Formerly a gardener, Martin Brough was helped to greater fluency and a career change through a self-help book.

I am now 32 years old. My stammering started bothering me when I was a teenager and it continued into my 20's, at which point I wanted to do something about it.

My fear and embarrassment of stammering was a real problem. I hated the stammer and this fuelled my avoidance, which was severe and painful. I avoided answering or making phone calls, asking for tickets etc, and stammered and blocked severely. My speech became so difficult at times that I did not want to go into work, and would have given anything or done anything to stop stammering. I really felt my life would not move on or change if I stammered so much.

I spoke to doctors without much success, though one suggested a useful analogy about treating stammering. He compared it to a dartboard, and suggested not aiming for the bull's-eye, being 'stammering', but rather for the things which surround it. He didn't say what these were, but to this day I believe this is very true and an important point to remember.

I saw a speech therapist who tried different techniques which did not help greatly. I was told they had not seen someone with so much avoidance before, and I was still stammering and blocking severely. However, I do remember they reiterated that it is the content of speech that is important and not the way it's said!

I suppose one reason for my speech therapy not being effective was the feeling of slight compulsion from others who tried to get me to try different speaking tasks. The desire to try speaking tasks had to come from within. Persuasion from others did not reduce my tension or avoidance.

However I was still convinced something could be done so I turned to self-help and bought the book (via BSA) 'Coping with Stammering' which changed my life.

This excellent book gave me so many good ideas and suggestions to work on. However, I accepted nothing would change overnight and there would be setbacks. Above all I remained positive; I used to tell myself that my speech could not get any worse!

Less effort

I found relaxation is a key part of fluency. The mechanical part of speech cannot happen effectively under tremendous stress or anxiety. One of my problems was I used to think tasks required maximum effort to perform well. I discovered that actually the opposite is true; 'less is more!' I also discovered the difference between fluency and non-fluency was I put far too much effort into speech; fluent speech requires very little effort or thought.

"I put far too much effort into speech - fluent speech requires very little effort or thought"

Using the 'Coping with Stammering' book I read a relaxation routine onto tape, which I used on a regular basis when stress or anxiety was building up. This really helped me. Through relaxation techniques I learned to slow down my breathing and my heart rate. My breathing became smooth and not held upwards with tension as it used to be, only allowing short bursts of speech.

I also found that attitude is very important, my own and that of people around me. I tried to be positive and not to let anyone else belittle or obstruct my efforts, nothing I tried was a waste of time or too much effort. I learned to trust and have confidence in myself, and others as well.

On the phone

The telephone is a really tough one; I found that a combination of factors is required. I would not over-rehearse a call, nor avoid it. I wouldn't rush to phone or hold the handset too tightly. When pressing the numbers I'd say them as well, and would try not to hurry or let anyone else hurry me for that matter. The idea is that I am in control. Also it helped not to think who I was calling or worry what they may or may not say as the person may not be there anyway. The use of steady or slightly slower speed of speech, gave me a great deal of control, for example "can-I-speak-to-David-please?" I tried to be patient and listen to what the other person is saying rather than butting in or talking over them.

I'd sometimes use a relaxation technique before the call and would watch for tension building up, for example shoulders becoming raised, or clenching the handset. The phone is just a tool for communication and should be enjoyed, and in some respects can be easier than talking to someone face to face.

I started off with calls to family and friends, to get more acclimatised to using the phone in a 'safe environment'. I recorded some calls and played them back so I could hear exactly how my speech sounded. I even used a mirror to look at the movement of my mouth, and help identify areas of tension which required improvement. Then I made slightly more demanding calls to people who I didn't know for practice, for example phoning for car insurance quotations. I kept a diary of all the success I achieved to remind me of it when any difficult patches came along.

As my confidence grew, I made calls with a real purpose. For example, I called a garage to ask how the repairs to my car were getting on. They had been working on the car for 5 weeks. I was becoming frustrated by this fact and discovered my fluency was actually better when I felt angry. Making calls with an actual purpose did help increase my fluency greatly. One advantage of these types of calls, for example paying bills, is that they often just involve answering a set of pre-determined questions, which I found less stressful.

Answering the phone was tough as well. Again I stopped avoiding. I made it clear to my mother that I wished to answer the phone rather than her doing it for me, so I could have as much practice as possible. I even recorded the ring of my phone and played it back over and over again to enable me to acclimatise to it, as my heart rate and breathing used to dramatically increase when I heard the phone. I would also use light contacts and remember speech is on the outward breath.

Finding what works

Avoidance reduction was another key part to being more successful; and helped my feeling of tension or apprehension to decrease significantly. For example I stopped letting others ask for me in shops etc. Good eye contact, correct volume and body language were important factors in this type of communication. The more I practiced, the easier it became. I learned not to hide my stammer and would explain to people where appropriate that I stammered, to get it 'off my chest' as it were, as hiding the stammer led to more avoidance.

After reading the 'Coping with Stammering' book I tried lots of different techniques until I found some that worked for me. The book also gave me many great tips for communication in general, tools to use on a day-to-day basis. My fluency gradually improved over time, as did my confidence. This enabled me to make phone calls, ask in shops etc without stammering or avoiding any situations.

With my fluency and confidence vastly improved I gave up my job as a gardener to study an HND in Architectural Conservation at College, and then went to University for a BSc degree in Building Surveying. I loved these courses and did very well even though I suffer from dyslexia. In my first year at college I won class prize. I work now as a Building Surveyor for a multi-national company based in Glasgow. My job has taken me to Poland, Holland and France. I couldn't have dreamed of doing this type of work with my previous level of fluency and avoidance. I do still stammer sometimes though, such when I am under stress.

Confidence was very important, being positive, and not being afraid to ask others for help. I took a step-by-step practical approach to working on improving my fluency. The first step of my journey was very difficult, but my confidence grew step-by-step. The focus has moved away from thinking or worrying about stammering. Through tasting success, confident and assertive feelings have grown. This was achieved by talking to people in many situations, which greatly increased my fluency.

Lastly, I discovered stammering has actually very little to do with speech itself, which may sound like a strange thing to say! It has everything to do with the way I felt about it! I never accepted defeat and always searched for answers. I remembered the dartboard analogy and didn't aim for the bull's eye.

'Coping with stammering' by Trudy Stewart and Jackie Turnbull is out of print, but is available in the BSA members library and may still be available to buy, eg online through Amazon. There is a new book 'Stammering: Advice for all ages' by Renée Byrne and Louise Wright - see Book Preview.

From the Summer 2008 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 10-11