A few notes on the language section from a person with a stammer:
Never repeat anything. Unless you really can't stop yourself. If you have to do it though, try to vary the way you repeat it - not just words, but also voice. Pump some enthusiasm into there the second time around like you're pretending to be the Tenth Doctor.
Vary your vocal register. Don't limit this to just your presentations either! Do it all the time, and see what it does for your speech. Why do I talk with a funny accent? It's not because I'm from New Zealand, it's because I'm concentrating on making my voice move so it doesn't get trapped into a stammer instead. Relatedly, make sure you have coffee/tea/whatever caffeinated beverage you drink about 20 minutes before the presentation, to ensure that your concentration levels are where they need to be to do this.
Physicality Yes. Absolutely. MOVE. It distracts the mind. Like singing in the shower. We don't stammer when we're singing in the shower now do we? NO WE DON'T. Flap your arms if you need to. Point. If it's appropriate, twirl. DO STUFF. If you stand there, you'll get nervous. It may help to go for a walk with the dog while you practice. I say practice, not memorise, but it's okay to memorise or have it written out in full if you're scared of having to make up the words you're going to say on the spot. I always have my presentations written out in full before I give them, but while I have a stammer, I also used to do acting, so I go 'learn lines learn lines act lines'. This is also fine, so long as you don't just sit/stand there to learn them. MOVE. It'll help you relax. It also makes you feel bigger. Now, this doesn't seem important, but if you look bigger you can get people to think you're bigger. So they'll remember the important parts of your speech better, purely because they think you're bigger than them. For the first three days into living in a flat, I had one of my flatmates, who was a good head and 1/4 taller than I, completely convinced that I was a little taller she; she was astounded when I suggested we do the back-to-back thing.
Smile This is so hard it's not even funny. But try it anyway. And when you're practicing, smile.
Jazz hands I like to jazz hands at the end of my presentation too. Or sometimes in the middle, if it's something particularly amazing. This falls under the title of 'do stuff with your body, dammit!'
How do I know what I'm talking about? I've had a stammer for about as long as I can remember. And while I'm terrible to talk to before I've had my coffee and woken up properly, I can walk onto a stage and wow a crowd by doing all this. I can stand the hell up and give a presentation I've knocked together in half an hour and get good marks by being enthusiastic. And most importantly, I know how and when to tone it down, which is the hardest trick of all. Any speech I've given, any Powerpoint I've done, and every time I've walked onto a stage (particularly memorably, to ad-lib the Odyssey), has been nothing to walking up in front of an assortment of Diplomats, Armed Forces personnel, and War Veterans, to stand there and give a speech on ANZAC Day.
I come from a decent line of people who hate doing speeches. But we've got a trick for it to make them memorable: Keep it short. Keep the language simple. Make them laugh somewhere in the middle, and make them think at the end.
And remember that I can barely talk before coffee. A conversation with me consists of mime, pauses, short-word-repeats and some strange word-substitution. So if I'm that bad, then I can just about promise that you can be better.
no subject
Never repeat anything.
Unless you really can't stop yourself. If you have to do it though, try to vary the way you repeat it - not just words, but also voice. Pump some enthusiasm into there the second time around like you're pretending to be the Tenth Doctor.
Vary your vocal register.
Don't limit this to just your presentations either! Do it all the time, and see what it does for your speech. Why do I talk with a funny accent? It's not because I'm from New Zealand, it's because I'm concentrating on making my voice move so it doesn't get trapped into a stammer instead. Relatedly, make sure you have coffee/tea/whatever caffeinated beverage you drink about 20 minutes before the presentation, to ensure that your concentration levels are where they need to be to do this.
Physicality
Yes. Absolutely. MOVE. It distracts the mind. Like singing in the shower. We don't stammer when we're singing in the shower now do we? NO WE DON'T.
Flap your arms if you need to. Point. If it's appropriate, twirl. DO STUFF. If you stand there, you'll get nervous.
It may help to go for a walk with the dog while you practice. I say practice, not memorise, but it's okay to memorise or have it written out in full if you're scared of having to make up the words you're going to say on the spot.
I always have my presentations written out in full before I give them, but while I have a stammer, I also used to do acting, so I go 'learn lines learn lines act lines'. This is also fine, so long as you don't just sit/stand there to learn them. MOVE. It'll help you relax.
It also makes you feel bigger. Now, this doesn't seem important, but if you look bigger you can get people to think you're bigger. So they'll remember the important parts of your speech better, purely because they think you're bigger than them. For the first three days into living in a flat, I had one of my flatmates, who was a good head and 1/4 taller than I, completely convinced that I was a little taller she; she was astounded when I suggested we do the back-to-back thing.
Smile
This is so hard it's not even funny. But try it anyway. And when you're practicing, smile.
Jazz hands
I like to jazz hands at the end of my presentation too. Or sometimes in the middle, if it's something particularly amazing. This falls under the title of 'do stuff with your body, dammit!'
How do I know what I'm talking about?
I've had a stammer for about as long as I can remember. And while I'm terrible to talk to before I've had my coffee and woken up properly, I can walk onto a stage and wow a crowd by doing all this. I can stand the hell up and give a presentation I've knocked together in half an hour and get good marks by being enthusiastic.
And most importantly, I know how and when to tone it down, which is the hardest trick of all. Any speech I've given, any Powerpoint I've done, and every time I've walked onto a stage (particularly memorably, to ad-lib the Odyssey), has been nothing to walking up in front of an assortment of Diplomats, Armed Forces personnel, and War Veterans, to stand there and give a speech on ANZAC Day.
I come from a decent line of people who hate doing speeches. But we've got a trick for it to make them memorable:
Keep it short. Keep the language simple. Make them laugh somewhere in the middle, and make them think at the end.
And remember that I can barely talk before coffee. A conversation with me consists of mime, pauses, short-word-repeats and some strange word-substitution. So if I'm that bad, then I can just about promise that you can be better.