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  "id": "CC-058",
  "title": "How did I handle seven work presentations over two days?",
  "topic": "Work, school and relationships",
  "author": {
    "name": "Craig Coffee",
    "id": "https://usedtostutter.com/craig-coffee#person"
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  "source_markdown": "# How did I handle seven work presentations over two days?\n\nBy [Craig Coffee](/craig-coffee)\n\nI was doing process-improvement work with two other people. Then a senior person told us we'd be on a panel at the company's town halls the following Thursday. We had four days to prepare.\n\nHere was the shitter: it wasn't one town hall. It was seven over two days. Same panel. We had to speak at all seven.\n\nI worked really hard on the preparation. I did well, and I was very nervous. The sessions were recorded too, which I hadn't known.\n\n## What I did in the five-minute gaps\n\nThere were five minutes between town halls. I went to the bathroom most of the time and [played my pump-up song](/music-before-speaking).\n\nI did it in the midst of chaos. I did it for me. No one knew. I took that time for myself in my own big moments to work on my emotional state.\n\n## I had something familiar I could use again\n\nMusic was something I had already learned to use before speaking. It changed how I felt. Here, I used it before going back into the next session.\n\nThat is the particular thing I wanted to explain about those two days: taking a little time for myself while I still had more speaking to do.\n\n## Related answers\n\n- [What do I try to do before a work meeting starts?](/stuttering-in-meetings)\n- [How can I prepare without scripting every word?](/preparing-without-scripting)\n\n[Find your question](/questions)\n",
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      "source_markdown": "I was doing process-improvement work with two other people. Then a senior person told us we'd be on a panel at the company's town halls the following Thursday. We had four days to prepare.\n\nHere was the shitter: it wasn't one town hall. It was seven over two days. Same panel. We had to speak at all seven.\n\nI worked really hard on the preparation. I did well, and I was very nervous. The sessions were recorded too, which I hadn't known.\n\n",
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      "source_markdown": "## What I did in the five-minute gaps\n\nThere were five minutes between town halls. I went to the bathroom most of the time and [played my pump-up song](/music-before-speaking).\n\nI did it in the midst of chaos. I did it for me. No one knew. I took that time for myself in my own big moments to work on my emotional state.\n\n",
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      "heading": "I had something familiar I could use again",
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      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/stuttering-at-work-presentations#i-had-something-familiar-i-could-use-again",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## I had something familiar I could use again\n\nMusic was something I had already learned to use before speaking. It changed how I felt. Here, I used it before going back into the next session.\n\nThat is the particular thing I wanted to explain about those two days: taking a little time for myself while I still had more speaking to do.\n\n",
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      "source_markdown": "## Related answers\n\n- [What do I try to do before a work meeting starts?](/stuttering-in-meetings)\n- [How can I prepare without scripting every word?](/preparing-without-scripting)\n",
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