>*"Exactly WHAT should I do to stop blocking and actually saying the word?" "so I should be focusing on actually saying the word? ""And should I relax when I try to say the word? I feel my mouth wants to close up and I feel just tense throat."* Thank you for your comment. You bring up a couple of interesting questions. I cannot tell you what the best course of action is, but what I can do is simply share my experience and share with you what I think was helpful for my own stuttering. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for others. Likely, all methods of all people could be beneficial in some way, so if my experience can help you even a little bit, then it's worth it. Here it goes.. so in my experience, if I'm alone, and I would deliberately tense my speech muscles (such as throat muscles and lips). Then this tension itself can never lead to a speech block. In other words, regardless of how much articulatory, phonetary or abdominal tension, I am still able to intentionally move my speech muscles without any difficulty. Question: is this the same with you? Can you perhaps check and run tests to see if this matches with your own experience since this is a huge breakthrough and revelation, that "tension" is not an issue and then we should ask the question: **Question 1**: "What is then the whole point of relaxing the speech muscles?". What is your opinion? If tension doesn't cause a speech block, what's the point of relaxing this articulatory or laryngeal tension? So, in my experience, we should ask ourselves the important question: **Question 2**: "What action (or healthy intervention) is necessary for fluent control - to execute speech motor movements (such as laryngual or articulatory speech muscles)?" How would you answer **question 2**? My answer would be: see [this](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c9W3E3wZTr-Vs6SIxb-QsFy9b4XzWHjB/view?usp=sharing) and [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/162icx5/human_beings_cannot_consciously_move_any_muscles/) post for my explanation. The only required intervention that is needed for fluent speech production in fluent control is "step 1: decision-making" (like, instructing execution to move speech muscles)" (in that list of speech processes). Step 1 is the only step, that both fluent speakers and people who stutter, can intentionally control. Do you see step 17 in that same list? I perceive that PWS often try to intentionally control step 17, the outcome of speech, for example by "desiring fluency", "closely monitoring the speech production process", intentionally feeling \[sensory feedback\], [internal/external](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iIWvZ4K8-apu4IRCCHStCL9iOA0c92k8/view?usp=sharing) monitoring or immersing in the out of control experience. But if this still leads to blocking, then we disrupt step 1, whereby we don't instruct motor movements, or we instruct motor inhibition (maintaining the loop/cycle). This is just my take on it. Then the next question we should ask ourselves is: **Question 3**: What intervention are we currently applying - to attempt execution of speech movements? You already answered it by saying "I nod/bob my head", which you do in order to attempt execution of speech movements. Did I understand it correctly? But 'nodding the head' is just 1 intervention. If you ask question to yourself long enough, for many weeks or months each time that you stutter, then eventually you will come up with a big big list with "maladaptive interventions". Even SLP techniques, relaxation, speaking slower, and other things that you likely think are healthy interventions - are actually, in my opinion, unhealthy interventions. Argument: because, as explained above, the only action required for fluent speech production is "choosing to instruct motor execution". Anything else that attempt motor execution is unnecessary and will only enable you to attempt to directly operate the feedforward system (which is impossible for any human), and therefore results in overreliance on the feedback system and reinforcing overactivation of the speech production system (such as atypical abnormal mouth movements, tension, speaking slower, SLP techniques etc). ​ The fact is, that PWS and fluent controls can speak fluently with: \- anticipatory fear of negative reactions \[anticipation\] \- maximum articulatory, abdominal and throat tension \- immersing ourselves in an out of control feeling \- etc etc ​ So, we are able to intentionally execute speech movements regardless of what we feel, experience, perceive, sense, think, etc etc. \[volitional motor control\]. This is just my take on it. ​ >*"One of the things I do to get a hard to say word is nodding/bobbing my head while saying it. "* My suggestion is to replace unhelpful actions/interventions such as nodding/bobbing your head (to attempt motor execution) with a healthy action, whereby you instruct execution of speech movements regardless of any triggers, cognitive/emotional/linguistic [demands or conflicts](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SH7PFQ0K-8wud77vzL6cBHILXrPhE78X/view?usp=sharing), feelings, anticipation, etc etc. without reinforcing a need to reduce this trigger or distract yourself from the trigger. Another suggestion is to "unlearn" replacing or skipping steps in this [speech process](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15q5uh9WVF5P2Le__aE-4AnmCrBdNTkyu/view?usp=sharing). Re-learn to resist maladaptive habitual responses shown in this diagram (such as, resist the impaired speech programming "voice onset before instructing motor execution").