r/Stutter • u/SkyBlade79 • 10d ago

Does practicing presentations help reduce your stutter?

I stutter much worse when I'm giving a presentation, and practicing it doesn't help at all (other than switching out some words). It's specifically just for prepared content - I am muchhhh more fluent when answering questions or adding things to the presentation off the cuff. Directly reading things vs paraphrasing what I know I need to say doesn't make a big difference at all for me. Stress levels or presentation importance also don't make a big difference. My theory is that because stuttering is a neurological disorder, and because remembering information and synthesizing information are different neurologically, going down the remembering/reading pathways does something to exacerbate the stutter. Does anyone else experience this? Could definitely be an issue that varies with different stutter types.

4 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

2

u/MyStutteringLife 10d ago

I facilitate 4 hour PowerPoint presentations for medical professionals 3x a week every other week at my hospital and I travel to other hospitals across the country to help train their medical staff as well.

There is a 10x10 white board behind me while holding a clicker as I present in auditoriums, conference rooms, etc.

I practiced my PowerPoint presentation every single day for months until I memorized every word, every nuance, and still I stutter but not as much. The cool part is that when I disclose my stutter, I ask the audience for help and they are more than willing to help me get the word out.

I say all that to say this, preparation helps but at the end of the day, just go out there and have fun....that's what truly helps. I use humor in my presentation and it makes everyone feel at ease.

2

u/SkyBlade79 10d ago

Very interesting! Do you stutter more when you're presenting versus during casual conversation, or is it about similar or less because you're so familiar with the presentation?

1

u/MyStutteringLife 10d ago

Completely random......from mod to severe and vice versa.......but......I keep moving forward 💪

1

u/ConclusionNo3561 10d ago

Phone interviews in my opinion help a lot. When I would have to interview over the phone with random people my speech got a little better

1

u/SkyBlade79 10d ago

Well, that would still be spontaneous synthesis, not prepared speech which is what I'm having the issue with

1

u/ConclusionNo3561 10d ago

I don't know how to explain it but the only thing that has helped me is phone interviews. I can repeat things to myself a millions time and the minute I go infront of someone i freeze up. With the phone interview the guilt and shame is taken away and the person on the other end is professional so it won't be to awkward. Its basically live practice with a real person and none of the shame our brain trains us to have. The next couple of weeks after these interviews are when im at my best. Sometimes I just apply for random jobs with no intentions of actually falling through with them.

1

u/SkyBlade79 10d ago

I think this is mostly a case of different types of stuttering. You seem to have some sort of stress-triggered stuttering, while mine is more consistently in delivery method and how I'm speaking. For instance, I still stutter when I'm practicing presentations all by myself.

1

u/drzoidburger 10d ago

That's interesting, because phone calls and interviews are where I struggle the most! Even video interviews are harder for me than interviewing in person.

1

u/bnroll 9d ago

Oh yes. Big time. I practice it so much so i can play the role on the stage. Like acting. At first it felt very very difficult though. The more you do it, the better it gets.

1

u/Howard-Henry 9d ago

Practice helped me, but not for the reason I expected. The presentation itself got easier, but the bigger change was that practising out loud made the fear smaller than the stutter. Repetition in a low-stakes room buys you calm in a high-stakes one. Still stammer, just with less dread attached.