Replace Stuttering With Fluent Speech

There are three techniques that I would like to recommend to you to stop stuttering and start speaking fluently. The first being to learn how to breathe. No, it's not a mistake, and you got it right, I'd like you to learn how to breathe, because proper breathing can bring you peace of mind and calmness easier and faster than you think. I'd suggest starting with books or videos on breathing. There are lots of them. Also joining a yoga class would not be bad here, since the exercises should start with proper breathing technique.

Technique number two is affirmations. I don't remember who said that a lie repeated a sufficient amount of times will become truth, or something similar. I am writing about it because the affirmations can seem to be a lie at first, but let me assure you that your brain will accept them as true if you only let it. Do you want proof? Then read carefully on.

Imagine that you are holding a ripe, as yellow as the sun, lemon in your hand. Try to picture the lemon, its shiny skin, scratch the skin with your finger and feel the smell. Now, imagine that you are holding a sharp knife in your other hand, and then slowly cut the lemon in half, feel the juice dripping down your hand, feel the smell, squeeze the lemon to make more juice flow...

How did your body react to this exercise? Isn't your mouth watering? But where's the lemon? Only in your head! And this is another strange observation about our brain: it does not see the difference between truth and imagination. You can talk your mind into everything, and you should start with:

"I am a confident and fluent speaker."
"I speak fluently when I talk to my friend, and I speak fluently when giving a presentation."
"As I speak more and more fluently, I am more and more self confident."

And so on. You can craft your own affirmations, aimed at the goal you want to reach, but you must remember the following:

• The affirmation must always be in the present tense!
• The affirmation must always be positive!
• The affirmation must appeal to you emotionally!

The more positive and the more emotional affirmation, the stronger it is, the better it works.

You should repeat your affirmations out loud every day, just after you wake up, and before you go to sleep. You should also repeat the affirmation as often as possible when you only remember it. You can write it down, and while you are reading it, you can be singing it out, or do something that evokes positive emotions, too.

Technique number three is somewhat related to technique number two. And believe me, this is a mighty tool. I am talking about visualization here. Affirmation is words, visualization is words put into action, where you use both the power of affirmation and the power of your brain.

Visualization requires a quiet place, and some time only for yourself. You can be sitting, standing, lying down... doesn't matter. What matters is that you first relax with a breathing exercise, relax your body, and start repeating your affirmation. This time, however, create an adequate picture in your mind. If you say "I am fluent and confident speaker," see yourself in front of a large audience of total strangers to whom you have to make the speech, and see yourself speaking, hear yourself speaking, louder and louder, more and more fluently until you finish. See the audience cheering you, hear the words you say and hear the words you hear.

Positive words. Cast as much light upon the whole scene as you can. Add as many bright colors as you can. If you looked at your visualization from the viewer's perspective (like in the movies) try to switch the perspective and become the speaker, as if you really stood in front of cheering crowd, joking, laughing, feeling proud of yourself and your ability to speak fluently.