After becoming a PWSS

[Adam Playfoot]

Hi Coaches. I have become a PWSS now and it feels surreal. The coaches (and Lee ofcourse) always seem to have the best advice to important questions I have – I find my speech is still choppy but I don’t block on words or dwell on little instances anymore. Prathusha told me to keep reading aloud and I think that is a great and sensible idea. Do you coaches have any suggestions on what I should now as a PWSS to continuously improve? For example, do you think it is possible to reduce the choppiness a.k.a stutter threats I face by reading aloud more?

[Javier]

Hi Adam,
When I had just become a PWSS, I felt exactly like you. I still had fears, and sometimes my speech was choppy, or halting. So this is very normal.

Have you read Lee’s “Speech Anxiety to Public Speaking” and watched the video lessons of that book? If not, please do it. It will help you a lot.

As a PWSS, your next goal is to get rid of the fears, and get to love to speak in all situations. So, mind training is key here. There are very useful affirmations in that book.

The other thing you need to do is to, step by step, expand your comfort zones. Speak a bit more (+10%) than you’d normally do in different situations. After doing this for a while, doing mind training, speaking passionately, smiling, etc., your comfort zones will have expanded so much that you will realise that you no longer feel pressured in situations in which you did some time ago. You will even realise that you enjoy speaking in those situations!!

Attending to the SAM meetings and making comments, asking questions, and even being the speaker of that day, will help you a lot.

Why don’t you challenge yourself, and decide to become the scheduled speaker of one of our SAM meetings? Speak with your coach about this. Maybe you can ask to be the speaker any Saturday, let’s say in Arpil or May of this year? There’s plenty of time to work on it…

[Adam Playfoot]

Thanks for the advice Javier. I am still shy in regards to public speaking and even just speaking in some social situations so at this time I won’t be challenging myself to do any presenting but the advice makes complete sense to me. After I am done school I will be focussing on my speech diligently again so I will definitely start reading the book and watching the videos. I am not too concerned with being the best speaker or being a good presenter or reducing fears of presenting I am more concerned with day to day conversations in regards to choppy speech so I think practicing crutches 7-12 should help with choppiness. But as soon as I am done school and graduated I will be working on my speech again as much as I did as a PWS to continuously improve but as of right now it isn’t a primary drive or motivation to be the best speaker. I always just wanted to be good enough at speaking which through the program I have achieved! But I don’t have that drive to be a perfect speaker just yet. Again thanks for the advice! I will definitely use it.

[Anonymous]

Adam,

It is easy to stop doing all the “homework” once one is cured. You need to continue to be a speech cop and continue with your mind training AT LEAST once a day. The reading aloud is not AS important for a PWSS, but if you feel that it is helping, then continue.

Also, you need to continue concentrating on the crutches for AT LEAST another 2 to 3 months. By then it will be second nature. You need to continue using the crutches until you can honestly say “I use with crutches without even noticing”.

Does this answer your question?

[Adam Playfoot]

Yes Leah thank you!

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