Remembering a discipline

[kcin]

I'm a stutterer and it's really important for me to speak slowly, control my breathing and stuff, otherwise I tend to stutter severely.

The problem is I usually forget to employ this discipline during the daytime. When I immerse myself into a conversation I forget about the whole thing and it occurs to me only afterwards I should have played more attention.

Can you recommend me a method, so that I can constantly remind myself to pay attention to my speech? I'm sure someone already solved this problem (aside from stuttering), but I don't know where to look.

Thanks in advance.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by kcin

I'm a stutterer and it's really important for me to speak slowly, control my breathing and stuff, otherwise I tend to stutter severely.

The problem is I usually forget to employ this discipline during the daytime. When I immerse myself into a conversation I forget about the whole thing and it occurs to me only afterwards I should have played more attention.

Can you recommend me a method, so that I can constantly remind myself to pay attention to my speech? I'm sure someone already solved this problem (aside from stuttering), but I don't know where to look.

Thanks in advance.

I remember a friend of mine used to draw a couple of lines on the top of his hand which served to remind him to slow down when talking. You could give that a try or perhaps make an association with a face (or mouth, nose, etc.) and the words 'slow down', in order to serve as a constant reminder.

[kcin]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I may try the hand trick, though I'm not a hand fetishist, so I don't look at my hands constantly.

I tried the association thing in the past, but I couldn't come up with an effective association to make it work in real life situations. I'll give it an other try.

[kcin]

I'm gonna try the suggestions above, but still interested in other suggestions too if you have any, so don't hesitate to post them.

Thanks.

[moltar]

Maybe practice slow speaking for an hour a day for 90 days just by yourself in front of the mirror. Then your body would probably adjust naturaly.

[mjukr]

Do you have any physical habits when you're talking to others? For instance, when I'm talking with people, I have an unconscious habit of rubbing my chin. I feel uncomfortable if my hand isn't up there.

So what I do when I want to be more overtly aware of my actions, I force myself to keep my hands in my pockets. This makes me very uncomfortable, so I am consciously aware of everything I'm saying/doing.

Maybe you could find something like this that would physically engage you in the conversation and keep you aware of your speech?

Just a thought

[kcin]

Originally Posted by moltar

Maybe practice slow speaking for an hour a day for 90 days just by yourself in front of the mirror. Then your body would probably adjust naturaly.

I've been trying this for a while, but as of yet in real life situations the habit didn't stick.

[kcin]

Originally Posted by mjukr

Do you have any physical habits when you're talking to others?

Not that I know of, but I'll think about it.

[Emerald]

I have a (slightly weird!0 suggestion - try making an assocation between saying the letter 'S' and the word slow. Eg. If you can imagine (visualise) the word slow each time you make the 'mouthshape' for 'S' that may be enough to draw your attention to your breathing and speech rhythm. Another way could be to draw an imaginary 'S' shape while saying the word slow. HTH

[iry]

What are the things that you normally focusing on when speaking with others? For example, if you normally focusing on their eyes, try to practice to remind yourself that you need to monitor the way you speak when you make eye contacts with them.

Just a suggestion.

(I always thought of "something" whenever I saw temples.)

[kcin]

Originally Posted by Emerald

I have a (slightly weird!0 suggestion - try making an assocation between saying the letter 'S' and the word slow.

I'll try that, though not being an English speaker I may have to come up with a different association.

[kcin]

Originally Posted by iry

What are the things that you normally focusing on when speaking with others?

Good suggestion. Now I only need to associate they eyes with speaking slowly. I'll think about it.