Posts Tagged ‘advertising stuttering’
Opening The Door
Posted on: May 8, 2015
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I had a really great conversation this week with a colleague about stuttering. I was talking with a new staff member about a Google hangout I participated in with people from all over the world, and how much I enjoyed it. She asked me what was the topic and I said stuttering.
I said, “I’m sure you’ve noticed that I stutter.” She said, “Yes, I’ve noticed, but you’re so confident, I didn’t think anything of it.”
We then went on to talk about stuttering. She asked me if I’ve ever had any treatment and I told her a bit about the therapy I was involved in years ago.
She went on to say that she knows someone who stutters severely, and his son does too. She said she thinks it’s great that I can convey so much confidence at work and not let stuttering limit me. It was a great way to start my day.
I’m glad I had this conversation with this new staff member. I figured she had definitley noticed my stuttering and maybe was curious and had some questions.
Initiating a simple conversation about an experience I had opened the door for us to talk about it.
Have you ever had such an experience at work? How did it go?
I Stutter Amazingly – Episode 139
Posted on: April 20, 2015
Episode 139 features Heidi Reynolds, who hails from Panama City, Florida. Heidi is 23 years old and works full-time as a nanny for twin children. She is also finishing up her undergraduate degree and is waiting to hear back from grad schools to which she has applied.
Heidi aspires to be a SLP and also wants to get her doctorate degree so she can research stuttering and eventually teach.
Listen in to a meaningful conversation about guilt. Heidi shares that she often feels a lot of guilt for listeners having to listen to her stutter. She is working on balancing that guilt with acceptance. She has reached a place where she feels comfortable with “this is me.”
We also discuss speech therapy experiences, use of speech tools, the Speech Easy device and so much more.
And we finish up by discussing the National Stuttering Association and the importance of self-help and support.
The podcast safe music used in today’s episode is credited to ccMixter.
Working Harder – Episode 135
Posted on: February 17, 2015
Episode 135 features Ashley Marcinkiewicz, who hails from Clifton Park, NY. Ashley is currently a PhD student at the University of New Hampshire, where she is studying microbiology. As a PhD student, Ashley teaches biology courses. She also enjoys hiking and outdoors activities.
Listen in as we discuss what it’s been like teaching and how Ashley has handled advertising her stuttering. We also discuss techniques and tools Ashley uses for when she gives presentations.
We talk about speech therapy experiences, the importance of attitude in how we approach our stuttering and how stuttering can be used as a benefit.
We also discuss the importance of community and learning from others’ perspectives about stuttering.
This was a great conversation, full of honesty and humor. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions in the comment section.
The podcast safe music used in today’s episode is credited to ccMixter.
Episode 132 features Emma Alpern, who hails from Brooklyn, New York. Emma works in the publishing industry, editing young adult fiction. She has always loved working with new books.
Stuttering got her into reading and writing in the first place, and also piqued her interest in words.
Listen in as we discuss workplace communication and advertising, being covert, Emma’s relationship with her stuttering, and speech therapy thoughts and experiences.
We also discuss the importance of finding others that stutter and Emma’s experience at National Stuttering Association (NSA)chapter meetings and her first NSA conference.
Emma wrote an article called Good Communication on the blog “Did I Stutter?” We discuss what good communication means and our thoughts on whether stuttering is a disability.
This was a perfect conversation, one that could have gone on for hours. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions for Emma.
The podcast safe music clip used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
I tend to stutter the same way on the same words all the time. Even when I try to focus and use a technique or slow down, there are just certain words that come out the same way, every time.
Communication is one of those words. I don’t stutter on the first “c” in the word. No, I block and stutter on the second “c” sound – right in the middle of the word. It usually takes the form of three or four repetitions on the “ca” sound. Communi-ca-ca-ca-ca-tion. I am very aware of when I am in the stuttering moment with this word, as it’s a word I have to say a lot in the presentations I deliver to high school students.
I talk to them about career planning and the essential skills needed to be college and career ready, with good communication being one of those essential skills.
I am not ashamed that I stutter and I am of the belief that good communication is so much more than perfect fluency. But for some reason, when I block and stutter on key words, the same way, every time, I feel quite vulnerable and exposed. Perhaps it’s because this mostly happens when I am speaking to young people.
