Speaking like when we read aloud

[Javier]

Last night I had a quick Skype with Lee Lovett, and we were talking, among other things, about reading aloud. And we read aloud several poems and songs. We focused a lot on the tone of our voice, so as to be as passionate as we could, and inserting pauses, to make it more dramatic. Then Lee gave me a piece of advice I particularly liked, and considered worth sharing here.
Most of us, even PWS (I became a PWSS a while ago), can read aloud quite well, in a completely fluent way in most cases (I’ve only known one person who said he couldn’t read aloud alone and do it fluently). So, when we’re reading aloud alone, we’re hearing the best version of our voice, and even more so when we do it passionately. But when we speak, sometimes we might do it in a monotonously.
So Lee suggested me to try to speak more like the way I read aloud with him, more passionately, rhythmically, just like when we were reading poetry. This will not only make our speech more appealing; we will have more fun when speaking, and the best of all, we wwill be focusing on those things instead of words, fears, etc.
Just like with the Crutches, we need to practice this way of speaking, get used to it. We won’t master it in one day, it will take longer, but it’s worth it. The idea is to continue improving, every day.

[Anonymous]

Hi Javier,

I always tell my students that Rome was not built in a day. We have formed the stuttering habit over YEARS of training our brains to speak that way. It is going to take some time to rewire our brains. I completely understand PWS being fed up of stuttering and just wanting to end it completely immediately. Self-curing is a journey, yes there is a destination to self-curing, but there is no destination to be reached when it comes to the way we speak.

Every day, in every way, our speech gets better and better. I stopped stuttering 3 and a half years ago and I still find that my speech improves every single day.

Nothing worth having comes easy. Discipline, consistency and patience!

[Javier]

Exactly! I completely agree with you!

[Gábor]

My question is: if I stuttered for 25 years, can I become a PWSS just in months? It would be logical that I need another two decades for cure.

[Javier]

not really. Remember that Lee mentioned in his stuttering book that a university (I think it was in the UK) made a research and saw that, on average, it takes 66 days to create a new habit? Well, on average, that should be the time it takes to create the habit of fluent speech. Of course, it’s an average, so some people take longer, some people do it in a shorter period of time. Of course, how many years we’ve been stuttering and the severity of our stutters matter. In my case (severe stuttering), it took me 8 months. But I had a PWS (mild case) who did it in 5 weeks, and he’s 22, and began stuttering at age 9.
Lee and I have also coached another person, 48 years old, mild stuttering since he was 10, and he became a PWSS in 5 weeks too.
On the other hand, I have PWS who I’ve been coaching for a year or so (they are improving, but they go at a much slower pace). It also depends on your determination and work ethics. The ones that I mentioned and that beat it in 5 months have worked really hard. But most of the people I coach don’t follow all my instructions to the letter, and they don’t improve so quickly.

[Gábor]

I remember that part but I wasn’t sure whether the duration of a habit (months, years or decades) is irrelevant or not when we change it.

[Javier]

On average, it should take you a few months, but as I said, it depends on the person, their determination, and how hard they work on it. So don’t worry, it shouldn’t take you 25 years to stop stuttering 🙂

[Author]

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