[ Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Lucas
Date: 09 Oct 2009
Time: 11:37:11 -0500
Remote Name: 209.181.247.26
Hi Peter, Great article! I've had very similar successes using pausing, just as your article described. I've found that pausing has helped me, personally, in two different forms: physical and emotional. Physical: -release tension -prepare easy onset into next sound Emotional: -get rid of time pressure -take over frame of control I've found that the physical benefits vs. the emotional are about 50/50, leaning a little more to 40/60 physical/emotional. Getting rid of time pressure: As a stutterer, all of my anxiety comes from wanting to get all of my words out at a normal rate of speech. Obviously this anxiety causes me to stutter more, creating more time pressure, creating more anxiety, creating more tension and disfluency, the cycle continues. What pausing does for me, is it forces me to ignore the time pressure to speak at a certain rate. Once that pressure is gone, I'm able to relax all of the tension I'm feeling, which gives me more control over my speech, which relieves more pressure and anxiety, and the cycle moves in the opposite direction. Taking over frame of control: Pausing isn't an unnatural thing. Public speakers use great amounts of pausing for effective communication. Being able to inject pauses into sentences and phrases, shows confidence and is much easier to listen to. It also allows the speaker to feel much more relaxed, and not rushed. I found that once I started to incorporate pausing into my technique, I didn't feel as rushed, but I felt much more confident and relaxed, which only helped in allowing me to control my speech. I know that not all techniques are for everybody, but I want to thank my therapist of 10 years for encouraging me to try this one! Thanks again for posting this article, Peter! Just wanted to add my 2 cents to the discussion! All the best, Lucas