Stutter Control Drill

Stutter Control Drill
Mastering Elements of Fluent Speech

Master elements of fluent speech with 12-page self-help booklet from Sound Feelings. The Stutter Control Drill provides unconventional tools for self-improvement with stuttering and stammering by developing the neuro-speech connection. This effective approach creates the sensation of "stretching of time," which allows you to more easily determine the exact block in your unique speech pattern and to remove it. This book is clearly a unique alternative to traditional stuttering remedies and speech therapy. See also: Stuttering Control Drill and suttering books.

Helpful for All Stutterers.

Apart from the original cause of your unique speech challenge, whether physical, emotional or intellectual, the reality is that it now manifests itself neurologically. The purpose of this drill is not to pretend to deal with the original reason of the stutter, but rather to re-educate or normalize the neuro-speech connection.

Speak With Control.

The heart of the Stutter Control Drill is to teach you how to think before you speak. As obvious as this may sound, once this technique is learned, smooth speech becomes more predictable.

Pinpoints Exact Problem.

Unlike the average recommendation to simply "slow down the rhythm of your speech," the Stutter Control Drill deals with the "stretching of time." This allows you to more easily determine the exact block in your unique speech pattern and to remove it.

Most Powerful Way to Learn.

It has been proven by learning and behavioral experts that the more senses or learning channels we incorporate, the more effective the learning process. This is why films (visual and aural) often have a greater impact than lectures (aural only). Because the Stutter Control Drill involves visual, intellectual, emotional, tactile, and aural learning channels (total of 5) you are insured of the maximum benefit.

Eliminate Fear.

When you expect to fail, you often will. Replacing fear with confidence in very small steps offers a creative solution to this habit. The Stutter Control Drill makes use of the emotional learning channel, so that eventually all words to be spoken will be thought of in a positive way.
Easy and Convenient.

This is not something that will sit on your shelf. The Stutter Control Drill is a concise 12-page booklet that is easy to understand and convenient to use. Just 10 minutes, once or twice a day and a typewriter or computer keyboard, and you're on your way towards flowing, natural speech. (You don't need to know how to type!)

Stutter Control Drill:
Mastering Elements of Fluent Speech
Revised Edition 1989/1999
Howard Richman, Author
Sound Feelings Publishing
ISBN 1-882060-81-4 (previously ISBN 0-929060-75-X)
Our Catalog #97002
Softcover booklet, 3 1/2 x 8 1/2, 12 pages
$4.95 U.S.

Temporarily Out of Print

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Two amazing free secrets to help stop stuttering. This free stuttering information provides easy how-to solutions for stutterers for self-improvement towards fluent speech. This tutorial will be extremely helpful for those seeking stuttering cures.

1 Think Before You Speak.

Don’t even open your mouth until you are exactly sure about the word or words you are about to say. People who stutter often are smarter than average. This ironically works against the stutterer because when he or she attempts to speak, his or her mind tends to think too far ahead! This causes the conscious mind to not be in line with the current immediate word being expressed. The result is a jam or a block in the flow of speech. It really is not enough to “slow down the rhythm of your speech,” as is so often recommended. This can be slightly helpful, but what really counts is to think before you verbalize each word. It may be temporarily helpful to slow down just in order to retrain yourself how to think ahead of each word spoken rather than after, but eventually, the speed of the speech can return to normal.'

2 Say it in Your Mind.

Literally hear yourself successfully saying the word you want to say in your mind before you say it. This is a type of aural visualization. All people who succeed in anything admit that they practice visualizing their success, with optimism, before actually attaining their goal. Imagine the sound of each word, one by one, in your mind before you physically say it.

These tips were prepared by Howard B. Richman and are offered for free as a courtesy. For additional information to help master the elements of fluent speech, order Mr. Richman’s booklet,
Stutter Control Drill.

Questions.

I want to stop stuttering so bad, does it work?
The Stutter Control Drill helps you by training you to think of each sound you make before you say it, which helps remove the tendency for blocking or stuttering.

When will I start seeing results?
You will probably notice immediate results, but they won’t be permanent until you’ve made the drill become second nature. If you’re not seeing results, please re-read the booklet, to make sure you are doing the drill exactly as instructed. If you skip over any of the steps, or if you do them in a hurry, your results will be less than desirable.

If I read a sentence in my mind and then read it out loud I don’t sutter any more. But when I’m talking in person or on the phone, I stutter. Why do I do that?
You’re on the right track. Please be patient. Keep doing the drill exactly as described each day at least for about two months. Then start applying the concept of “visualization” to your speech. When you speak on the phone or in person, simply hear yourself saying the word or the sentence in your mind first, then open your mouth and say it. The problem you’re having is that you rush to speak, because you think people may be impatient listening to you and then it backfires. When you feel rushed, you tend to skip over the step of hearing yourself saying the word in your mind, and then you stutter! So never rush, even if you assume that people are impatient. Never say anything out loud unless you first hear yourself saying the word in your mind!

What is your theory behind the stuttering booklet? I have tried therapies out the wazoo but nothing really helps. I believe it’s something “wrong” in the brain because I am perfectly fluent by myself but once there is a perceived stress, i.e. person or phone, I start blocking, etc.
It sounds like your type of stuttering is not physical but rather stress-induced. This makes me think that you would respond well to my approach. Stutter Control Drill basically helps you to hear the sound of what you are going to say before you say it in your mind. If you say it in your mind correctly, you will say it out loud correctly EVEN UNDER STRESS! If you say it in your mind wrong, you have time to fix it before you say it out loud. The problem with most stutterers is that they are above average in intelligence. So this causes you to rush ahead with your speaking (because intelligent people think faster). The problem is that, for some reason, some people get into a habit of speaking out of sync with their own brains. This means that instead of thinking AHEAD of what they are saying, they think BEHIND what they are saying. This causes a mental short circuit and then you have the block. If you can re-train yourself to think and hear what you are about to say in your mind before you say it, you will have success, even under stress. The booklet will help this.

Should I spell out each number or letter character as I see it?
“3” should be just “3,” not “T H R E E.” Eventually, start applying the drill concept a little each day (five minutes) to reading the newspaper or a book out loud. In this case, instead of focusing on an individual character, see, think, hear, say the whole word. This step will bring you closer to actual speaking.

You are saying that I start talking before I know what I'm going to say. The thing with me is before I start talking, I know EXACTLY what I am going to say, but I just can get it out of my mouth.
I don’t mean that you don’t know what you are going to say. I’m talking about the micro aspect of the sound creation. You know that you are going to say: “I went to pick up the laundry down the street.” You start saying “I went” and then your mind jumps to the word “street” So this means that you sutter at the point where your mind jumped too far ahead. That means that on “pick up” you will stutter.
This drill teaches you to think ahead of the SOUND of what you are about to say, BUT NO FURTHER. Does that make sense?

Please let me know how to build up confidence,
You need to develop your confidence, independent of your speech problem. The Stutter Control Drill will help you develop your confidence with your speech, but you also need to develop your confidence in general. There are many things you can do for this, but the most important thing is to start believing in yourself and stop worrying what other people think of you all the time. Be willing to take baby steps. The more you see that you can speak to a new person without fear and without stuttering, a bit at a time, the less you will anticipate that the stuttering will return. Eventually, you will never stutter. But you must be willing to take baby steps. It won’t change overnight. Also, you can improve your confidence by doing “affirmations.” There are many books on this subject, often under the subject of “subconscious mind.”

How can a booklet written by a musician help me when he is not even a speech therapist?
Mr. Richman is not a speech/language pathologist. But there are speech therapists who have found his approach useful. Mr. Richman specializes in helping people learn how to learn, and this is the expertise that helped him to developed the Stutter Control Drill.

Why is it that I stutter more when I'm talking to a certain person, and I stutter less when I'm talking to someone else?
Some people intimidate you more than others. When you are talking to a person who you want to impress, you are thinking about impressing them. When you are thinking about impressing them, you are NOT hearing yourself saying the sound of the word in your mind before you say it. This is because the brain can only consciously do ONE THING AT A TIME. If you your brain is focused on impressing them, then you are not going to speak well. Learn to NOT CARE what they think. This is hard to do. When you learn that, then you will focus on hearing yourself say the word before you say it and you will be fine.

How long does this take?
Each person’s situation is completely different. First of all, this drill may not be the solution for all people who stutter. But if you are regular about doing the drill you will at least notice some improvement within a few weeks. And if this drill is destined to help you, you will notice major improvement between three months and one year. So, after about 5 months, if you are not happy, you are welcome to request a full refund, up to one whole year. Think of it like a rose bush. You prune and fertilize and water and cultivate for months — and nothing seems to be happening. But then major activity happens all of a sudden!

Does the drill have to be done immediately upon rising and immediately before going to bed?
No. You can do it at any time in the day that suits your schedule. Before bed is good because it becomes a routine like brushing you teeth, (and you are less likely to forget) but it is not required.

My stuttering problem seems more on the physical side. Can this help?
Even if your stuttering problem is more on the physical side, your thought patterns and emotions still precede each physical movement. Yes, it is very likely that this drill will help you!

