Jan 25 Meeting Update

It was great to see some new faces at our last meeting at beautiful Katie Wheeler Library (pictured to the left), as well as familiar ones. The effort you make to show up is much appreciated.

We followed loosely our new Toastmasters format, and it was fun and instructive. One member gave a speech, after which we had a discussion on the speech topic, and then we did some reading out loud. It's amazing to hear how people's speech changes when they read. Fluency seems almost effortless, although of course we all know it's not. Like ducks paddling under the smooth surface of water, we're working hard to apply the techniques we've learned in speech therapy.

But it's so confidence-inspiring to see that we do have the ability to be fluent, that the stuttering-modification and fluency-shaping techniques work. We can count on them and on ourselves. That's an invaluable thing for those of us who feel, when we stutter, like the ground has suddenly disappeared from under our feet and there's nothing to hold on to.

If you have stories about times when the techniques you learned in speech therapy worked in everyday life, please share them! It'll encourage each one of us to stay positive and continue working on improving our speech.