It’s important to me to be a good role model when I am speaking to people, especially young people. I maintain eye contact when I’m blocking and when I complete the word, I usually smile and just keep moving forward. I like to think that communicating in my own style, with confidence, is good role modeling for young people.
I want them to see that moving through vulnerability can yield good results.
A good friend of mine suggested I do a little dance when I say “communi-ca-ca-ca-ca-tion.” To the beat of the “ca-ca-ca-ca.” I think it would be a good ice breaker when I am giving a presentation on stuttering, but maybe not so much when I am talking career preparation to high school students. They might think I’m nuts and call the security officer.
What about you? Do you have words that you stutter the same way every time? How does it make you feel?
Being Honest – Episode 131
Posted on: November 18, 2014
Episode 131 features Vanna Nicks, who hails from Piedmont, California. Vanna is a busy mother of two and also works full-time as a speech pathologist in a trauma center at an acute hospital in Oakland.
Vanna always wanted to be a SLP but didn’t have the confidence. She moved to Washington DC and found Vivian Sisskin’s avoidance reduction therapy group. There, she found the self-confidence to go back to school to become a SLP.
Vanna learned through avoidance reduction that she had the right to speak whenever she wanted and that she became more fluent when she stuttered openly. She learned to be truly honest with her self and others.
Listen in as we discuss advertising, workplace stuttering, being approachable, developing rich relationships and so much more.
The podcast safe music clip used in today’s episode is credited to ccMixter.
Producer note: As I played back this episode, there are parts where it sounds like I spoke over Vanna. I certainly didn’t mean to and I don’t remember doing that when we spoke. I wondered (aloud) if it was an audio glitch that I don’t know how to correct. Maybe – maybe not. Either way, enjoy the episode. 🙂
Speaking Honestly
Posted on: November 12, 2014
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There’s been a couple of good pieces by women recently related to being honest with our speech and our stuttering. I posted Erin Schick’s brilliant poem, Honest Speech, last month.
And today, Katherine Preston has a great piece, Speaking Honestly, published in The Huffington Post.
Both authors are women who stutter and speak to the importance of being authentic with our stuttering. Erin talks about speaking fluently when she stutters and Katherine talks about liking being remembered for her stuttering.
Both of these pieces resonate with me, as I did a speech on Being Memorable at the National Stuttering Association annual conference in D.C. in July and again for my 2014 ISAD contribution.
Stuttering is a part of me. For years, I tried to hide it, push it away, deny it. I was ashamed of being associated with stuttering, for I had been conditioned to believe that stuttering was bad and that I deserved the sometimes negative reactions I received from society.
But something changed. I stopped trying to hide it, I began stuttering openly and honestly, I talked about stuttering and began to accept that some people were going to associate me with stuttering. And, THAT’S OK. It’s a part of me. It’s who I am. It’s good to be remembered in today’s world. I rather like having people remember my name.
Just yesterday I was at a school doing some presentations and someone came up to me and said, “I remember you. I took an excellent bullying class from you several years ago and you talked about stuttering. And you came to our school and did a talk on stuttering. It’s so good to see you again. You’re a great speaker.”
That made me feel good, and proud and happy that she remembered me.
Being honest with our speech and with ourselves is so much easier than hiding and pretending to be someone we’re not. I’m sure happy I just let my stuttering hang out these days.
Popular Media On Stuttering
Posted on: October 30, 2014
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Buzzfeed has a great article called “25 Things All People Who Stutter Will Understand.” It’s surprisingly spot-on and doesn’t make fun of, or demean, people who stutter.
Enjoy! Can you relate to any of them?
Can We Be Memorable?
Posted on: October 16, 2014
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The following is my submission for the 2014 International Stuttering Awareness Day on-line conference, which runs from Oct.1 – Oct. 22 each year.
This is a reprisal of a talk I did at the 2014 NSA conference in Washington DC in July.
I was worried about making myself so vulnerable by submitting a video, but it has been favorably accepted, judging by the many great comments the video has received, many from SLP graduate students.
What do you think? Can our stuttering make us memorable?
