Chapter 17. NEVER PUSH THROUGH A BLOCK

It's critical to avoid unnecessary hard stuttering blocks.

My preference is to avoid forcing a word through a hard block when I have another way to communicate the thought. I knew how sh*tty I could feel afterward and how long I could keep replaying it. That experience shaped my rule. In an emergency, with a doctor, or whenever an exact name or detail matters, getting the correct information across takes priority. Speaking with a block is still communication.

What the f*ck am I talking about, Craig? I'm talking about the struggle I added when I tried to force a word out and then punished myself for it. I wanted to give myself a better chance in the next conversation. A hard block does not decide how the rest of your day has to go.

Why do you push?

When I anticipated a block, I could be thinking about what I was going to say and which word might be hard. That attention could pull me away from the person in front of me. It was one part of my experience that I worked on.

When I wanted to say a particular word or my name, I could start forcing it. I wanted the moment over. I could feel scared and intimidated, what I call 2 inches tall. Those are the feelings I remember; they do not tell me why every other person blocks.



After forcing a block, I could feel like sh*t. Embarrassed. Ashamed. Then I would replay it and beat myself up. Sometimes that stayed with me for the rest of the day. I am describing how it could go for me. The next conversation was still ahead of me, and learning to stop punishing myself mattered too.

People have told me they wanted to prove they could say their name or order the food they wanted. I understand that wish. Those words matter to us. My concern was how much struggle I added to the moment and how I treated myself afterward. Getting a word out through a block still counts as getting it out. I wanted more ways to communicate and recover.

For me, replaying a block could reinforce the feeling that I was 2 inches tall. I could turn one difficult moment into a judgment about my whole ability to speak. That was a pattern I wanted to change.

I would rather word substitute and say a different word

It's critical to avoid unnecessary hard stuttering blocks. Pushing out your real name through a hard stuttering block just to prove you can say it made me feel like sh*t.

One of the major philosophies that I have is fluency above all else. Fluency at any cost. For me, I want to be fluent. For me, I had to be fluent. I'm gonna talk about what some people never discuss, or they're ashamed to. Word substitution. Well, Craig, what does word substitution have anything to do with pushing through blocks? Stay on topic, man. Well, this is on topic. See, when you're thinking strategically about it, the word substitution is huge.



If you pay close attention to me when I talk, you'll see I've done it too. I would rather choose another word that expresses the same thought than force a word through a hard block. That is one choice I use. The meaning still has to be accurate, and some information needs its exact wording.

So when someone says word swapping is always bad, I don't agree. It has been useful to me when another word carries what I want to say. Another person may prefer to keep the original word, and I have heard why that matters to them.

A difficult block can hurt. It does not close the rest of the day. Give yourself room to recover and speak again.

Unless you have to say it, like for a doctor

Use the choice that lets you communicate what matters in that situation.

So here's what I say, is just drop it. So I would not even start it again, unless you have to say it, like for a doctor or something.