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From: Hannah Laday
Date: 11 Oct 2010
Time: 08:21:56 -0500
Remote Name: 205.188.117.16
Lisette, on the occasion with the mayor, I think I had just reached a point where I was able to put the cause I was promoting ahead of myself, my stuttering. I had been working towards this for about a month, I think, and I worked hard on inner self-talk telling myself that I could get my message across confidently with stuttering and that people would respond to that more than my stuttering. My heart was pounding right out of my chest! And the funny thing is, I came home and told my husband how good I felt and that I hadn't stuttered much. Two days later we watched it on the local cable and I stuttered more than I thought. Then I had to convince myself that I still felt good and still was effective. I felt it was important to hold on to feeling good about my effort regardless of how much I stuttered. I seem to be more confident with people from whom I'm not seeking personal approval, unconsciously or consciously. I didn't really care about the mayor's opinion of me personally. I just wanted to convince him of a perspective on an issue. With others, I still have to work hard to keep from believing that I'll be judged for stuttering first, content second. I hope this helps. Hannah