Tips to support speaking

The most important thing is that you feel confident and comfortable to say what you want to say when you want to say it. Here we've put together some of ideas suggested by other children and young people who stammer to help you when speaking in different situations.

• Focus on the person you are talking to and try not to get distracted by other things happening around you.
• Be patient with yourself.
• Take your time. 
• It might help to speak more slowly.
• Always try to say what you want to say. 
• Don’t force the words out.
• Pause in between short sentences. 
• Pause before you speak.
• Say what you want to say.
• You are not a mind-reader, so don’t worry about what other people might be thinking – as, without asking, you could be completely wrong anyway!
• If you feel comfortable, let people know that you stammer and tell them what you want them to do when you stammer. Often people want to help, but don’t know how.