{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "id": "CC-065",
  "title": "How did I turn things I read into something I could use when speaking?",
  "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 did I turn things I read into something I could use when speaking?\n\nBy [Craig Coffee](/craig-coffee)\n\nI studied, I applied, I tried. Then I went back and changed what I was doing.\n\nThat's the way I've described the years I spent working this out. I read a lot of self-help material, including older books, because I was looking for ideas I could use in my own life. Then I took those ideas into the real world.\n\nThe real world gave me something a book couldn't give me by itself: a person who didn't follow the conversation I'd imagined, a work situation that surprised me, a call where I got nervous.\n\n## An idea had to survive a real conversation\n\nI could understand an idea when I read it and still struggle when I tried it. That's why I kept saying that the concepts can sound simple while the work is hard.\n\n[Asking an open-ended question](/starting-conversations-when-you-stutter) sounds simple. Learning to ask it, listen and respond while I was nervous took practice. Working on confidence sounded simple too. Bringing it into school, work and public places took much more than reading the sentence.\n\n[I failed a lot of times.](/when-stuttering-practice-goes-badly) I've talked about moments when my speech wasn't good and the tools weren't doing what I wanted. Those experiences showed me there was more to work out.\n\n## Where did I try one idea?\n\nIn a bunch of different environments. A classroom. A job. A conversation. A phone call. I would take something I had learned and try it on my speech in those places.\n\nI failed far more times than I found success. Slowly, I built on what worked and kept trying and refining it. That's the work behind saying I borrowed from other teachers: I still had to figure out how I could use what I read.\n\n## What did someone tell me after trying the spontaneous speaking?\n\nA person came back to a group call after trying what we'd discussed over the previous few days. He said he usually delayed talking to people. This time, when he saw someone and knew what he wanted to say, he said it.\n\nHe also described being with friends the day before and saying things as they came to him. I asked whether he was doing it with friends too, and how much of a difference he noticed. He said yesterday had felt much better. He was still having trouble getting the word stutter out in the call.\n\nI was glad he had tried it, and I wanted to hear more. I offered to talk again and told him to keep practicing and share what happened. It was one part of what I wanted to show him. We still had more to discuss.\n\n## Back out into the world\n\nIn one dictated account, I described coming back to my own “lab,” refining something, then taking it into the real world again. That was how I talked about my personal experimenting. I wanted something useful in the places where I actually lived.\n\nSome ideas were borrowed. Some I adapted. I have credited [books and people whose work influenced me](/books-that-influenced-my-speaking-journey). What mattered was what I could understand, practice and bring into the next situation.\n\nI wasn't doing one reading exercise and declaring the whole thing finished. I wanted to make a call, have a conversation, speak at work and do it again another day.\n\nThat is the process behind the speech you hear now: reading, trying, getting things wrong, adjusting, and practicing again. It took me a long time. I'm putting the explanation out because I would have loved to have more of that map while I was finding my way.\n\n## Related answers\n\n- [Why did I have to practice in real conversations?](/stuttering-practice-in-real-conversations)\n- [What do I ask when someone tells me about another stuttering course?](/comparing-stuttering-programs)\n\n[Find your question](/questions)\n",
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  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "reading-content",
      "heading": null,
      "heading_level": null,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#reading-content",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "I studied, I applied, I tried. Then I went back and changed what I was doing.\n\nThat's the way I've described the years I spent working this out. I read a lot of self-help material, including older books, because I was looking for ideas I could use in my own life. Then I took those ideas into the real world.\n\nThe real world gave me something a book couldn't give me by itself: a person who didn't follow the conversation I'd imagined, a work situation that surprised me, a call where I got nervous.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "7c255ffcbe6c952580d817c76453d47bf8e999cb5b86cebf08f211feecef6c51"
    },
    {
      "id": "an-idea-had-to-survive-a-real-conversation",
      "heading": "An idea had to survive a real conversation",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#an-idea-had-to-survive-a-real-conversation",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## An idea had to survive a real conversation\n\nI could understand an idea when I read it and still struggle when I tried it. That's why I kept saying that the concepts can sound simple while the work is hard.\n\n[Asking an open-ended question](/starting-conversations-when-you-stutter) sounds simple. Learning to ask it, listen and respond while I was nervous took practice. Working on confidence sounded simple too. Bringing it into school, work and public places took much more than reading the sentence.\n\n[I failed a lot of times.](/when-stuttering-practice-goes-badly) I've talked about moments when my speech wasn't good and the tools weren't doing what I wanted. Those experiences showed me there was more to work out.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "e3f18680c0c33a5604e312a408d5f2c5c8d8e4af4a51adcccf214af8881c282d"
    },
    {
      "id": "where-did-i-try-one-idea",
      "heading": "Where did I try one idea?",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#where-did-i-try-one-idea",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## Where did I try one idea?\n\nIn a bunch of different environments. A classroom. A job. A conversation. A phone call. I would take something I had learned and try it on my speech in those places.\n\nI failed far more times than I found success. Slowly, I built on what worked and kept trying and refining it. That's the work behind saying I borrowed from other teachers: I still had to figure out how I could use what I read.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "7ff08a310f99b3ce87d188836e2cf387d790c9c9feef7c25936cdfd7d647ce49"
    },
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      "id": "what-did-someone-tell-me-after-trying-the-spontaneous-speaking",
      "heading": "What did someone tell me after trying the spontaneous speaking?",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#what-did-someone-tell-me-after-trying-the-spontaneous-speaking",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## What did someone tell me after trying the spontaneous speaking?\n\nA person came back to a group call after trying what we'd discussed over the previous few days. He said he usually delayed talking to people. This time, when he saw someone and knew what he wanted to say, he said it.\n\nHe also described being with friends the day before and saying things as they came to him. I asked whether he was doing it with friends too, and how much of a difference he noticed. He said yesterday had felt much better. He was still having trouble getting the word stutter out in the call.\n\nI was glad he had tried it, and I wanted to hear more. I offered to talk again and told him to keep practicing and share what happened. It was one part of what I wanted to show him. We still had more to discuss.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "db5919cf18842b600ccbd900b3e5d48da441bb77464c2c8f9db48c6fc61a9d00"
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      "heading": "Back out into the world",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#back-out-into-the-world",
      "role": "source_context",
      "source_markdown": "## Back out into the world\n\nIn one dictated account, I described coming back to my own “lab,” refining something, then taking it into the real world again. That was how I talked about my personal experimenting. I wanted something useful in the places where I actually lived.\n\nSome ideas were borrowed. Some I adapted. I have credited [books and people whose work influenced me](/books-that-influenced-my-speaking-journey). What mattered was what I could understand, practice and bring into the next situation.\n\nI wasn't doing one reading exercise and declaring the whole thing finished. I wanted to make a call, have a conversation, speak at work and do it again another day.\n\nThat is the process behind the speech you hear now: reading, trying, getting things wrong, adjusting, and practicing again. It took me a long time. I'm putting the explanation out because I would have loved to have more of that map while I was finding my way.\n\n",
      "source_span_sha256": "a41bdc1849182f1236467dcaf5b23f6763ba915e2505a89da79287945bf32c08"
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      "id": "related-answers",
      "heading": "Related answers",
      "heading_level": 2,
      "citation_url": "https://usedtostutter.com/how-i-tested-speaking-advice#related-answers",
      "role": "navigation",
      "source_markdown": "## Related answers\n\n- [Why did I have to practice in real conversations?](/stuttering-practice-in-real-conversations)\n- [What do I ask when someone tells me about another stuttering course?](/comparing-stuttering-programs)\n",
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