For me (32) have trouble with numbers. And address info. Usually f’s and s’s. I’m good at small talk but if I want to say all the words I’m actually thinking I’m going to stutter. I have a job now where I have to say numbers all day long to an insurance rep. It HAS helped to do the thing I fear the most over and over and over. Basically boils down to two things. Not fearing stuttering. And phonics. 1. If you stutter fine, if you don’t that’s fine. You can’t beat yourself up or even really have an opinion on how you did. If the whole conversation wasn’t fluent and you struggle on every word and you can end the conversation and not have shame and not thinking how you could have should have done better and how you were perceived that is everything. Walking away from hard blocks and not thinking about it is so important. 2 with my job especially on fours. You have to think of each letter. You know how to say them, you know what it is. The mouth goes off on it’s own and repeats the same letter and same sound over and over. You have to just think about the sounds themselves. On four I say it more f-wour. Using my lips to basically pull the rest of the word out of my mouth after F. Using the w draws the “our” out without repeating f a lot. So basically using your lips and being in complete control of your mouth. We open it to speak but can’t. So we can control our mouths. And really it’s just a combination of both not fearing and clearly thinking about the letters and phonics of the word. But the catch is that if you are in conversational brain that’s not the same brain thinking about letters. You have to change the way you communicate. Think of it like a performance rather than you are just going off the dome. We don’t have that luxury. To wrap it up you have to have a deep love for yourself and understand no one knows what you’re going through except other stutterers. Even a speech pathologists don’t fully understand. So don’t share or take advice from others unless you want to hear “just slow down” or “you are nervous, you’re afraid.” Or “aww I’m sorry” we reach out to this group and have understanding. We went stupid, we arnt slow. We have a neurological issue in which our brains don’t “feel” right saying the words. So to reiterate you have to be your biggest cheerleader and really focus on the words you’re saying controlling your whole being when you speak. Stuttering is really a gift that helps you be your best self. Much love!