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  "id": "CC-043",
  "title": "How long did it take me to get the speech I wanted?",
  "topic": "Getting started and understanding my approach",
  "author": {
    "name": "Craig Coffee",
    "id": "https://usedtostutter.com/craig-coffee#person"
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  "source_markdown": "# How long did it take me to get the speech I wanted?\n\nBy [Craig Coffee](/craig-coffee)\n\nA long time. I have described ten years of working things out after the glimpse of fluency I had while [studying in Spain](/stuttering-in-different-languages). I had already been stuttering and trying to find help for years before that.\n\n[The breakthrough was temporary](/why-stuttering-changes). I came home wondering what had happened and how I could have that freedom in the rest of my life.\n\n## What filled those years?\n\nI 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.\n\nI 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.\n\nThat 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.\n\n## I wanted someone to explain how\n\nI 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nI still [bring what I learned into the next conversation](/keeping-my-speaking-practice-going). Most of the time it is subconscious now because I have done it for so many years.\n\n## Related answers\n\n- [How did I start working on my stuttering?](/how-to-stop-stuttering)\n- [How did I practice while I was still stuttering?](/practicing-while-you-still-stutter)\n\n[Find your question](/questions)\n",
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      "source_markdown": "A long time. I have described ten years of working things out after the glimpse of fluency I had while [studying in Spain](/stuttering-in-different-languages). I had already been stuttering and trying to find help for years before that.\n\n[The breakthrough was temporary](/why-stuttering-changes). I came home wondering what had happened and how I could have that freedom in the rest of my life.\n\n",
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      "heading": "What filled those years?",
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      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## What filled those years?\n\nI 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.\n\nI 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.\n\nThat 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.\n\n",
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      "source_markdown": "## I wanted someone to explain how\n\nI 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nI still [bring what I learned into the next conversation](/keeping-my-speaking-practice-going). Most of the time it is subconscious now because I have done it for so many years.\n\n",
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      "source_markdown": "## Related answers\n\n- [How did I start working on my stuttering?](/how-to-stop-stuttering)\n- [How did I practice while I was still stuttering?](/practicing-while-you-still-stutter)\n",
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      "title": "ME AND YOU",
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