I’m happy to credit to Lee and his book (Sep 2021 version-How to Stop Stuttering & Love Speaking) and WSSA (with tons of content to help educate stutterers on ways to use Lee’s methods better), all of which enabled me to stop my stuttering.
My name is Freddy; I am 51, hail from Malaysia, and currently work in financial services. Although I progressed well in my career, I felt I was handicapped by my stutter. Recently, my boss asked me to take over a role which required a lot of speaking and presentations. That kicked-start my search (again) for a “cure” and serendipitously, I remembered reading Lee’s website years ago but the mere mention of ‘crutches’ turned me off (my mistake!) and I did not appreciate the genius of his approach then.
Lee’s profound understanding of stuttering and his solutions is like discovering Einstein’s E = mc² equation.
Once I read and understood the rationale behind Lee’s methods, the lights went off in my head. I immediately purchased his latest book in October 2021, How to Stop Stuttering & Love Speaking. In less than 2 months I was able to give a speech (virtual meeting) to a large group without feeling any fear (first time in my adult life!) or experiencing blocks. While it’s still early in my journey of self-cure, I consider myself a PWSS. Now that I have crossed over from a PWS to a PWSS, I am motivated to go as far as I can to become a really good speaker. IF you want to hear me talking to Lee, go here: https://youtu.be/xUf8TM4uH4Q
I became aware of my stutter when I was around 5 or 6. I believed the stutter developed during a period of constant teasing by a much older family friend. I never had any formal speech therapy until quite late in life, around my 40s. Fortunately, the therapist was sympathetic when I suggested that it’s not fluency methods I needed but some way to reset my brain to fight my debilitating speech fears and memories. She referred me to a hypnotist who taught me auto-suggestions similar to Lee’s book. However, Lee’s instructions are much more detailed and provide a very focused and impactful way to remove speech fears.
Like many people who stutter, I dread presentations as it would be obvious that I had a problem. I have had many uncomfortable speaking experiences and some are humiliating that they took me days to recover fully.
Despite my stutter, I have not allowed my speech disfluency to hinder my personal and professional goals. Unfortunately that same attitude exacerbated the stutter as I used to publicly wrestled with words and force them out. I felt like a failure if I had to skip or substitute words.
After studying Lee’s book, I see the logic and wisdom of doing the opposite (i.e. don’t force words out, it’s okay to skip words) There’s so many other nuggets of wisdom in his book that sounded counter-intuitive (e.g. don’t ‘think words’) but they are as true as Einstein’s famous equation. Think about that: before Einstein came into the scene, many scientists were still searching for that elusive mysterious substance called ether to explain light waves. As we now know, ether is fiction. Likewise, some speech professionals (mostly non-stutterers) advocate methods which sounds logical on the surface but are actually detrimental for a PWS. I don’t blame them because it takes astute observation, experience and imagination (which Lee has clearly demonstrated) to solve the mystery of stuttering.
I accepted myself as a stutterer until I read Lee’s book. I am fully committed to follow the steps in the book and I am prepared to stay on the program until I learn to love to speak. With daily reading aloud, self-hypnosis and practicing crutches, my confidence continues to grow each day.
I wanted to write to Lee for Skype sessions initially but I found that I had already ‘self-cured’ by reading his book and following his instructions to a T within 2 months. (see Postscript below)
At work I regularly speak to clients, host conference calls and give presentations in front of large groups of people (mostly virtual but now moving to ‘live’ audiences). While I have always rose up to the occasion to speak when required, there were many hours wrestling with speech fears and anxiety. I now have the confidence that when I am called to present, I can look forward to a good experience, being assured that my mind is no longer a hostage to fears and anxieties.
My journey to being a great speaker is just beginning. I stutter a bit, although undetectably, but I enjoy working on my speech. After learning the power of reading aloud and mind-training which Lee passionately advocates, I am building more and more fluency memories which will overwhelm my old stuttering memories. Lee has motivated me to look beyond beating stuttering and turn my stutter into a blessing. I’m going to do it.
Thank you Coach Lee, for your insightful approach to eliminate stuttering. I believe your efforts (books, videos, coaching) will be a lasting legacy for all of us, ex-stutterers, and the many, many PWSS who are joining us and will join us in the future!
FREDDY, Singapore, July 2022
PS. After much deliberation, I decided it was BEST to be coached by Lee himself. I wrote to him in early March 2022 and got my first Skype slot in mid-April. Lee has been very generous with his time and I will treasure my sessions with the Speech Whisperer. It’s early July 2022 – I have just presented to a ‘live’ audience and I enjoyed the experience! I am learning to love to speak in all situations!