Word linkage is one of my favorites, and it helped me a lot when I was still a PWS. I learnt how to hold the tone after I became a PWSS, but it’s proving to be really efective, even with very severe cases. I sometimes use it, and it doesn’t sound weird at all. Even fluent people do it unconsciously sometimes….
Have any of you been using these Crutches lately?

Very true what you said there, Prathusha!!
We must know the difference between knowing the theory, and actually know how to do it. There’s a big difference. And the only way to know how to do the latter is by practicing!!
There are plenty of videos of our coaching sessions where we teach how to use the Crutches properly. The online course also demonstrates them, and of course, on the coaching sessions we will be more than happy to make sure you know how to use them.

A few days ago one of the people I coach, who’s now a PWSS, had to give a presentation of his thesis infront of a court. When we first began speaking, he was terrified of this. Well, he got the highest grade possible, and that wouldn’t have been possible without giving a good oral presentation. He simply focused on being passionate, speaking like a King and other Crutches.
It feels great to hear this from the people we coach. They’re succeeding things they thought to be unachievable!! Everyone can do it! We just need a disire to improve, to believe that we can improve, patience and give our best to make it happen.

Hi Darren,
My name is Javier, and I’m a Person Who Stopped Stuttering and one of the certified coaches by World Stop Stuttering Association. Although you asked this question to Lee, I’m going to take the liberty of replying to you, I hope you find it helpful.

First of all, it’s great to hear that Lee’s book has helped you reduce your stuttering.

The reason why we stutter is that we fear words and stuttering, so we plan our next word, and that makes it even worse. We have been doing this for such a long time that we have made it a habit. Our way of speaking. If we want to stop stuttering, we need to acquire a new speaking habit: not planning our words (and stutters). Acquiring a habit takes time and practice. The Crutches will help us accomplish this. But we have to use them 24/7, literally, until we acquire the habit of fluency. One day you’ll realise that you are using the Crutches automatically, effortlessly. This is like when we learn to drive a car. The first time, we are really concentrated on everything. After a few days or weeks, we just get in the car, start the engine and “automatically” go from one place to another, without thinking. The same happens here. But you need to practice at all times, when needed and WHEN NOT NEEDED.

A few tips to make this easier:
– Carry a list of the Crutches with you all the time. Check it every few minutes and practice using them.
– Have this list of Crutches infront of you when you work, for example. I used to have it infront of me, next to the screen of my computer. Every time I had to say somehting, I just had to look at the list and I knew how I had to speak. Everytime I came upon a feared word, instead of forcing that word, I had infront of me a list of 12 different alternatives to solve the problem.
– Focus 100% on the Crutch instead of the word or the block. The Crutches work because they make us think on something else that’s not the word or the block/stutter.
– Using the Crutches is a lot easier if we slow down a bit. We normally tend to rush when we’re under pressure, and that doesn’t help, at all.

We always can choose between forcing a word or using a Crutch. ALWAYS. There is no need to rush and force a word. We can always take a pause, and use a Crutch. People can wait 2 seconds more, it’s not a big deal.

I strongly recommend you to watch the videos of the coaching sessions and th online course. We speak a lot about this.

I hope that you find this helpful.

Hi Taz,
thanks for your kind words.
I wouldn’t consider myself a shut-down blocker, but I was quite a severe one. Sometimes, one of my blocks could last 5 seconds or more, but I managed to speak, at the end, although it was exhausting. But in any case, I was a severe stutterer: grimaces, severe blocks every few words, etc. There are videos of my coaching sessions as a PWS here in WSSA.
Now that I am a coach, I always say, “If I’ve been able to do it, you can also do it”. And I’ve seen videos of PWS with a worse case than mine who have also stopped stuttering. So there is no excuse!!

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.

Well said, Taz!!