Always like to listen in to Radio 1 surgery on a Wednesday eve when I’m coming home from the gym.  Dr Radha and Gemma Cairney give really useful advice.  Recently they had an evening devoted to speaking – which is right up my street.  They had one amazing girl phone in who had cured herself from stammering by turning her shyness and fear into a belief and appreciation of herself and her worth.   She’d worked on her self – value and stopped worrying about people judging her.   It’s been life-changing for her.  The committment needed to make the changes take time, but when you believe, then the transformation does take place.  Annik Petrou overcame her fear of speaking out loud and formed the Pony Express company – teaching others to speak in public
www.ponyexpressclub.com
Her business has  grown and the events are stimulating and fun.
When we’re in situations that make us particularly nervous like an interview or meeting a date for the first time, remember the onus is with the other person.  Interviewers have to be good at their jobs and you are evaluating them.  A date is there for you -to see if you have anything in common – if you don’t feel relaxed when you’re with them, then they’re not right for you.
There was good advice about thinking “bum and feet” to help you relax before a speaking event/presentation from voice coach Caroline Goyder.  Part of the Max Your Voice Check List Before Speaking.
Drinking water was recommended for hydrating the voice.  Yes but please sip small amounts frequently rather than glugging it down.  It’s good to sing in a steamy shower – the steam helps the vocal folds.
Relieving a stammer is about clarifying the message from the brain to the speech mechanism as Doc Radha said.   When we’re unsure of what we’re saying and nervous -the muscles can get into a habit of trying to stop the word being formed just before it’s said –  and a stammer can develop in this way.  The muscles can be released and this allows the words to free flow – but it all starts in the mind with how we feel about ourselves and what we’re saying.  Once a client who’d stopped stammering told me his girlfriend missed the stammer as she though it was sweet.  Fortunately she thought he was great without the stammer too.