A long time. I have described ten years of working things out after the glimpse of fluency I had while studying in Spain. I had already been stuttering and trying to find help for years before that.
The breakthrough was temporary. I came home wondering what had happened and how I could have that freedom in the rest of my life.
What filled those years?
I studied self-help. Then I applied it: going out on dates, applying for jobs, standing in front of colleagues, making calls at work. Those were chances to test what worked and what didn't.
I could try an idea, fail with it, work on it and go back out. I failed a lot more often than I found success. Slowly I built on what worked.
That is what sits behind a simple-looking piece of advice. Asking a question and responding without pre-scripting it took me a lot of practice. Sometimes I blocked. Sometimes I wasn't quick enough.
I wanted someone to explain how
I had met people who said they used to stutter. I asked what happened and how they did it. They couldn't explain it in a way that gave me a direction. I had to figure out my own path.
The shit I share came from those years of trying. I'm giving the explanation I would have loved to have had while I was struggling.
I still bring what I learned into the next conversation. Most of the time it is subconscious now because I have done it for so many years.