What is the key to overcoming fear due to stuttering?

[Anonymous]

I think the main key to getting rid of fear is being able to say “I can avoid any potential future stutter”. This is when the fear will start to fade, day by day until there is none. How do we get to this point? I think that mastering the crutches is one huge part of being able to say that you can avoid any potential future stutter. What do you guys think? What else can help us get there?

[Javier]

Hi Tasneem. Definitely, as you said, mastering the Crutches is vital. Before I knew th Crutches, 99% of the times somebody asked my name, I panicked and started stuttering. Sometimes I wouldn’t even be able to say my name. Now that I know the Crutches and that I know how to use them, I know that this will never happen again. So, yes, the Crutches play a very important role.
The more we succeed using the Crutches, the more confident we will be about our speech, and the less we will fear speaking. This is like playing any sport. The first time you go to play basketball against another team, you will surely be nervous. But after several matches played, you will have most likely become a much better player and will feel much more comfortable playing. The same happens here, the more we practice with the Crutches, and the more speech successes we have, the easier it will become. And one day we will be using the Crutches without thinking, automatically.

Do you guys agree with me? In which phase of the program are you now?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your response Javier. What do you think is the best way to master the crutches? Personally I just kept using them until I was blue in the face, but what can you say to our non-believers who think that the crutches do not work and that no matter how hard or often they practice, they are just “never going to get it as we all did”. Any advice for them?

[Javier]

Well, the way I see it, those who don’t WANT to believe it, they will never believe it, even if you show them evidence that prove they are wrong. It makes no sense wasting time. Dale Carnegie was right about that, and many other things.

Those who seek for a cure/solution, that’s a different story. For those, they only have to check the videos of the coaching sessions, you can see the progress a determined PWS is making (you can actually see mine, as all, or most of my coaching sessions were recorded and are available here, if anybody’s curious. They can also check the 100+ Success Stories, and even attend or watch the videos of the SpeechMasters Club meetings, where a lot of PWSS attend. You can listen them speak, and you would have never guessed that they used to stutter, some of them quite badly (I include myself in this group).

So those who are really seeking for a cure, this is the right place. All they need to do is follow the instructions detailed in the book, the courses, and the coaches. If they do that, their stuttering days are counted.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that well thought out response Javie!

[Author]

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