Apparently one percent of British people suffer from the speech impediment called a stutter. In this article I describe how to beat a stutter and how to achieve fluency.

When I had a stutter, I used to be afraid of certain words beginning with certain letters. Words which began with "b" were especially hard to say. I also had problems with d, v, g, and p words. I would avoid these words and also try to find alterantive words to say. This word substitution is something that I regularly did, however I wanted to be able to overcome this stutter once and for all.

I would see a potential job in the newspaper, my lack of speech confidence would tell me not to apply for it as the interview would be too difficult for me with the pressure of having to answer all of the questions which would be asked.

When I was about sixteen I became drunk for the first time and the alcohol gave me a huge but somewhat false confidence boost. I now had no fear and was also able to talk superbly. Now I am not saying that you should all be in a permanent drunken state, however this showed me not only was I able to talk well but that the stammer must not only be a physical impediment but also physcological.

There are many forms of stutter treatments out there including tradional speech therapy, group speech courses, one to one speech courses and even hypnotherapy. I personally believe that the way to go is one to one speech courses as every person who has a stutter is an individual and has an individual stutter.

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Steve Hill

Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre In England. He offers stuttering therapy courses to help people who stutter to achieve fluency. Stuttering is also known in some countries as stammering.