The Gift of Stuttering

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Re: public speaking

From: Candace
Date: 10/8/02
Time: 7:11:52 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.208.170

Comments

Mr. Hicks, thank you for your quick response. I applaud you and the Toastmasters. I did not know about the Toastmasters until I read your article. They sound very interesting. I personally would not be able to perform public speaking without my knees going weak or feeling those butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I guess you can say I am not public speaking material!! :) I still cannot help but wonder if techniques that public speakers utilize would be beneficial for a person who stutters to learn in therapy. I don't intend to use these techniques to "cure" the person who stutters or to make them a public speaker, but instead give people who stutter (and maybe do not talk much) other options to use in everyday situations (such as talking on the phone or ordering at a restaurant, etc.). I have had public speaking courses before and felt that some of the techniques I have learned in these courses have helped me to overcome my fear in speaking in front of small groups (maybe twenty people or less). I could not talk in front of groups of these sizes before, until I had these courses in public speaking. I currently am a student clinician, and have a seven year old client who is a moderate stutterer. He has expressed to me that he stutters more in front of his peers as a class. I have wondered if I showed him some of these "tricks" if they would help him in his everyday situations. I guess one way of finding out is to test the theory!! Again, I applaud you and thank you for your response.


Last changed: September 12, 2005