How to Stop Stuttering: Tips to Manage Stuttering and Anxiety

Amanda Unrau
M.A., CCC-SLP
11/05/26 | Last modified: 11/05/26

If you have a fluency disorder that impacts your daily life, you probably want to stutter less or not at all. It can be frustrating to not be in control of your speech. It can even feel like your stuttering holds you back from certain opportunities. You might be asking how to stop stuttering. Stuttering can be reduced and managed, but not instantly switched off. This article will present techniques and in-the-moment strategies to help with stuttering, ways to manage associated anxiety, and the importance of seeking professional help.

Can You Stop Stuttering?

According to the National Stuttering Association, there is no universal cure for stuttering. Rather than a full cure that stops stuttering, many people significantly reduce stuttering with the right techniques and support. For some adults, the goal is not to stop stuttering, but to manage stuttering and speak more freely. 

Stuttering is a disruption in the flow and timing of speech, characterized by disfluencies. These disfluencies come in the form of prolongations (“The ssssun is out.”), repetitions (“I-I-I want to go home.”), and blocks (pauses, speech is halted) of sounds and words. Children and adults can experience stuttering. Genetics and neurological factors can play a role in causing stuttering. Environmental and emotional factors may impact stuttering, but do not cause it. 

Techniques To Reduce Stuttering

Certain techniques can reduce stuttering. Using more than one approach gives you multiple options to keep in your stuttering toolbox. Try out and practice the following techniques.  

Slow Your Speech Rate

One way to reduce stuttering is to control your rate of speech. Slowing down when you produce words, especially the initial sound of words, gives more time for motor planning and implementation. This can reduce stuttering. Ways to slow your speech rate are to incorporate pausing, stretch out your words, over-articulate your words, and increase your mouth opening.

Use Controlled Breathing

Breathing exercises can reduce the anxiety that often accompanies stuttering. People who stutter may take rapid, shallow breaths due to anxiety. This limits the amount of oxygen that enters your body. 

There are several types of breathing that can be effective. One example is diaphragmatic breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing, also called belly breathing or abdominal breathing, is breathing using the diaphragm instead of the chest. This improves breath control, reduces tension and anxiety, and boosts relaxation, which can improve fluent speech. To practice diaphragmatic breathing, place your hand on your belly. Breathe in slowly through your nose and feel your belly expand, then exhale slowly through your mouth. 

Add Pauses And Phrasing

The pausing and phrasing technique involves learning to pause at natural points in conversation. This gives your brain time to plan and helps you slow down to a comfortable rate of speech before proceeding. It also improves breath control and the timing of speech. Incorporating pauses increases the flow of conversation and decreases muscle tension. Using phrasing can give you more control over your pace and reduces time pressure so you don’t feel the need to rush your speech. 

Try Easy Onset

Easy onset is a technique that is used to prevent stuttering. Instead of initiating a word by bringing the vocal folds together hard, you produce words gently, which decreases tension in the vocal folds. Reduced tension leads to smoother speech.

Easy onset involves easing into words that begin with vowels by using your voice gently and slowly. To apply easy onset, you first take a deep breath. On the exhale, you breathe out slowly while making the /h/ sound. Then turn on your voice and increase the volume to your normal speaking voice. With practice, easy onset will become more natural and the /h/ will sound less noticeable. 

Use Light Contact

Light articulatory contact is also known as continuous phonation. This technique reduces tension while speaking, which is meant to prevent stuttering. We use our articulators, consisting of our teeth, lips, tongue, and jaw, to produce speech. With light contact, you gently touch your articulators together when speaking to produce smoother and more controlled speech. 

To use light contact, take a slow, deep breath to decrease tension. Then use light, controlled movements of your articulators to produce sounds. Do not use too much pressure in your movements. 

Stretch Your Syllables

Stretching out syllables in words can prevent stuttering. The stretched syllables strategy is also known as prolonged speech or stretchy speech. It can help you reduce tension, be in control of your speech, and feel more confident while speaking. With stretched syllables, you hold out a vowel sound, or syllable, for about two seconds. 

How To Stop Stuttering When Talking

Even when you apply the above techniques to try to prevent stuttering, you cannot avoid every moment of disfluency. When this happens, you don’t want preventative strategies; you want to know how to not stutter in the midst of disfluencies. If you are wondering how to stop stuttering when talking, here are some strategies you can use in the moment. 

Try Cancellation

Cancellation can help reduce tension during moments of stuttering. When people stutter, they tend to rush through the stutter to get to the next word, which builds tension. This cycle of tension and release is reinforced in the brain. Cancellation helps rewire the brain so that the release onto the next word is associated with relaxation instead of tension.

