{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "id": "CC-026",
  "title": "Should I record myself when I practice speaking?",
  "topic": "Conversations and practice",
  "author": {
    "name": "Craig Coffee",
    "id": "https://usedtostutter.com/craig-coffee#person"
  },
  "canonical_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter",
  "access": "public",
  "content_kind": "author_published_article",
  "context_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/about-this-material",
  "source_sha256": "309e13b03dffcf5278c014759cd40ac266519ef870bd760bff7027d486311633",
  "source_markdown": "# Should I record myself when I practice speaking?\n\nBy [Craig Coffee](/craig-coffee)\n\nI don't treat recording as something to add immediately. In one conversation, Don was talking about practicing with strangers and building his confidence back up. I suggested getting some of that confidence back before recording it.\n\nMy concern was a thought arriving in the middle of the exchange: “Fuck, I'm recording.” I knew how quickly another thing to worry about could pull attention away from speaking.\n\nThat was the situation I was addressing. He was trying to regain confidence, and I didn't want the camera to become another part of the problem at that moment.\n\n## Why do I record myself now?\n\nI want people to see what I do in ordinary places. In the grocery store, a man looks at cookies and gives me an answer I haven't prepared for. At the market, somebody misses a trash can and I comment. In the bookstore, I make a comment and the interaction stays short.\n\nThe camera gives me a way to show those moments and explain them. What did I notice? What did I say? What happened next? That is [the teaching I want the recordings to carry](/stuttering-demonstrations).\n\n## Watching and practicing together had another purpose\n\nWhen I talked with Don about going out together, I wanted him to watch me approach someone. Then I wanted to come back and explain what I did and why I said it. He could try too, and we could discuss what happened.\n\nI said the time before the approach and the time afterward could be especially valuable. An idea can be quick to describe and take longer to practice. Seeing a particular attempt gives us something specific to discuss.\n\nThat conversation was a proposal for an outing. It is a different use of observation from asking someone to manage a camera while they are still trying to regain confidence.\n\n## A recording can have preparation around it too\n\nIn my older account of making a coffee recording, I described knowing the employee, asking permission and returning to record again. That is part of the production context of the example I discussed.\n\nI also described how draining a long public recording could be. Walking, talking, explaining what I am doing and dealing with the place around me involve work too.\n\n## The decision depends on the job the camera has\n\nWhen I suggested waiting, the immediate job was practicing conversation and rebuilding confidence. When I record my public teaching, the job is to let someone see the situation and hear my explanation of it.\n\nI had spent years working on my speech before making those recordings. Watching me use a camera at that stage doesn't mean adding one was the first thing I suggested to Don.\n\nThe speaking still has to happen with the person in front of us. I want the recording to help explain that experience, rather than become the only thing someone thinks about while trying to have it.\n\n## Related answers\n\n- [How can I prepare without scripting every word?](/preparing-without-scripting)\n- [Why did I sometimes leave filler words alone?](/filler-words-and-stuttering)\n- [Who would I practice with, and what would we work on?](/finding-a-stuttering-practice-partner)\n\n[Find your question](/questions)\n",
  "relative_link_base": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "reading-content",
      "heading": null,
      "heading_level": null,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#reading-content",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "I don't treat recording as something to add immediately. In one conversation, Don was talking about practicing with strangers and building his confidence back up. I suggested getting some of that confidence back before recording it.\n\nMy concern was a thought arriving in the middle of the exchange: “Fuck, I'm recording.” I knew how quickly another thing to worry about could pull attention away from speaking.\n\nThat was the situation I was addressing. He was trying to regain confidence, and I didn't want the camera to become another part of the problem at that moment.\n\n",
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    },
    {
      "id": "why-do-i-record-myself-now",
      "heading": "Why do I record myself now?",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#why-do-i-record-myself-now",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## Why do I record myself now?\n\nI want people to see what I do in ordinary places. In the grocery store, a man looks at cookies and gives me an answer I haven't prepared for. At the market, somebody misses a trash can and I comment. In the bookstore, I make a comment and the interaction stays short.\n\nThe camera gives me a way to show those moments and explain them. What did I notice? What did I say? What happened next? That is [the teaching I want the recordings to carry](/stuttering-demonstrations).\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "529a25d8a9bb270249c807db3e0677328b6c010ab2783353112ce83cf9b1497c"
    },
    {
      "id": "watching-and-practicing-together-had-another-purpose",
      "heading": "Watching and practicing together had another purpose",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#watching-and-practicing-together-had-another-purpose",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## Watching and practicing together had another purpose\n\nWhen I talked with Don about going out together, I wanted him to watch me approach someone. Then I wanted to come back and explain what I did and why I said it. He could try too, and we could discuss what happened.\n\nI said the time before the approach and the time afterward could be especially valuable. An idea can be quick to describe and take longer to practice. Seeing a particular attempt gives us something specific to discuss.\n\nThat conversation was a proposal for an outing. It is a different use of observation from asking someone to manage a camera while they are still trying to regain confidence.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "fa134d3916faf90e3e68ae19c392340cfc7346652ed5f456c4861bce1b83227d"
    },
    {
      "id": "a-recording-can-have-preparation-around-it-too",
      "heading": "A recording can have preparation around it too",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#a-recording-can-have-preparation-around-it-too",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## A recording can have preparation around it too\n\nIn my older account of making a coffee recording, I described knowing the employee, asking permission and returning to record again. That is part of the production context of the example I discussed.\n\nI also described how draining a long public recording could be. Walking, talking, explaining what I am doing and dealing with the place around me involve work too.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "6f128b1c7539027ec39fc3347c32315777f2cf8d109c24b02bceb267f16976ac"
    },
    {
      "id": "the-decision-depends-on-the-job-the-camera-has",
      "heading": "The decision depends on the job the camera has",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#the-decision-depends-on-the-job-the-camera-has",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## The decision depends on the job the camera has\n\nWhen I suggested waiting, the immediate job was practicing conversation and rebuilding confidence. When I record my public teaching, the job is to let someone see the situation and hear my explanation of it.\n\nI had spent years working on my speech before making those recordings. Watching me use a camera at that stage doesn't mean adding one was the first thing I suggested to Don.\n\nThe speaking still has to happen with the person in front of us. I want the recording to help explain that experience, rather than become the only thing someone thinks about while trying to have it.\n\n",
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    },
    {
      "id": "related-answers",
      "heading": "Related answers",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/recording-yourself-when-you-stutter#related-answers",
      "role": "navigation",
      "source_markdown": "## Related answers\n\n- [How can I prepare without scripting every word?](/preparing-without-scripting)\n- [Why did I sometimes leave filler words alone?](/filler-words-and-stuttering)\n- [Who would I practice with, and what would we work on?](/finding-a-stuttering-practice-partner)\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "d2249248d78c07aaed6519042cd2084502b93520a93a409a285e0b5dea03f734"
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  "related_book_sections": []
}