Stuttering – preparing for the unexpected…

Good morning,

Hope you’re having a great start to the weekend 🙂

Living with a stutter, you learn to prepare for the moments that can throw you off-guard – phone calls, ordering at the bar or meeting someone new – that kind of thing. However, what happens when all of that goes out the window? Well, that’s what we’ll be exploring in today’s blog.

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Philadelphia, waiting for a photo at the Rocky Statue, when I bumped into my friend James. For some context, I’ve known James for around two years or so, after seeing him a couple of times on my regular trips to London. He’s the co-founder of Kitt Medical, alongside one of my very good friends, Zak.

In the lead-up to the trip, I’d done a lot of work getting myself ready to chat with people from all over the world. Looking back on the trip, I spoke to people from over 26 different States, as well as from Italy, Canada, Belgium, Germany and a whole load more.

However, what I hadn’t prepared for was seeing someone I knew from back home. For whatever reason, in that moment, my stutter kicked up another gear. I’ve found that preparing for, or at least practising your speech fluency management, is different for me whether it is for the things I can predict or those otherwise, which is strange, but it is what it is, I guess.

I’ve made massive progress with my speech over the last couple of years, to the point where I’m nearly fluent now. However, it’s moments like this that remind me that I’ve still got new things to learn and work on, and that’s completely okay. I’m never going to get things 100% right; there’ll always be a new lesson to learn or something else to embrace. It’s all a part of the process.

James was incredibly patient and kind (like he always is), giving me the space and time to speak. While that may seem like a small thing to do, it means more than you might think 🙏

I’m not sure as yet how I’ll work through this kind of scenario going forward, but I know that I’ll figure it out in time. Of course, I’ll keep you guys updated as I learn more, whenever that will be, who knows 🙂

That’s all for today’s blog. What do you think? Has something ever caught you off-guard? How did you respond to it? What did you learn from it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!

James