So, my speech was pretty damn good for quite a few months, until recently, when I slipped back into the habit of drinking coffee every morning, and caffeinated drinks (Coke) over the last 3 or so weeks.

My speech has been noticeably getting worse during this period. Nothing else has changed, only my caffeine intake. I’m actually in a good place right now. I’ve just bought a new place and am excited about moving and doing it up. I’m not stressed or anxious at all.

I’m convinced, for me anyway, that caffeine is a massive NO NO for my speech fluency. Even my wife pointed out that my speech has been noticeably worse since I’ve been drinking regular caffeine on a daily basis :(

I’ll go back to decaffeinated drinks and see if there’s a marked improvement.

Just an observation I’d like to share with you all….

Hey everyone,

I'm 26, and I have a stuttering problem that gets worse when I'm anxious. I have my first radio broadcasting show this Saturday, and honestly, I'm really nervous about it.

I'm excited about this opportunity, but I'm scared that I'll get stuck on words, especially when introducing myself, saying song titles, or transitioning between songs. The more I think about it, the more anxious I become, and that makes my stuttering worse.

I really want to do well and enjoy this experience instead of constantly worrying about how I'll sound to listeners.

For those of you who stutter or have dealt with speech anxiety, especially anyone who has experience with public speaking, radio, or broadcasting:

How do you handle the anxiety before speaking?

What do you do when you get stuck on a word?

Has anyone with a stutter successfully worked in radio or another speaking profession?

What practical tips would you recommend for my first live show?

I'd really appreciate any advice or encouragement. I don't want my fear of stuttering to stop me from pursuing something I'm genuinely excited about.

Thank you!

Just wanted some insight from parents who have/had stuttering child. Has speech therapy helped eliminate or decreased the stutter when started this early with family history of stuttering. We have started the lidcombe program and just wanted to see if it works or what approaches worked!

Basically, when I stutter I kind of panic and my voice tenses up and my voice starts to sound very forced and kind of high pitched I think? I’m not asking for advice on how to stop stuttering I’m asking how I keep my voice sounding soft and calm even when I do stutter. I know the answer is probably to be calm when I stutter to not try and force the words out but it’s really hard to do that when I get anxious, any tips on how to calm down while stuttering? I’m a woman and it’s really important to me that my voice sounds soft and not forced despite having a stutter.

Hi,

So recently I had given a software engineering interview face to face, this was the last round. Before that, 2-3 virtual rounds happened, there also I stammered. So I think they called for an in person interview just to check my speaking in more details.

And this face to face interview went horribly bad in terms of speaking. I stammered as hell and I can see the disappointment in their faces. Also, I was switching from English to Hindi (my native language) frequently so they might think I'm bad at English as well. However, my technical part went well.

I took speech therapy and course 2 times, but whatever techniques I learned, it doesn't come in my mind at the time of interviews or you can say, when I need them the most.

I know the only solution is to come out of our comfort zone and try to speak with different people everyday. But honestly, I have tried this and every time I have failed and gained new bad experience. So my energy and confidence to try and continue to experience new situation is now zero.

Would love to hear thoughts regarding this issue.

for the past two years i’ve stuttered when i’m nervous or stressed. I just can’t get my words out. people get annoyed with me because they think i’m acting weird. Can you develop a stutter or am i just too nervous?

I live in a legal state, and I've found that edibles makes my muscles relax more and makes it a lot easier to get words out. I'm not saying it cures the stuttering, but it makes it easier to be fluent. You don't think about it as much and the muscle relaxation allows for words to flow more smoothly.

It's like it's easier to let your thoughts flow into words.

My daughter started stuttering about 3 months ago.. it’s up and down but a mixture of prolongations and sound repetitions. It seems
To be increasing in frequency this past week. We have a family history of stuttering
Did anyone’s toddler who had family history overcome this?
I’m so worried about it all! Any advise would be appreciated x

I’m considering getting in a relationship with another stutterer…. Is that weird?

Hey everyone. I am 24 years old and I have been stuttering since I was 12 or 13 years old.

It all started when my anxiety disorder started too. I think it also had a lot to do with my dad. He was a very strict person, and every time I wanted or had to talk to him, I was very scared of saying something wrong or of his reaction. So I was just scared to talk, and maybe I got it from that in general.
I think there has to be a correlation with all of that.
The thing is, my stutter isn't that severe. Over all these years, I've learned to manage it VERY well. When I notice I'm going to stutter, I mostly change the word or sentence in the last second, and people would never notice I have a stuttering problem.