Indian Stammering Commercial
Posted on: September 15, 2014
If you haven’t seen this yet, check it out. It shows us that stuttering/stammering doesn’t have to hold us back and that we can achieve anything with grit and persistence.
2014 ISAD Conference
Posted on: September 12, 2014
This year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) online conference begins on October 1, 2014 and runs for three weeks through October 22, 2014.
Authors will present papers on a variety of topics relating to stuttering – attitudes and feelings, therapy techniques, research updates and personal experiences.
Presenters are a mix of people from the international stuttering community – people who stutter, family members of people who stutter, clinical therapists and scientific researchers. This is an exciting conference where different voices from all over the world are heard.
This will be a treasure trove of information on stuttering, and you will have the opportunity to interact with the contributors and ask questions of professionals in the field.
Plan to check out the conference and plan to learn a lot. Spread the word!
Episode 21 of the occasional male podcast series features Dylan Madeley, who hails from a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Dylan is a writer. He currently works as a copy editor for Auxiliary Magazine and is preparing to self publish his own novel. He is readying a Kickstarter campaign to secure a publishing budget.
Dylan’s book is an ambiguous-magic fantasy titled “The Gift-Knight’s Quest.” Check here to find out more about the book.
Dylan discusses his plans to advertise and promote his first book, which leads us to talk about advertising stuttering before public speaking events. Dylan plans to be more “out there” with his stuttering once he is published.
We also discuss his strategies for book readings and how performance anxiety really triggers his stuttering.
This was a great conversation. Dylan shares professionally about his writing and personally about his stuttering. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to DanoSongs.
Building Confidence
Posted on: August 1, 2014
I participated in a great conversation this week about ways to build confidence if you stutter. During a Stutter Social chat, a young person asked how some of us more “seasoned stutterers” deal with the anxiety of stuttering in certain speaking situations.
Some people shared their experiences from speech therapy, some shared from their perspective on acceptance and two of us talked a little about Toastmasters.
The following are some of the ideas that we shared about building confidence. Maybe you’ve tried some of them. Maybe you’ve got a suggestion to add.
- Don’t obsess or rehearse before hand. That increases anxiety and decreases spontaneous conversation.
- Consider advertising and letting listeners know that you are a person who stutters.
- Try using voluntary stuttering to help you gain some control during the speaking situation.
- Seize opportunities to speak, such as Toastmasters clubs or other speaking forums. Practice helps reduce anxiety and build confidence.
- Remind yourself that you have as much right to be in that speaking situation as the next person, that your voice deserves to be heard.
- If someone interrupts you, calmly let them know you’re not finished speaking yet and then proceed to complete your thoughts, no matter how long it takes.
What do you think? Do you have anything to add?
Episode 123 features Carmen Shapiro, who hails from Downington, PA. Carmen is originally from Spain and has been in the US for 23 years.
She works as a project manager in an IT department of a pharmaceutical company. She is also the new leader of the Philadelphia NSA Chapter, since November 2013.
Carmen recently returned from her first conference of the National Stuttering Association and we discuss her experience and reflections. She shares how welcome she felt at the conference and how that made her feel more confident about introducing herself to so many people.
We also spend a good amount of time discussing disclosure and why it can be so hard to do. Carmen opens up to her fears and we talk about some different ways to disclose.
This was a wonderful and insightful conversation. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions or just let Carmen know what a great job she did.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
Be Brave – Episode 119
Posted on: June 10, 2014
Episode 119 features Heather Cazares, who hails from Edinburgh, Texas. Heather is studying to be a speech language pathologist at The University of Texas – Pan American. Heather is also mom to a three year old daughter.
Heather is a NSA Chapter leader for a new chapter she founded just last August. Heather was looking for ways to advertise her new chapter and sought out an opportunity to be interviewed on TV.
Listen in as we talk about Heather’s experiences with leading a new support group. We also talk about the importance of self-advocacy.
Heather also shares that stuttering runs in her family, on both sides. I ask Heather if she worries about her own child stuttering.
This was a great conversation with a strong young woman who is making a difference in her community. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions in the comment section, for feedback is a gift.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to DanoSongs.
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