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JavierModeratorHi KaRa. I would highly recommend to watch some of our videos of coaching sessions. Many PWS have the same issues as you described. The advice that we give them may well help you too.
Frustration is our enemy, and it can prevent us from improving. All negative thoughts about our speech act against all the efforts we do every day reading aloud, hearing fluency, using Crutches, mind training, etc. Evil cannot enter in a mind already full. We have to keep our mind full of positive thoughts and our affirmations. Whenever you get frustrated, or have any other kind of negative thought (including stuttering fears), reject them immediately with one of your affirmations.
You can come to our Crutch Practice sessions (Go to our “community” section, then click on “crutch practice groups”; you’ll find the list of sessions that we have every week and the Zoom link) and practice with your Crutches with us! You can learn a lot from the other attendees (both PWS and PWSS) and the way they apply the Crutches, for example.
And of course, you can always ask for private coaching (go to the “coaching” section and then click on “speech coaching”; you can purchase some sessions there). This can be the most effective option, as you will have a coach help you and give you advice tailored to your case.
I hope you find these comments helpful!JavierModeratorHello Kara,
you can join our Crutch Practice Group meetings by going to the “Community” section of our website, and then clicking on “Crutch Practice Groups”. Over there you should be able to see the complete list of weekly crutch practice group meetings and the Zoom link.May 24, 2022 at 7:26 am in reply to: Stutter when speaking from afar and when starting conversations #31449JavierModeratorHi Juned!
Great question!
When we’re approached, we have to reply back. That means speaking spontaneously, so we don’t have time to plan what we’re going to say (hence, planning our stutters).
When we are the ones starting a conversation, we have time to plan our sentences (or even the entire conversation!) and which words will cause us trouble.
When we’re far away from the person we’re speaking to, we may feel exposed. We feel that we will be seen and heard by everybody in the room (that’s not the case, but anyway…). A big issue that PWS have is that they believe that whenever they speak, everybody is judging the way they speak. And that puts extra pressure on the PWS-speaker. Reality is that nobody cares about the way we speak, even if we are a severe stutterer. 5 minutes later they will have forgotten about your speech, your blocks, etc.So, my advice is to try by all means to not think your next word. Instead, focus your attention on anything else. Some ideas that may help you: make sure you keep a smile, even before speaking. This has helped me a lot, especially when approaching strangers, for example. Make sure you speak slowly from the very beginning, pronouncing every syllable clearly (see that I’m not speaking about words, I’m speaking about the way we say those words; out focus of attention has to be on the way we speak, never on the words). These things are also very helpful.
I hope you find these things helpful!
May 24, 2022 at 7:11 am in reply to: Repetition of auto suggestions – is there a preferred way? #31448JavierModeratorHello Kim!
I’m glad you asked. You’re doing it the wrong way.
The way you should say the affirmations is repeating the first affirmation at least 20 times. Then, repeating the second affirmation at least 20 times. And so on until yo finish with your list of affirmations.
While repeating them, visualize yourself speaking calmly, confidently, enjoying it, in all kinds of situations.Let me know if you have any other questions!
Javier
JavierModeratorHi Tarek!
I’m Javier, from your neighbor country, Spain. I’m a PWSS and one of the coaches of WSSA. Welcome to our community! I’m glad to know that you’re working on your speech. Keep working on it and you’ll become a PWSS very soon.
Try to join our SAM Meetings (Saturdays at 5pm in Portugal) and our Crutch Practice group meetings. You can find the Zoom links in the “Community” section of this website. I hope to see you at today’s SAM Meeting!Best regards,
Javier
JavierModeratorI’m glad you’re finding the videos of coaching sessions useful. The advice that we give one student may well help you too.
I look forward to seeing you in one of my Crutch Practice sessions and in SAM.Javier
JavierModeratorHi Marjetka!
this is Javier, a PWSS from Spain and one of the Certified Speech Coaches of WSSA. First of all, welcome to this community!I highly recommend you to attend to the SAM Meetings on Saturdays. You can attend with your camera and mic off if you want. Nobody is obliged to talk or say anything, unless you want to. Watch a few videos of previous SAM Meetings to get an idea of what we do there. You can learn A LOT from these meetings, from other PWSS’ experiences, the tips that Lee and the rest of us give, etc.
