Challenges you faced while Travelling for longer durations like 1-3 weeks?

[Shubham]

I want to know experiences of coaches and their speech while they were travelling to a new place for several days and meeting strangers
if you faced any challenges while travelling for several days after you turned into PWSS. When you are not in a place where your schedule is fixed also you share hotel rooms with people or you have to go to places by waking up early. How you managed to do your daily mind training session AST’s, Reading aloud or did you missed it? If you missed the mind training did it affect your speech?

[Javier]

Hi Shubham!
I agree with you, when we are on holidays or travelling, it is not so easy to do all these things, especially at the usual times.
Before I found Lee’s books and WSSA, was always worse when I was travelling.
But since I found Lee’s method that’s no longer the case.
for example, if I wake up later than usual, and I don’t have time to give myself a proper self-hypnosis treatment, well, I can try to give myself an AST while taking a shower, or when taking a walk., etc.
Even if there if you’re too busy during the morning, well, you can do that AST/SHT in the afternoon.
I’ve always, or almost always, managed to find 20 minutes for my mind training treatments.
I must admit that this has been harder for me when it comes to reading aloud when I’m travelling, especially if I have to do a lot of things. But I try to find a few minutes to read aloud whenever I can. If I’m always with people, I can whisper under my breath so as to avoid disturbing them.

There has been times when I’ve missed reading aloud and/or doing my mind training treatments, and I really feel the difference. I don’t feel as confident, as relaxed as if I had done any of these 2. Does this also happen to you?

[Shubham]

Hi Javier!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes I too felt the same that if I miss my AST’s or reading aloud I feel less confident that day. So like you said even if it is for 15 mins I make sure I read aloud even by whispering, I also do quick ASTs in 5 or 10 mins if I am in a hurry or I wake up late sometimes. I guess the principle behind it is same as in Lee’s book The more number of fluency memories you create per day the lesser fears or threats you will encounter.

[Javier]

yes, exactly. And doing something is always better than doing nothing.

[Anonymous]

Hi Shubham,

In those instances, I would force myself to be more of a speech cop. I had to concentrate on the crutches even harder. I found those occasions quite draining. However, the longer I was a PWSS, the less it mattered what situation I was in. Now, it does not matter where I am or who I am around, I do not even think of my speech.

I sometimes missed my mind training on holiday etc. It is not the end of the world if you cannot do it every single day (this should definitely be your aim, but it is not absolutely necessary, especially as a PWS). So, do not think of it as a “fail” if you did not manage to complete your mind-training for one day. If you can, try and squeeze it in when you are in the bathroom getting ready for the day.

Most importantly, remember that this is TEMPORARY. Eventually, you will be able to speak in front of a hundred people, and your speech will be the furthest thing from your mind! Let us know how your next trip goes!

[Javier]

Very well said, Leah!!

[Shubham]

Yes Leah I agree & Thank you for this advice! Will keep what you said in mind when I go out on a trip.

[Shubham]

Hello everyone,
I recently came back from a 2 weeks long trip after attending a course for which I had to travel to a city far from my place in the north of India. I want to tell you all that never before I had been so much confident about my speech during such a long trip. Now I was able to speak easily in all speaking situations, with anyone & at any time. Though I still experience fears but they are lot more manageable thanks to AST’s.

Situations like, when having general face to face conversation with strangers or course participants, when asking a doubt during the ongoing class, introducing myself in front of the class to the professor went on smoothly and I could speak a lot better with the use of crutches. I even give a short speech in front of the whole group consisting of 15 people & it went very well as I was able to express my views properly. This was when course coordinator asked each of us course participants to give our opinion & views about an issue. I was really happy each time I was successful in beating my fears and stutter threats. I used mixture of crutches and spoke immediately without thinking the words or framing sentences.

During my stay there I also tried to do the AST’s in the morning & read aloud but due to the hectic schedule of course I had to skip it on most of the days. I missed doing them as I felt more in control and confident in the days when I was able to do the AST and reading aloud. The course also had a 4 day field trip where we had to trek several kilometres per day & stay inside the forest which tested our endurance. Sometimes it was quite challenging to speak after you are tired and drained along with lack of sleep.

As I was suggested that I need to increase the comfort zone by 10% each time, I found that this trip was a big jump from my earlier comfort zone though I enjoyed the whole trip. There were ups and downs during the trip as on some occasions I found that I was hesitant and I encountered threats more so that time I spoke very less and used crutch 11 extensively. But overall, I was successful in having pleasant social interactions and made really good friends during the trip. Now my next goal is to keep expanding my comfort zone & to attain mastery over using crutches so that it becomes a habit and get better at using mixture of crutches in my speech.

[Javier]

Great job Shubham!! It’s always great to read these things, they are really motivating! Keep up the good work! Hope to see you in the next SAM meeting!

[Anonymous]

Shubham, I cannot BELIEVE what you have written above. I remember watching one of your early videos with Prathusha, and I am in AWE as to how far you have come!

I really admire you for speaking in front of 15 people! It takes a lot of guts, PWSS or not. A lot of people think that once they cured, life just goes perfectly and that is simply not the case. I still have less than perfect speech days (as does everybody else in the world – including fluent people). But, instead of viewing those days as negative, I see them as training opportunities! I can tell that is exactly what you are doing – even if you do not realize it at times.

You are an inspiration to so many people. Keep up the excellent work, and plesae keep us posted with more stories like this. You have no idea who is struggling with a similar issue at any given time, and something you post may help somebody else!

[Author]

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