(Time: 3-5 minutes)

(Purpose: to provide insight about developmental stuttering and how to effectively interact with
stutterers .)
(Ask at specific time: How do you feel interacting with stutterers? What do you think is wrong
with them? )
( Strategies: Illustration and Examples, Narrative,
How ironic it is that My informative speech for an Oral Communication class is on a
communication disorder, stuttering or stammer?

Stuttering: A Million Things Id Like To Say (Borrow A projector) [ 3-5 minutes]

Outline Necessary

Introduction:
A. A catching Narrative about stuttering (20-30s)
B. Definition
C. Types of Stuttering
a. Mention Types
b. Focus on Developmental Disfluency
i. Age of onset
ii. If and when it goes way
D. Characteristics of Stutterer (Explore the Physical, Cognitive and Emotional )
a. Physical Signs
i. Stamping
E. Effectively Interacting With a Stutterer
F. Famous Stutterers: The .. Study reports that the average stutterers IQ is 14 points
greater than the average person. Of course stress exacerbates stuttering, just as it does
cancer, depression or any other condition

Stuttering: A Million Things I Would Have Liked To Say, But I Could Not Finish
By: Rhondene Wint

NARRATIVE (20s): It was a wispy September morning, the first day of school as matter of fact,
when a grade three teacher asked her students to stand and tell their name and something about
themselves. It went something like this:
Boy1: My name is Arnold Whittaker. I am 8 years old. I like football and Pokmon.
Girl 23: My name is Nickiesha White. I am 8 years old. I like to sing and dance.
Eventually, Girl38: Mmmmmm.(deep breath in) mmmmmy name is RRRR
(pause)
Teacher: But wait! A big girl like you dont remember your name. Speak up.
One student: No Miss is Rhondene, she stammah so she take long fi talk sometimes.
(Class laughs)
Girl38: (Really fast) MMMy name is Rhondene Wint. I am 8 years old. I enjoy reading
and playing videogames.

Imagine how painful life would be if you had trouble with simple tasks like introducing yourself,
having a decent telephone conversation, or simply asking for directions? Well, these everyday
routines can be rather overwhelming for stutterers. The primary aim of this speech is to inform
my audience about the stuttering, its signs and symptoms, and how to tactfully interact with
stutterers. Stuttering, also known as stammering, affects the fluency or flow of speech.
According to the American Language-Speech Hearing Association, stuttering is a speech
disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of
sounds, syllables, words or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the
person who stutters is unable to produce sounds. Now, there are various kinds of stuttering such
as pathological stuttering that occurs as a result of a stroke or head trauma, bobulating stuttering

as a result one being angry, confused or discombobulated. However, the type of stuttering of
interest is the one I have - developmental stuttering - that is characterized by effortless,
unconscious disfluency associated with young children. Now according to the Stuttering
Foundation, more than 68 million people worldwide suffer from developmental stuttering, which
is about 1% of the worlds population, and of that 1% 80% are males. So for a female stutterer, I
am as rare as a unicorn!
Stuttering is more common in children than you may have noticed; 70% children experience
developmental stuttering starting from age 3-5 years as a normal part of learning to speak, and
outgrow the condition by puberty. However, about less than 1% of individuals retain
developmental stuttering throughout adulthood, with boys being three times likely to become
stutterers than girls.
CAUSE: The cause for developmental stuttering has not been fully ascertained. However, Brain
scans show that right side of a stutterers brain is more active when speaking, although it is the
left side which controls speech. Stuttering is a neurological disorder, not an emotional one.
Numerous DNA analysis suggests that stuttering also has a genetic factor.
CHARACTERISTICS: (Ask the class ( 2 persons) what are some of things you noticed when a
stutterer speaks?) As mentioned before, whenever stutterers try to speak, they experience what is
call to speech block where no sound can be produced. Now let us take a deeper look on some of
the things a stutterer may experience while speaking. The common external signs are (quickly
go through -15s):
-

Tremors where we will blink our eyes, jerk our heads, and our lips tremble some
what

Grinding of teeth, clenching fists or stamping into the ground.

Inflection of the voice, alter our tone (sometimes sing too)

Then there are the internal effects, feelings and attitudes that are not often taken into
consideration by our fellow fluent speakers. Stuttering may have a significant negative cognitive
and affective impact on the person who stutters. Feelings of embarrassment shame, frustration,
fear, anger and guilt are frequent in stutterers, and may exacerbate the tension of speaking.
Overtime exposure to difficult speaking experiences (such as constantly being laughed at or look
down on) may solidify into a negative self-image. Here is an important feeling shared b all
stutterers - a person who stutters may project his or her attitudes onto others, believing that they
think he or she is nervous or stupid. Hence we can understand why a lot of stutterers shy away
from speaking in public; we have a million things to say its a struggle to fluently experience
them without some reaction of ridicule, impatience and even annoyance by our listeners.
Lastly I want to give the audience some tips about how to effectively communicate with a
stutterer, as may have children who are stutterers or deal some other stutterer in the future. Some
believe that telling the person to slow down, think carefully before you speak, take your time,
etc., will help the person to speak more fluently. These statements do not help and often make
the situation worse, especially for children. Knowing how to and how not to respond to a
person's dysfluencies can really help promote more fluent speech.

