The Sport of Speaking

Written by Geoff Johnston

Thursday, 06 September 2007

THE SPORT OF SPEAKING by Geoff JohnstonRegional Director, The McGuire Programme (Aust) No matter what technique or strategy you are using to improve your speaking communication, treating your recovery like getting good at a sport has many advantages. If you consider that you’re training for your “Olympic event” in any sport there are processes you must go through to reach that level. Learning to manage your stuttering behaviour and to move forward with your recovery also involves processes.  Remember that your stuttering IS NOT who you are. It’s just one of your many behaviours albeit one that you don’t like and want to change. Your Olympic event might be joining Toastmasters or being President of your local service club, whatever. Let’s look at what’s involved in getting good at the “Sport of Speaking”. 1.      Attitude – we must take ownership of our own recovery. Certainly we have resources and people around us who can help and support us but the buck stops with us. If we sit around hoping for someone to “cure” us or invent the “magic pill”, it just won’t happen! We then need the commitment to make this work a priority in our lives, to manage our time so that consistent effort and application is possible. We also need to have a fun attitude towards the work ahead of us. If we can’t inject some fun and enjoyment into the task it will become boring and tedious and many simply won’t apply themselves.2.      Discipline – self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state! It encompasses things such as:·      Willpower which gives you the momentum to get started. “The difference between a successful person and another is not lack of strength, not lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will!”   - Vince Lombardi·         Hard Work is that which challenges you. Most people will do what’s easiest and avoid hard work. Stop avoiding and fearing hard work. Make hard work your ally instead of your enemy!“The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”   -  Oprah Winfrey·         Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings! Persistence will ultimately provide its own motivation.“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge3.      Technique – Whether the McGuire technique, smooth speech or other methods it is vital that you habituate your chosen technique by using it in ALL situations for an extensive period especially in your comfort zone where fear and anxiety around speaking is at its lowest. Remember, learning a technique only provides you with a tool to go out into the big cruel world and START your recovery. Would you be able to play competitive tennis with no technique?4.      Emotions – It’s right and normal to have some fears and performance anxiety around challenging speaking situations. However we must learn to control abnormal fear and anxiety to perform better. It’s OK to have butterflies in the tummy, as long as they’re flying in formation. Deep breathing, saying NO to negative thoughts, voluntary stuttering are just a few of the tools useful to lower anxiety levels.5.      Practice – How do we move a skill from something we have to focus on all the time to something that happens automatically without thought? Practice, practice and more practice! It’s no surprise that Lleyton Hewitt can execute that top-spin lob successfully 95% plus of the attempts; he’s drilled and practised that shot thousands of times. Unconscious competence comes from practice.6.      Improvement - Progress – If we don’t keep moving forward with any skill including the Sport of Speaking, we’ll start to slip backwards. Key to this is to set goals for every day activities around your speech improvement. Take any top sportsperson and ask them to describe the processes around their success. They’ll always talk about goal-setting. If we’re serious about getting good at the Sport of Speaking, we need to copy the champions! The challenge for those of us who are trying to move ahead with speaking better, is to look at the above list and to ask ourselves, “How good am I going?” Do I have the right attitude? Have I the discipline to do what’s required? Do I have a technique in which I have belief and faith – if not find one? Am I able to control my emotions in speaking situations? How often do I practise and drill my technique so it becomes automatic? Am I setting and following through on goals that will move my recovery forward? Think of anything that you’re exceptionally good at…….sport, music, growing roses. Apply the same principles used to get good at that whatever (many of the above six elements will be there) and apply them to your speech. IF IT’S TO BE, IT’S UP TO ME!

Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )

 

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