How to Stop Stammering While Speaking? Stammering or stuttering affects around 3 million people in the United States only. If you or someone you know stammers, then you would like to know how to stop stammering while speaking by following simple steps.
How to Stop Stammering While Speaking
Most people can talk without having any problem. However, there are times, when people hesitate or stumble over certain words, syllables or phrases.
In this article, we will look at what stammering is, its signs and symptoms, and how to stop stammering while speaking.
What is Stuttering/Stammering?
Stuttering, also known as stammering is actually a speech disorder in which a person prolongs sounds, interrupts, or repeats sounds, words, and syllables when they try to speak.
When one stutters, they know exactly what they want to say but find it complicated to get the words out or get stuck or keep repeating themselves.
- Stammering can affect anyone, no matter what age.
- However, Development stuttering most commonly happens for children aged 2 to 6.
- 75 percent of such children stop stammering with time.
- However, 25 percent, experience it for the rest of their life.
However, stammering can happen in adulthood if one faces a brain injury or a stroke; it is rare.
Signs & Symptoms of Stammering/Stuttering
The more common signs and symptoms of stammering are:
- Having issues starting a sentence, word, or phrase
- Facing hesitation before some sounds have to get said
- Often repeating words, syllables, and sound
- Prolong certain speech sounds
- Speech might come out in commotions
When talking, some other signs one may face include:
- Blinking rapidly
- Lips trembling
- Tapping of the foot
- The jaw vibrates
- The tightening of the upper body or face or both.
Tips on How to Stop Stammering While Speaking
Below are a few easy tips & tricks that you can follow to help you to reduce or stop stammering while speaking.
- Speak Slowly
- Dodge Triggering Words
- Practice Mindfulness
- Pronouncing Vowels
- Pausing Method
- Jaw Routine
- Straw Using Method
Speak Slowly
When you are speaking, no matter to who, practice (on purpose) to speak at a slower rate.
Speaking slowly will lessen the stress that comes with stammering and its symptom. The best way is to pick a slower rate to talk at regularly.
How?
You can get a book and read it at a slow rate, and once you can do that, keep that rate when you are talking to anyone.
You can also try pausing for a brief second before sentences or phrases to help with the speech rate.
Dodge Triggering Words
This option is not for everyone that stammers because many should not feel the need to stop using certain words.
However, if you do not mind, then you can stop using certain words that cause you to stammer.
The best way to do that is by making a list and then practicing the words on their own at first, and then slowly bringing it back in your speech.
Practice mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness meditation as a treatment for your stammering has proven to be quite beneficial, according to the 2018 case study authors.
Mindfulness is a great way to lessen stress and anxiety.
Moreover, it has gotten suggested that mindfulness and the methods of helping to manage stammering overlap and have many same effects.
You can practice mindfulness online, or you can join a class near you.
Exercises for Children to Stop Stammering While Speaking
As we mentioned before, stammering commonly occurs in childhood. There are a few exercises you can try with your children to help them to stop stammering while speaking.
Pronouncing vowels
Ask your child to loudly pronounce each of the vowels, starting from A, E, I, O and U loudly and clearly.
The child should get very articulated when pronouncing the vowels. If needed, they can also distort their face when saying the sounds of the vowels.
Pausing Method
Stammering children should get taught when and how to pause.
The reason behind this is, it will teach the child to pause, learn how to remain relaxed, comfortable while speaking, and decreases stammering while speaking.
The way to do this is to tell your child to pause after saying the first word in a sentence, then pausing after every 2 to 3 words in a sentence.
Jaw Routine
In this technique, you will tell your child to open their jaw as wide as they can without putting too much pressure on themselves.
Once they do, tell them to stay in that position and put your tongue tip to the roof of the mouth and take it slowly to the back of the mouth.
Once the tongue gets stretched without too much pain and to its maximum, tell your child to keep it like that for a few minutes.
Do this technique every day at night in sets of 4 to get the best result.
Straw using Method
An oral exercise that will help to reduce stammering is by using a straw to drink.
Why?
When you drink with a straw, your tongue has to be in a strategic position that is crucial for speech.
Every few days, cut a bit of the straw off. As the child will drink using a straw, their stammering will get better also with time.
3 Treatments for Stammering/Stuttering
In addition to home remedies and exercises, there are some treatments for stammering that one can try.
Speech Therapy
Many try Speech therapy to help them with their stammering. In speech therapy, you will learn to talk slowly and notice when you stutter.
At the beginning of speech therapy, you will start by speaking at a much slower rate, and step by step work to speak at a more natural rate.
Electronic Devices
There are electronic devices now available to help people who stammer develop more fluency while they speak.
One device will help you slow your speaking voice, or else, the sound will come out twisted.
Another device will mimic what you’re saying, so it feels like someone is talking in harmony with you.
The best way to get the best device to help you to stop stammering while speaking is by asking your pathologist, who specialized in speech-language, for the one that will suit you the most.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This therapy is a type of psychotherapy, which helps to understand, recognize and change the way you think to lessen the stammering.
It will help you understand what causes you to stammer, is it anxiety, stress, or self-esteem issues, and work on that to help with the stammering issue.
Final Thoughts
Stuttering or stammering is a disorder that is still getting looked at by researchers. It might not have a full treatment yet, but it can get effectively managed with the help of family, friends, and doctors.
We hope our guide on how to stop stammering while speaking helps you to understand it more clearly, so you can help your child, family, or friend who suffers from this disorder.
Also read: How Hollywood Stars Lose Weight
