Story from my Sales Manager at the Gym

Story from my Sales Manager at the Gym Hey all, so I want to share a story that may be helpful to others in the same situation I'm in where I can speak 100% fluently while alone, but around other people, I experience speech blocks. I briefly worked at a major gym chain as a front desk guy who was basically responsible for checking people in, and towel service. My direct supervisor at the time was not liking how I wasn't putting myself out there more, but I was doing my best to speak up more, it's just my stutter was very bad back then. However one night I got into a conversation with one of the members in the supplement section and was able to get some sentences out. It turned out to be a real positive interaction and the member told me that if everyone at the gym was like me, he'd probably show up more. It turned out the sales manager was in one of the other aisles listening in, and he pulled me aside and said what I did was great, and wanted to see if I would like to move into his sales department. I thanked him but said I don't think I'm cut out for it, I've got a stutter and wouldn't be able to speak like I just did all the time. The sales manager then asked me if I stutter when I'm by myself. I said no, and he seemed glad to hear this. He then told me a story about his best friend who is also in sales, but had a stutter even worse than mine. This friend was determined to make it in sales, so what he did every night was read aloud to himself for hours. Over time his brain began to associate clear speech with being the norm, because he was now spending more time speaking clearly, than he was stuttering. Eventually, his friend went on to become an even better speaker than the sales manager was. That was almost ten years ago, and I didn't take the advice because I was living at home and it felt awkward to start reading aloud. I really regret that. The sales manager used to even check in with me to see if I was doing my readings. Anyway, now that I'm older and more disciplined I've started to put it to the test by reading a minimum of 30 minutes each day, focusing on enunciation with my words. I'm already noticing I'm able to power through more of my speech blocks. I've found books with lots of dialogue to be the most helpful. I've been reading star wars novels and they've been perfect for this. Eventually I want to increase my reading to hours each day to see if I can replicate my old sales manager's friends experience. Cliffs - If you speak perfectly alone, then reading aloud for long periods can possibly train your brain to accept perfect speech as your new norm.