Don’t Wait For A Feared Word To Appear Before Using The Crutches

While many of our students seem able to learn our multiple methods of avoiding bad incidents (appearing speech disabled), some struggle. This blog discusses a few of my recent coaching sessions with people who stutter (PWS) and why they are not improving as quickly as they could—so that if you, the reader, are making these same mistakes, you can correct them moving forward. What I’ve noticed is that most PWS (and I include myself back when I stuttered) only use the crutches when absolutely necessary—that is, when they hit a feared word. And what happens when you haven’t been using them until then? You’ve likely been building up anxiety, and now, at the moment you fear a word, your mind is racing at 6,000 RPM. You can’t think clearly; your brain may even “shut down.” In that moment, it becomes nearly impossible to remember or apply a crutch. Sometimes you’ll manage it, yes—but it’s much more likely you’ll succeed if you’re calm and not under extreme pressure, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

So why do PWS forget or seem unable to use crutches while speaking? Three reasons come to mind:

1. You started speaking without using your crutches from the beginning. You were under pressure, but you didn’t have a clear emergency speech plan (ESP). So, you defaulted to your old habits and got the same results: anxiety and stutters. Whether you like it or not, this shows that you’re either not determined enough to beat stuttering yet or you haven’t practiced your ESP enough to use it under pressure. Make avoiding bad incidents (appearing clearly speech disabled) your number one goal. Use crutches individually and your ESP first—the rest can follow later. It shouldn’t take long to master this once you stay consistent. We use Crutches 1–8 to tackle first or isolated words, Crutches 7–11 for middle or following words, and then apply our ESP, which I’ll explain below.
2. After speaking comfortably for a while using the crutches, you begin to feel relaxed and eventually forget about them—slipping back into old habits. This happens when you talk too much. Instead, become the person who asks questions and listens. It’s not only great for your fluency but also for making friends, as Dale Carnegie reminds us in “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
3. You struggle to use crutches in high-pressure situations. This is partly a Speech Cop issue (see reason 1) and partly because you haven’t mastered the crutches and your ESP well enough yet. It may also stem from the two issues above.

This brings me to the solution: the Emergency Speech Plan (ESP). We all need one. You can read more about it in “How to Stop Stuttering and Love Speaking, Section 18.8,” available on Amazon. The ESP is designed to keep you calm under pressure and reduce—or even eliminate—word fears.

The ESP is what we think when under pressure. It includes a few simple steps like “Think less—link—stop.” “Less” means say only what you need to say. If someone asks your name, you don’t say “My name is Bob.” You just say “Bob.” “Link” means connect words in short speech bursts as if they’re one: “Howareyou?” “Whattimeisit?” “Stop” means pause every few words and take a one- or two-count (1001, 1002). The more you stutter, the shorter your speech increments should be—maybe 1–7 words, sometimes 1–3. Don’t actually count; just insert a full stop whenever you feel it’s natural. There’s no wrong place for a stop. To master your ESP, practice each part separately until you know it by heart. Many students even type their ESP steps in all caps and stick them on the back of their phone, so it’s always visible. Once you’ve internalized it, it will work under pressure—and your bad incidents will stop. Crutches 1–8 can be used together with your ESP if needed, but your main focus should always be on the ESP.

The Speech Plan is a shortcut toward fluency, not a replacement for the neuroscience method as a whole. You still need to master all the tools in the program. In short, if you want to reduce—or eliminate—the fear of your next word, use your Speech Plan all the time, even when it doesn’t feel necessary. Make it a habit, a way of speaking that frees you from overthinking words. And if you ever feel fear rising despite that, stop, take a short pause, and use a crutch. You can do this.