Cancellation is about changing how you respond to stuttering, not eliminating stuttering entirely. To use cancellation, you first need to notice when you begin to stutter. Stop speaking and locate the tension in your body. Take a deep breath and relax that area. Repeat the word you stuttered on with less tension. 

Practice Easing Out

Easing out, also called the pull-out method, helps individuals manage and shorten their moments of stuttering. The goal is to ease out of a stutter gently without forcing it. This strategy requires a significant amount of monitoring and self-awareness, so it can be helpful to start by practicing pausing after stuttering.

To use easing out, you need to first recognize the moment of stuttering. Identify where you feel tension and relax those muscles. Then continue the word smoothly. You are trying to catch the stutter by holding out the word, stretching the sound to reduce the tension, then finishing the word.

Managing The Anxiety Around Stuttering

Anxiety does not cause stuttering, but it often accompanies stuttering. Difficult speaking experiences can make someone nervous and even cause them to avoid speaking. This stress can even increase the likelihood of stuttering or make moments of stuttering more intense. This creates a cycle of anxiety and stuttering. 

There are ways to lower speaking pressure and build confidence. Start with small steps. Try one small task that makes you nervous, such as leaving a short voicemail. With each task, identify your level of anxiety before and after. Then tackle another task. Frequent exposure that gets more challenging over time helps to reduce fear even when you stutter. 

Several specific therapy approaches target anxiety and fear. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps to restructure negative thought patterns and desensitizes the stutter. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you notice anxiety and speak in small steps. Avoidance Reduction Therapy for Stuttering (ARTS) helps people reduce their fear and avoidance in a systematic, individualized manner.

Speech Therapy And Professional Help

Speech therapy helps individuals who stutter improve their communication and gain confidence. A licensed speech-language pathologist can teach evidence-based strategies for managing stuttering. These strategies usually fall under one of two categories: fluency shaping and stuttering modification. Fluency shaping, or speech modification strategies, focus on changing the timing and pausing during speech production. Stuttering modification strategies aim to reduce physical tension and struggle in the midst of disfluencies. 

Stuttering can significantly impact a person’s life. Professional support is the most reliable path to helping those who stutter feel empowered to use their voice in all situations.

Tools That Can Help

Several tools are available that can help individuals who stutter. These tools should be used in addition to formal speech therapy.

Scenari-Aid is a simulation tool that allows you to practice speaking in video scenarios. Users improve fluency and build confidence by completing practice job interviews or phone calls. Scenari-Aid helps to desensitize the fear and anxiety associated with stuttering.

withVR is a virtual reality program that offers users the opportunity to practice various speaking scenarios in an immersive environment. It is sometimes used in speech therapy sessions and may help reduce social anxiety. 

Forbrain is an auditory stimulation tool that can help support fluency. Forbrain for Stuttering uses delayed auditory feedback, playing your spoken voice back to you through headphones a fraction of a second later. Forbrain is designed to help users integrate the rhythm and flow of their speech over time, which may support more fluent speech over time. A case study showed that the use of Forbrain may improve speech patterns in adults who stutter. As with any tool, Forbrain can be used as a support alongside practice and professional support, but it is not a cure. 

Helping A Child Who Stutters

Stuttering often begins in childhood. About 95% of children who stutter do so before age 4. Many children go through a developmentally normal period of disfluencies as their language and vocabulary skills grow. Many children grow out of their stutter, but others likely need speech therapy to improve their fluency. 

If you notice ongoing disfluencies (prolongations, repetitions, blocks) in your child’s speech, that they avoid speaking, or that they exhibit unusual body movements when talking, contact a speech-language pathologist. 

Here are some strategies to use at home if your child stutters:

• Model a reduced rate of speech

• Ask fewer questions in succession

• Allow for longer pauses between conversational turns

• Don’t rush your child and let them finish speaking in their own time

• Introduce your child to others who stutter, through support groups or speech therapy groups

• Create a safe zone in your home so they don’t feel judged for stuttering 

When To See A Speech-Language Pathologist

Some disfluencies are normal in speech, so how do you know when to see a speech-language pathologist? These are signs to watch for:

• Prolongations, repetitions, or blocks in daily speech

• Avoiding certain words

• Avoiding talking

• Lack of confidence

• Abnormal body movements, such as eye blinking or foot stomping

If you notice any of these signs in yourself or your child, reach out to a speech-language pathologist. They can conduct an evaluation to determine if speech therapy is necessary. Keep in mind that this article is educational and not for diagnostic purposes.

Bottom Line

Although there is not one easy answer for how to stop stuttering, there are many ways to manage stuttering and feel confident in your communication interactions. Speech therapy with a licensed clinician is the best place to start. In addition to using techniques to improve fluency and reduce stuttering, it is important to address the anxiety associated with stuttering. Stuttering can’t be turned off, but you can still learn ways to be in control of your stutter, instead of your stutter controlling you.

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