I started stuttering since I started secondary school aged 11. The majority of the time I do not stutter. However, when I do, it often looks bad. Bad to the point, I often apologize for my stutter (I never stutter when I say that sentence ironically). It often happens when I’m excited, thoughts moving faster than my brain can process but never when I’m nervous. It often accelerates whenever I drink.
I went out last night, for Dazed magazine 25th birthday. As I normally do at these events, you talk to new and familiar faces. However, every time I tried to say something it wasn’t making sense. Which gave them impression that I might be drunk even though I was not, which sucks. I’m talking to important people and my inability to articulate this thought are taking me back from being taken seriously. As I was drinking yesterday, made things even worse. So having to be conscious of my intake whilst balancing having a good time. I can’t drink too much because then I can’t talk at all. Sucks.
The music is loud at these social events and so I have to shout. When shouting you’re less coherent in your speech, as well as drinking it makes speaking a lot more of an effort,. I just physically cannot produce a fluent conversation with people despite my best efforts. The more I force it, the worse it sounds. It’s like being stuck in mud, trying to force my way out but I’m still sinking.
This can go beyond networking. I’m having to change the way I say things just so I don’t trigger my stutter. I’m having to stay quiet when I have so much to say, in fear of stuttering. They’re so sporadic, I don’t know when my stutter will hit. This is infuriating.
So how do I conquer this?
There’s a few solutions I’ve tried:
- Deep breathing
- Relaxing my mind
- Talking and thinking slower
I’ve made improvements. I stutter far less than I used, I enunciate words way better than I used to, I take deeper breaths when I talk and so on. However, I’m still facing these problems, so if you have any suggestions.. please let me know.
Tweet me: @SamWorldPeace
Email me: samuel.gordon.m@gmail.com
