How do I stop stuttering when speaking to people in a group setting?

Answer 1

A majority of the time, when one struggles with stuttering and using filler words it is because they are speaking or thinking too fast. To combat this issue, first and foremost practice, practice, practice! The more you practice, the less you'll feel like you need to rush and stumble over your words because you'll 1.) be confident in your information and 2.) will be aware of if you are under or over your time constraints. Secondly, when practicing, take note of when you feel like your thoughts are getting jumbled and when you start to speed up. When you feel those urges to speed up or your thoughts getting jumbled up, 1.) pause, 2.) take a deep breath, and 3.) gather your thoughts until you are ready to speak again. Often, it will only take a few seconds of pausing to get back on track and stop the stuttering and/or filler words.

You can also do this activity with a friend or family member. Try telling them a story of something you did over the weekend in less than 2-minutes. Have them either stop you and start the story over every time you stutter or just mark down whenever one of these instances occur. Notice how when you try to rush yourself, you will tend to stutter and use filler words. It's because your thought process is going faster than your mouth can. Now, try the same activity again, but this time, every time you feel like you will stutter or use filler words: pause, take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and then continue telling your story. You will see a drastic change with your speech giving skills the more you do this activity. When you take the time to breathe and process your thoughts instead of rushing through information, you will be less likely to stutter or have a speech filled with filler words.