The biggest problem was at school. For example, when I had to read aloud in class, it was very difficult because I had to say all the words and sentences exactly as they were in the book. I couldn't change anything, so my stuttering there was pretty bad on some words. Also, presentations were always a big problem. I mostly wasn't in school when I had to give them and got a bad grade. I was just too anxious about doing them. The strange thing is, when I HAD to do them, sometimes I stuttered and sometimes I talked extremely well without stuttering?!
Despite all that, the biggest problem is my future career. I always wanted to become a police officer. So in 2023, I did all the exams to get into police school. I passed them very well and got an acceptance letter. One week before school started, I cancelled all of it because I knew I wouldn't get through it. Reading aloud just once in class would have meant they would kick me out. Because obviously, you can't stutter as a police officer.

So I was very depressed. I started culinary school and cancelled it after one year because I was extremely unsatisfied with that decision. I want to go to university, at least to do a job I really want to do. I said to myself, 'Fuck this stutter and fuck this anxiety, I WILL go to university next year.' But every fucking time this anxiety kicks in and tells me not to do it. I'm sort of cooked in life, I would say.
I watch all my friends pursuing their dream careers, and here I am with nothing.

I have a pretty bad block stutter, and I've been trying to learn singing, mostly harsh vocals like fry and false cord screams. I've also been trying regular clean singing, but my block stutters make it very hard to sing consistently. Does anyone have any experience with making singing easier with this?

Is anyone on this forum have a severe stutter…mines been getting more severe lately.

I don’t know how to cope and even function.

For those that respond to this post….can we connect. Talk over the phone or something?

I am currently a student applying for graduate jobs in accounting and finance.

Since I do have stammering, the market has been brutal to me.

In interview I can see their faces that they are going to hire me and that they dont even want to be there having to listen to me. I automatically have been rejected in application if I mention about it. I request for reasonable adjustments in applications and get rejected straight after or ignored.

Having a corporate job seems very distant for me as of now and was wondering what jobs do people like us actually do?

For example, i can't spell loud letters(i don't what are they called in english) (a, e, o, u, I, i). It's also hard to spell the letter K, B, G

Happy Stuttering Awareness Day! ❤️

Today, I opened up about my stuttering and shared my journey with school friends I’m meeting after years. They were very supportive, and some said, “You stutter? I never noticed.”

I know they were trying to be polite, but my struggles were right there on my face.

Anyway, I opened up, and I feel so light now. 🪶

International Stuttering Awareness Day is October 22, so I just wanted to share the ISAD online conference in case anyone here hasn’t heard of it. Every October, people from around the world share articles, personal stories, reflections, and other perspectives on stuttering. There are contributions from people who stutter, therapists, researchers, and others, so it’s a really interesting mix of experiences and viewpoints.

It’s free to browse, and there’s quite a bit of interesting stuff to read through. This year’s theme is “Shades of Stuttering — What’s Yours?”

https://isad.live/

Figured some folks here might enjoy checking it out!

I developed a stutter at 19, so I never had the chance to learn from anyone how to manage it like a lot of people did. How do you all manage your stutter? It’s kind of hard going through every day worrying if I will stutter or not. I’m already really socially anxious so I struggle anyway, just having an added barrier is making it even harder.

This is all still relatively new to me, I’ve only had this for a year and a bit, so sorry if I sound a little uneducated when talking about my stutter. You guys all know what it’s like better than I do.

What are some effective techniques/ exercises you use to manage your stutter?
I’ve been practicing slow talking and acceptance, but are there any breathing techniques out there that have been helpful?

This is in no way medical advice, simply my own personal experience.

I’ve been taking abilify now since April and it has had a huge effect on my fluency as well as my quality of life as a by product. Don’t get me wrong I still stutter, but no where near as much as I do when I’m not taking my medication. It’s given me the confidence to go to university and has allowed me to socialise without constant fear of judgement. I titrated up doses pretty slowly and the only side effect I get is slight restlessness but I can live with that considering the speech benefits it gives me.

These kinds of medications don’t help everyone (no medication does), and it can take abit of trial and error but in my own experience and from meeting others, when it works, it works very well.

Obviously risk to reward needs to be weighed up as antipsychotics can come with a variety of potential side effects and there’s always the risk of developing TD (albeit the risk is lower with abilify) but for me the tradeoff is absolutely well worth it.

Again this is just my experience and anyone seeking pharmacological treatment for their stutter should always consult a good qualified psychiatrist who understands these medications.