March 27 Meeting Update: Practice Does Work

Once again we had a meeting dedicated exclusively to public speaking. It was an incredible experience to watch our group members take risks with their speech, tackle things they're afraid of, experiment with different fluency techniques, or just simply stand up and deliver. Some of us read out loud, others gave formal speeches or talked in an impromptu way.

A few people mentioned how, when they find themselves in difficult speaking situation in everyday life, they remind themselves of their successes in support group meetings and are able to speak with less anxiety and more ease. We hear often that the only way to build confidence and improve is by using every chance we get to practice. But there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself to drive the point home. And to really make your day!

Cartoon courtesy of www.andertoons.com.

March 11 Meeting Update: Discomfort

Have you ever wondered, when you read about expeditions to the South Pole or to the top of Mt. Everest, why people put themselves through such ordeals? It's hard enough sometimes to meet everyday challenges; why go out of your way to make life hard?

But discomfort is a good teacher. When you exercise at the gym, discomfort tells you which muscles in your body are weak and need to be built up. The soreness the next day tells you that you've worked those weak muscles and are on your way to getting stronger. It also tells you that, hard as it was to lift that weight, you did it.

At our last meeting we used the same principle with our speech. We identified the speaking situations that make us most uncomfortable and that we avoid the most. We discussed how we could practice the particular skill we lacked, and then we did it.

It's interesting to note the range of what's challenging for the members of our group:

• reading aloud
• how to tell an old friend that you stutter
• speaking in a small group
• getting stuck on prounouncing numbers
• speaking under time pressure

Unlike Antarctic explorers and mountain climbers, we didn't get to choose the challenges we face as people who stutter. Nevertheless, we can own them. We can deal with them as though we've chosen them. What can they teach us about ourselves? How can they make us better people? How can they be a source of growth rather than fear and stagnation?

This isn't comfortable or easy. Most things worth doing aren't. But for every thing there's to lose in this process, there's at least as much, and often a lot more, to gain.