Source: kidshealth.org

‘If blindness is the worst curse God can give you; stammering is surely the second.’

–  Stranger I met in a bus in 3^rd year of college.

‘I try to speak as little as possible in public. Not that I don’t want to, but I can’t.’

– My friend.

‘During my placement interviews, the interviewers focussed more attention on HOW I was speaking instead of WHAT I was telling them!’

– My close buddy & benefiter of this exercise.

I am not a speech therapist. Neither do I like boasting about my knowledge & experiences. The problem with me is that I did things in college and life at large which seemed insignificant at that point. Now, I want to share those insignificant learnings with you. Besides this, I had faced some similar speech problems during my stint at forced ambidexterity.

      And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

    Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

                                                         –  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (A Psalm of Life)

I know it’s very easy to list down the following activities and how difficult it is to put them into action. Still how bad do you want change ? One of my friends was even ready to pose all nude if he could just get rid of stammering and the accompanied shyness through it! Dude, it might help!

Step 1- Accept and Expose yourself. Do not try to hide that you stammer. In fact, approach all your friends boldly and talk confidently and stammer frequently. Yes do it! Once, this shyness is overcome, look to change yourself.

Step 2- Sing songs every day, every time. Any passerby should always hear you humming.

Step 3- Adopt a sing-song voice. Don’t say things. Sing things. Probably, this would make your friends around you laugh. Laugh with them and sing with them.

Step 4- After singing melodies, turn to rap. Not the English ones. I would suggest, go for Bollywood Honey Singh raps.

Step 5- Make raps impromptu when you are alone. Self-talk in rap. Think in rap.

Step 6- Take out 15 minutes from your busy schedule and live this moment…Imagine yourself to be successful and all the media is crowding next to you. They want to hear you comment on the cricket team’s performance OR the SENSEX OR where do you plan to spend your next summer vacations. Talk to them. Entertain them, amuse them. But all this while, you won’t be stammering. You won’t be pacing too fast or going too slow.

Some of you really are poor at fantasizing. No worries. Get yourself a talking buddy, a real one. She/he could be your mom/dad/brother/sister/best friend/girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend’s girlfriend or boyfriend etc. Try not to bore her/him. Discuss nice ideas. If you are a girl, gossip!

Do this and magic will happen! A firm believer in the ‘Right to Confidence’, the most important right of every individual, I’ll end with my favourite quote.

‘Abhi bhi & kabhi bhi der nai hui’

– Nandu.