About the Crutch Practice Groups, you don’t need to apply or anything like that. Just click on the Zoom link and join our meetings. These are not recorded and won’t be shown anywhere. The idea is that in these sessions we meet in small groups. We are all PWS and PWSS. We have the same goals: practice and improve, and meet other people from all over the world. These meetings are very supportive, and you can learn a lot from the way other people use the Crutches.
My sessions are on Thursdays at 18:00h Spain time (I think we share the same time zone). Try to attend to some of mines too if you can.
And of course, you can always request private coaching if you feel that you need it.
Regards,
Javier
JavierModeratorHi Phil! First of all, welcome to WSSA. My name is Javier, and I am a PWSS and one of the coaches here. I totally understand your problem. The thing is that you’re actually focusing too much on that feared word, and not on the Crutch you want to use. If you say “My name is Phil”, and you’re fearing “Phil”, and your mind is focusing on those 4 letters, and nothing else, you’ll most likely fail to use a Crutch. But if, instead of focusing on that feared word (the problem), you focus on the Crutch (the solution), you’ll succeed.
Examples:Focus on the pronunciation, really making sure you pronounce every syllable as clearly as possible, while you feel your jaws making that effort. See that I have not mentioned “word” anywhere.
Modulate through those words, from high to low, or viceversa. Visualize the variation of tones and pitch, feel it. It’s almost like singing! When we sing we’re fluent. Same idea applies to this Crutch.
Hold the tone, or link all your syllables, as if your sentence was a very long word. The idea is that you leave no speaces between syllables and letters. Feel the words flowing easily out of your mouth. Say it in a softer tone, and a bit more slowly, that help’s too.
These are some examples that come to my mind. The whole idea behind these tips is that you should only focus on the way you deliver your message. You mind should choose the words for you, without your intermediation, if that makes sense. It’s like when we blink. We don’t control it consciously, because if we do it, we will do it in an unnatural way. Same applies to our speech. It’s not easy to unlearn our old habits and acquire this new one, but it is doable. Practice, practice and more practice, that’s the way to do it.
About meeting with Lee, why don’t you come to one of our SAM Meetings (https://worldstopstuttering.org/speech-club/) so that you can talk to him directly?
JavierModeratorIf you can’t come up with a synonym, similar word or phrase (Crutch 2), or express the same idea with different words (Crutch 6), the easiest and most effective Crutches are, in my opinion, crutches 1, 4 and 8-modulation.
About Crutch 4, there are many options: long or short sounds, different sounds or introductory words. The ones I use the most are:
– aaaa
– mmm
– sooo
– welll
– aaaandThese are 5 options, that you can make long or short. That gives you 10 different options. And I’m sure there are more 🙂
JavierModeratorHello! I’d try with intorductory words instead such as “so”, “well”, “and”, and you link these to the feared word. Make sure you hold the tone through the entire sentence/thought.
You can also use modulation, for example.JavierModeratorHi Larry! I’m Javier, a PWSS from Spain, and one of the Certified Speech Coaches of WSSA. First of all, welcome to this community of ex-stutterers and those fast-becoming ex-stutterers. I totally agree with what John said, and I would add: join our Crutch Practice groups (https://worldstopstuttering.org/crutch-practice-group/). These are meetings where we meet in small groups and pratice Crutches and speak, and expand comfort zones. I think you could benefit from these meetings too.
Keep us posted with your progress!
JavierModeratorI totally agree with you! Passion, modulation, more pronunciation… all these things improve your speech, they make you a better speaker, people enjoy being with you, and listening to you, and of course, you also enjoy speaking to them. It’s a win-win!
JavierModeratorYou’re welcome. My team will get in touch with you in no time. Sorry for any inconveniences.
Have a nice day!JavierModeratorHi OV97. First of all, welcome to WSSA. Please forward me that email to [email protected] and I’ll have it sorted out as soon as possible.
Sorry for any inconveniences caused.
All the best,Javier
JavierModeratorHi Sree,
I did hear about this program some time ago. My knowledge about this program is limited, as I didn’t take it the program personally. From what I’ve been able to read from this website, it seems that this program focuses only on managing our speech so that you talk fluently. I ignore if they do anything about the fears of stuttering, the anxiety and the rest of negative thoughts that all stutterers have.
The way we see it, dysfluency is just the tip of the iceberg. Stuttering is much more than that. It is a problem that affects the whole person.
In any case, all we want is to help PWS achieve fluency and live happy lives. And we hope there are other programs out there that share our goals.
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