Listen to the content of the message rather than to how the message is coming out.

Keep natural eye contact with the person to show that you are listening and are
interested in their message. "Natural" does not mean staring at the person; nor does
it mean avoiding looking at the person. Pay attention to how often and for how

long you usually look at another speaker and then try that with the person who
stutters.

Let your posture, your facial expressions, your manner, and your voice show that
you are listening and are interested and that you are not embarrassed.

Resist the temptation to finish the person's sentences or fill in words because this
usually does not help. People who stutter know what they want to say; they just
need more time getting their message out.

Telling the person to slow down, relax, or take a deep breath usually does not help
either and often demeans them.

Instead of telling the person to slow down, try using a slower, more relaxed
speaking rate yourself. This may help relieve the feeling of time pressure and it
will show them that you have time to talk.

People who stutter usually have more difficulty controlling their speech on the
telephone. If you pick up the telephone and hear nothing or hear gasping, it
may be a person who stutters.

Treat the person who stutters with the same level of dignity and respect as you
treat other people.

Famous Stutterers: (Opening?)

1. Lewis Carroll: Writer of Alice in Wonderland
2. Moses- Great Biblical Prophet

3. Tiger Woods
4. King George VI The Kings Speech, Queen Elizabeth Father
5. Winston Churchill
6. Isaac Newton
7. Porky Pig: Loony Toons
Speech Outline

Topic 1: Infant Mortality In Developing Countries

Topic 2: Governments Aloofness Toward Global Warming and Its Impact on the Future
Topic 3: Big Brother States: Implications of Government Surveillance on Its Citizens
Topic 1:
A. The Cost of Governments negligence toward Global Warming on developing
countries.
B. Are There Enough Evidence For Governments to believe in Global Warming
C. How Governments should be responding to the Effects of Global Warming.
Topic 2:
A. Ethics of Government Surveillance in Democratic States.
B. The Greater Good Of Government Spying on Its Citizen (?).
C. How Exactly Do Western Nations Monitor Their Citizens.
Topic 3:
A. Reasons For High Infant Mortality Rates in Developing World
B. Reactions of Governments and NGOs to IMR
C. The Impact of a High IMR in Developing Economies

I want my speech to inform my class on some of key global issues affecting our world
today.

At the end of my speech, I want listeners to ask follow up questions. This suggests that
they were listening, and they want to hear more.

To achieve my specific goal, I need to provide illustrations, narratives, and statistics.

Checklist For Researching and Supporting A Public Speech
I conducted the following research: I pitched my topics to eight of my fellow classmates,
as they are my future audience, by asking for their opinions about my topics. The
responses were terse and they seemed somewhat bored by my topics. So I had to pivot
and choose a more audience friendly one. I decided to do an informative speech about
stuttering. Also, I consulted the online documents about delivering speeches that was
posted by the lecturer, as well as web pages on informative speech from other
universities, especially Colorado State Universitys online writing studio.

A. Review of my personal experience showed that I would be able to present a short

speech on stuttering as I myself am a stutterer. Therefore, I am comfortable delivering
about stuttering.
B.

I interviewed Mr. Alrick Hart: He is a past classmate who stutters

I interviewed Miss Rhondene Wint: Yes, I did some introspection in order to

organize all my knowledge, feelings and attitudes on stuttering

I interviewed Mr. Donald Smith: He is a student here at Northern Caribbean
whose father and brother are stutterers
C. I did not check any indices:

D. I checked these three online resources:

New York Times Article: To Fight Stuttering Doctors Look at The Brain
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Website
Youtube Documentary Stuttering: Let Me Finish
`

Online Journal Arictle by Swedish Psychologist Nils Lind

E. I surveyed on the following issues:

1. Physical, Mental, Emotional Effects of Stuttering
2. Things that annoy stutterers, and how their listeners can avoid them.
3. The feelings and attitudes of stutterers.
2. I have found the following key evidence for my speech;
A. Statistics:
70% of infants stutter upon until puberty.
1% of the Adult Population stutters, of that 1% , 80% are males.
The Average Stutterers IQ is 1-29 points higher than the average America
B. Authorities:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Website
Pollack, Andrew. "To Fight Stuttering, Doctors Look at the Brain", New York
Times, September 12, 2006.
C. Examples:
Personal examples

Other Stutterers Examples

D. Comparisons
Stuttering is like being blind. You dont tell a blind person to try a little harder and calm
down and youll see a little better.
E. Visual Aid
Due to the time limit of the speech, I will just display an interesting comic strip.