I Stutter! How in the World Can I Join Toastmasters?

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Re: Toastmasters

From: Pam
Date: 17 Oct 2011
Time: 21:48:03 -0500
Remote Name: 67.248.218.106

Comments

Hi Katie! Good questions. Toastmasters has been more helpful for me than "traditional" therapy was, indeed. I did not have any stuttering therapy until 2006, in my early 40's. I went to a college clinic, and worked with grad students, a different one each semester, for a little less than 3 years. I will admit, I didn't like the constant change. i like to build relationships. It was mostly fluency shaping work, which did not work for me, I must admit. Deep down, by that point in my life, I was ready for acceptance and just needed to talk about all the feelings, worries, fear and shame I had kept buried for so long. Once I started talking, and stuttering openly, working on techniques to "not stutter" felt backwards to me. I was asked to leave therapy (for a number of reasons), but probably, as a good friend shared with me at that time, I had transcended much of what the fluency clinic could provide me (as corny as that sounds.) I still use some ideas I got from fluency therapy periodically - like remembering to slow my rate and pause, which are encouraged in Toastmasters as well. So yes, Toastmasters has been better for me than therapy or support groups. I have not gone to a formal stuttering support meeting in over two years either. They no longer met my needs and weren't flexible enough. Meeting for just one hour a month and getting a chance to share for maybe 5 minutes was not enough for me. In Toastmasters, I have been able to speak to many more audiences, small and large, and have grown really comfortable doing that. And yes, being in Toastmasters has lead to other speaking opportunities. I spoke to a group of International Administrative Assistants on communication skills in the business world, I have co-facilitated CEU trainings for SLPs and SLP students, I have spoke with school district staff, and I have visited schools and talked to kids about teasing and bullying prevention, using my stuttering story as an example. I have also addressed graduate classes - this past spring I flew to Wisconsin and North Carolina to speak to classes. I have spoke on TV and radio, and have been hosting my own podcast, chatting with women all over the country and world, in fact. Some say I have pretty good interview skills. I have been paid for some of my engagements, but those has been very few. I would love nothing more than to do this for a living. Speaking to anyone who will listen about expanding comfort zones has been the best therapy for me, that's for sure! This is stuff I never would have dreamed possible before I leaped off the cliff! ~Pam


Last changed: 10/17/11