# Got a Speech Impediment? READ THIS!



## DukeDuck (Jul 27, 2016)

Hi, 

I'm a guy who's had a stutter since the age of 5. At age 17 it became very severe and I got really scared of talking, and became mute for a long time. That was also when I developed social anxiety.

After 2 years of high school and 2 years of university (where I barely talked except for a few words, and all the teachers knew my condition), I tried something completely out of the box and something I thought I'd never do. 

I was so embarrassed of my stutter for so many years, that I thought it would be better to remain silent than to make a fool of myself and have everyone laugh at me. I was also afraid of the awkwardness it would create if I started to speak but wasn't able to finish my sentence. And there were MANY awkward awful situations of that. 

But then I had made the decision to start my own club at university (this club was not related to speech or social anxiety in any way, it was more of a game club).

Anyway, when I started to make that club official within the university, I had a lot of paperwork to do and people to talk to. I was of course terrified to talking but I realised that if I didn't go through with it, the club would never get established. So I had made it up in my head that I didn't really have a choice here, I had to talk. So in the first meeting, I just went in and the fear of talking that came before that situation had become irrelevant because I didn't have a choice. No matter what happened (if I stutter or not) I had to talk and get my message across through talking. I went in there, and as I was talking at that very moment, I realised that I was stuttering, but I didn't care anymore. I only had to say what had to be said. And then the remarkable happened - Whenever I reached a stuttering block, instead of panicking and wondering what the other person was thinking of me, I openly stuttered without hesitation as if to let the other person know that I have this problem, and then kept stuttering as long as I needed to until the word came out. And then my message was sent across and the other person smiled at me and I left. And then I realised that I had feared something that never even existed - A person judging me because of my speech impediment and thinking I'm a freak. The truth is, that almost everyone knows what a stutter is. Most people will understand when they hear a stutter and they'll wait for you to finish. The worst that can happen is they laugh at you. They laugh because it only sounds funny (they're not laughing at you). Another big reason they laugh, is because they know that they are socially obligated to not laugh, and because of that they end up laughing any way (or just smiling). 

Keep in mind that these meetings I talked about are 1 to 1 meetings. Not group ones. I think its important to start with 1 to 1 meetings, because group meetings might seem overwhelming at first. After a couple more of these meetings, my club was set up and I felt so good about myself, that I set this club up and I talked to people to get it done. 

The more you talk, the easier it becomes. People get uncomfortable with your speech impediment only if you are uncomfortable with it. If you accept it, so will others. If you run into others who don't accept it or make fun of you, then they are not worth talking to anyway (and most of the time it is not personal, they are simply horrible people and bullies to everyone)

Openly stutter and let it happen. The more you talk the easier it becomes. And the fact that you're accepting yourself and how you talk is going to take your self confidence to a place it has probably never been (which is a possible reason why you stutter - low self confidence).


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## Amina01 (Jul 2, 2016)

It's great to think of it that way. I don't stutter very much, but it happens occasionally. I just had an interview where I got nervous and started stuttering. Then I was feeling bad about myself and got a bit flustered by it. I shouldn't let myself feel that way, if it happens... what I'm trying to say will eventually get out.


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## DukeDuck (Jul 27, 2016)

Amina01 said:


> It's great to think of it that way. I don't stutter very much, but it happens occasionally. I just had an interview where I got nervous and started stuttering. Then I was feeling bad about myself and got a bit flustered by it. I shouldn't let myself feel that way, if it happens... what I'm trying to say will eventually get out.


That's great  Usually for job interviews I don't think employers will even care if you have a stutter (unless its a job that is very dependent upon talking and giving speeches).

It could sometimes even be a strength as its a way of disarming the other person and letting them know the real you.


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## Amina01 (Jul 2, 2016)

I actually did give a presentation that was about half an hour long, and did well with that. I just got nervous with one of the people I was interviewing with, and when I get really nervous, I stutter. And then when that happens, I tend to get a bit flustered and not do as well answering questions after that.

This was a panel interview and I did okay with everyone else. I'm happy that overall I was able to go in and do what I needed to do, and most of the time I was able to sound confident. In the future I just need to not let my confidence get shattered if I do trip up a little bit. I've known several people who have been leaders, even with lots of public speaking, who had really bad stutters. It didn't matter to me as someone listening to it, because the content of their speeches was always good. So what if it took them a little longer to say it? So no need to feel bad when it happens to you or me.


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## DukeDuck (Jul 27, 2016)

Amina01 said:


> I actually did give a presentation that was about half an hour long, and did well with that. I just got nervous with one of the people I was interviewing with, and when I get really nervous, I stutter. And then when that happens, I tend to get a bit flustered and not do as well answering questions after that.
> 
> This was a panel interview and I did okay with everyone else. I'm happy that overall I was able to go in and do what I needed to do, and most of the time I was able to sound confident. In the future I just need to not let my confidence get shattered if I do trip up a little bit. I've known several people who have been leaders, even with lots of public speaking, who had really bad stutters. It didn't matter to me as someone listening to it, because the content of their speeches was always good. So what if it took them a little longer to say it? So no need to feel bad when it happens to you or me.


Yeah


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