements. Why do we rely on any demand at all? Why not just execute speech movements without relying on any demands (aka free from the shackles that bind us) despite triggers (such as, triggering thoughts, emotions or behaviors)? I mean, a non-stutterer also doesn't have a mindset: "I rely on a certain threshold of confidence to speak like a non-stutterer". Instead, he executes speech movements without demands and without blaming triggers. For a non-stutterer, this whole concept would seem ridiculus.. and this is exactly what individuals with (persistent) developmental stuttering are doing, in my opinion.