Telephone "stutter"

[pma]

Hello all this is my first post on this forum and hopefully I'll have more to post in the future! Let me tell you guys about my problem. it's just been getting me down lately and I'm getting p***** now.


At the moment, I am at the stage of applying for jobs. This causes enough anxiety on it's own, believe me. And to make mattters even worse than they already are I am in terrible debt.

Let me tell you guys, my telephone skills were average before the debt. Then, when I started to get hounded by the debt collectors something started to happen to me in a very negative way. From the very first call I got from barclays debt collectors, I was a changed person. I no longer had the enthusiasm and confidence anymore to talk fluently!!

It seems to me that somehow my self-worth and confidence has been destroyed and that in turn has made me approach talking on the phone in a very negative way.

I do not class myself as a "stutterer" in the sense that I can talk fluently. BUT when it comes to the telephone I am a different person! For some reason I anticipate before I even make the phone call. I become anxious, get butterflies etc.. All the classic signs of "fight or flight"

It seems to me that I have associated the telephone with fear!

What can I do to overcome this problem?

[USAFNCO]

USE THE PHONE!

USAFNCO (Retired) :cool:

[PatientPrsvrnce]

Here's what I do. I have to take and make calls everyday...and I do stutter on probably 50% of the calls. Sometimes, bad sometimes...not so bad...sometimes not at all. I've found, it's better to not think about the call at all and to just make it right away. Don't hesitate, just go right into it. The more I think about calls, the worse they become. I also do this with people. I try to introduce myself first, and be as social as I can be. If I try to hide, or look away, my stuttering becomes very more severe. I do stutter, but attacking the weakness has worked the best for me. Just relax...most people don't really care that you stutter....just do the best you can and attack your stutter by trying some of these things....and don't let it beat you mentally. This takes work, but all we can do is try try try....don't give up....it will get better.

Good luck friends!!

[pma]

Thanks for the advice. The only problem is getting rid of that anticipation before the actual phone call.

[USAFNCO]

Hello All,

Today I was thinking about how you felt when you had to use the phone. I was about to call my wife when I started feeling anxious, like I was going to stutter. I do not stutter when I call my wife's place of employment and ask for her. But thinking about your dilemma I became anxious and did not want to call because I thought I may stutter. I called her and I was able to ask for her, but it was not as easy and smooth as it normally is. I did not stutter but it took a little effort to remain fluent. I then called back after I was calm and my speech was easy, smooth, and fluent.

I believe the battle starts in the mind, I'm not talking about dopamine levels but our behaviors as stutters, like thinking I would stutter before I picked up the telephone. Just an observation.

USAFNCO (Retired) :cool: