Tips For Fluency From Children Who Stammer

You may have found that you can do things which help your talking. Here are some ideas from children who have attended the Michael Palin Centre. When you are getting stuck with your talking:

• Try to take your time rather than rushing
• Speak a bit more slowly
• Say what you want to say
• Be patient with yourself and say what you want to say
• Pause for a moment before you start to speak
• Don't always expect the worst - sometimes it goes well
• Remember to congratulate yourself for trying things out
• Try to have a go at things
• Don't force the words - it just makes them harder to say
• Get plenty of sleep
• Give yourself a few treats
• The faster you try to speak the less you will manage to say
• Try not to bottle out!

Maybe you have tried some ideas and found them helpful.
Remember, you can't do all of these things all of the time - perhaps you could pick one you know works and try to do it a little more often, or perhaps try a new one!

Watch out for tricks

You may have tried out some things to stop stammering which may have helped to start with, but aren't working any longer. For instance:

• Changing words
• Avoiding certain speaking situations
• Taking a deep breath before talking
• Breaking eye contact with the person who is listening
• Tapping with your hand or foot
• Nodding your head or moving your body
• Adding in extra sounds or words

These tricks are often hard work and when they don't work, they don't help. In fact sometimes they make communicating even harder because people may not understand what you say and then you have to try again...