When you explain that it has to be done twice a day for five days, why do you say you have to leave two days free in the week?
It has been proven among “educational psychologists” that building-in time off will enhance learning. Never try to study something seven out of seven days. Plan-in some time for rest. This creates a sense of relaxation and allows what you have learned to be integrated and to become automatic, which is your goal.

Testimonials.

“This Stutter Control Drill is extremely interesting and helpful.”
—Malcolm Fraser, Founder
Stuttering Foundation of America
Memphis, TN

“The Stutter Control Drill is helping me tremendously. I have less fear of forming the words in my mind first and then speaking them. And that’s a great thing because I preach at our church and other churches, as well as train people in fitness education. Now I have more confidence when I get up to speak. Thank you again, Howard, and keep up the great work! God Bless!”
—Smiley Elmore, Ph.D.
Associate Pastor / Fitness Trainer
Forest Park Assembly of God,
Jonesboro, GA
www.strengthalliance.com

“You have hit the nail on its head with the problem. The first time I did the drill, I realized that is exactly my problem.”
—Jeff, Graduate Student

“I feel that this effort could be very helpful to many people who stutter.”
—Herbert G. Goldberg, President,
Foundation for Fluency, Inc., Skokie, IL

“My stuttering is all cleared up now, and I have no more problem! What I did was take one of your tips to stop stuttering (tip #2). In one week I got so much better that I could talk well on the phone. I say the word once in my head, then not even a second later, say it verbally. I’m glad I fixed it because I’m only 14 and I’d be stuttering for a lot longer. From this I met two girls already. Thanks!”
—Carl Michelson

“I stumbled onto your site on a search from google and it has HELPED! Your tip (#2) is what I’ve been looking for! I knew that when I did a certain thing before I spoke I wouldn’t stutter but now I know what it is! You have made my life SOOOOO MUCH BETTER! Before, when I used to stutter, people wouldn’t want to carry on conversations with me or anything. it was very discouraging. Now I can talk for hours on the phone without missing a beat! Im LOVING IT! THANK YOU!”
—Devin Markham, South Carolina

“Wow, your tips really worked! I’m a 16 year old girl, and my stuttering problem was really bugging me. I mean it wasn’t that bad—just some words I would have trouble with. But saying the word in your head and thinking before you speak literally works like a charm!!!!”
—Amanda, Student, Toronto, Canada

“This exercise clearly outlines steps which one can follow and benefit from. The theory of stuttering supported by this drill is one with which many can relate.”
—Annie Bradberry, Executive Director,
National Stuttering Project, Anaheim, CA

“Excellent Reading. Very helpful to those who stammer.”
—Dudley Stammer Support Group,
Dudley, England

“A blurb for this book says it's a ‘12-page self-help booklet that provides unconventional tools for self-improvement with stuttering.’ I can only commend the author and question any detractors on this matter. Just because a tool is unconventional doesn’t mean it won’t work.”
—Cladinoro (The Eastern States)

“Very Helpful Info. This book is a very practical and helpful guide to the basics of speech correction. A good beginners guide.”
—A reader

“Neuro-linguistic Programming. I found the Stutter Control Drill by Howard Richman to be very helpful and positive. I had a mild stutter, which is now much improved. What I liked about it was that it recognised that stuttering CAN be overcome, and it provided a structured approach for doing this based on a theory of how the brain and your vocal chords work together. This theory was based what is now well established, that the sub-concious feeds on and reflects what the concious mind has received (e.g. the importance of positive self-talk). Because I already believed that you can programme your brain to think positively, transferring this principle to speech seemed obvious but I had not looked at in that light before, and it helped to break my irrational idea that I would never improve my speech.”
—Giles Griffith (Gisborne, NZ)

“After using these tips I feel that I can speak without stuttering for the rest of my life and I think these tips will help me to be successful in my career. I am 23 years old. I've always had to work hard to be normal in my speech. I managed to get a job but I always had a fear in my mind, wondering if I will be able to speak without stuttering in the work place. I thank Howard Richman for his wonderful work, which has taught me how to speak, and he has also contributed his invaluable tips for free. This is great! Thank you sir!”
—Arjun Kanna,Technical Support Engineer, Madurai, India

“Simple, Straight Forward, Easy. I found ‘Stutter Control Drill’ very helpful. It is simple, straightforward and easy to follow. Being a voiceover artist, I cannot afford to stutter. I wanted clear instructions on how not to stutter and H. Richman’s book did a good job in giving me information and understanding of why people stutter and how it is correctable. I didn’t want to have to mill through a lot of long drawn out technical mumbo jumbo - I wanted the information clear and concise so that I could follow the instructions and stop stuttering - I got very good advice from this book.”
—A reader