1: I still stutter but not to the same degree of severity. I am generally more comfortable which lends to less stuttering. 2: For the most part, yes! There are situations where I have self-doubt and anxiety, but that's normal. [A comment I made](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/comments/4vou0o/fighting_my_voice_a_journey_of_stuttering/d60h3wc/) (and the article it was in response to) addresses your question quite well, I think. With all simplicity, you just have to go ahead and do things; confront what makes you nervous rather than avoiding it. 3: Exactly. Being covert, to me, is just a tactic that focuses on the superficial. I try to put more emphasis on how I actually handle speech and the challenges it brings because that means *so much more* than how I talk. It isn't easy! I'll use a personal example: Last semester, on the first day of the English class we went up to the front of the room and simply stated our names while the rest of the class wrote a few words relating to their first impressions. As people were going up my heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty and I was stressing over when I would go. I knew, though, that it was going to happen eventually. So I got up, walked to the front, kept my head up and just looked around as I stuttered through my name. But I felt *good*! I didn't let the situation control me because I went up on my own instead of waiting until the last call. Later in the semester, we got into groups and discussed the first impressions we wrote. And guess what? I was surprised to hear that my group had written that I was **confident**! Throughout the class I participated in discussions, asked questions, and overall spoke a lot despite my stutter. In my experience, what resonates with people is how you approach your stutter and not necessarily how it sounds. I was positive about my speech and didn't let it hold me back. 4: Like most things you get better with practice. I interpret being honest as being open/covert, so I feel honesty ties to acceptance of it. I try to be honest with myself and understand that stuttering is something that will be a part of me for the rest of my life. Everybody’s stutter is different, so my experiences may not be similar or applicable to other people’s situations. I hope that some of my thoughts are still helpful.