1

YOUR STAMMER
AND HOW TO
CORRECT IT
 By the same author

YOUR SPEAKING VOICE AND

ITS POSSIBILITEIS
 3

YOUR STAMMER
AND HOW TO CORRECT IT
by
H. ST. JOHN RUMSEY
M.A. Cantab.
Late Choral Scholar of King’s Coll.,Cambridge
Speech Therapist and Lecturer in Speech Therapy
at Guy’s Hospital

With a Foreword by
W. M. MOLLISON
C.E.B., M.A., M.Ch., Cantab., F.R.C.S. Eng.,
Surgeon-in-charge Ear, Nose and Throat Dept.,
Guy’s Hospital

LONDON
FREDERICK MULLER LTD.
29 Great James Street, W.C.I
FIRST PUBLISHED BY FREDERICK MULLER LTD.

IN 1937

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

BY BUTLER & TANNER LTD.

FROME & LONDON

 5

FOREWORD

Many jokes have been founded on stammering, but to be a

stammerer is far from a joking matter.
In this small book Mr. St. John Rumsey has set forth very
clearly and in simple language the factors which conduce to
stammering, and shows that there is not one cause but several;
he explodes the myth that fear is the cause and suggests instead
that stammering is the fearful thing; on the other hand, he
points out the importance of the psychology of the stammerer
and how friends and relations can help or hinder the sufferer in
his efforts to overcome the stammering “habit”.
Mr. Rumsey holds out a sure hope of recovery to
stammerers through well directed instructions on control of the
vocal mechanism and deliberation in speech; but finally he
impresses on the patients the great importance of their will to
correct themselves.
A sensible exposition of an important physical drawback by
one who has corrected himself of stammering must carry great
weight and help many victims of stammering.

W.M. MOLLISON
23 Devonshire Place,
W.I.
 AUTHOR’S PREFACE

During the last few years we, in this country, have given
much more thought to the correction of stammering; it has been
a period of collecting facts and forming theories. At the
moment there is a risk that some of us “cannot see the wood for
the trees”.
This is my reason for writing another little book on the habit
of stammering after another fourteen years of hospital and
private experience. My aim is to clear the atmosphere by
explaining to my readers how respiration, the vocal tone
produced in the larynx and the articulatory movements of the
tongue, lips and jaws are coordinated into speech in the normal
speaker, and how, and why, in the case of the stammerer this
coordination breads down.
My grateful thanks are due to Mr. ...

H. ST. JOHN RUMSEY

153 Clatence Gate Gardens,
N.W.I.
 7

CONTENTS

Foreword

Author’s Preface

I Introductory.............................................................. 1

II A General Survey..................................................... 4

III Respiration............................................................... 8

IV The Larynx...............................................................12

V Vowels and Consonants..........................................16

VI The Stammerer’s Speech..........................................19

VII

Causation..................................................................25

VIII

Definition..................................................................31

IX

Treatment..................................................................32

X Example and Precept................................................39

XI The

Stammerer..........................................................42
 XII Cleft Palate
Speech ..................................................46
9
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTORY

T HE misery caused by a stammer can only be fully realized

by those who have themselves suffered from the habit.
Even parents of stammering children seem to be unable to
appreciate what their children suffer, the additional strain, the fact
that occurrence which to the normal person call for no special
effort, in the case of a stammerer assume terrifying proportions,
and the ever-present fear that the occasion will arise when the
stammerer will find himself in a floodlight of publicity or be
confronted with what seems to him to be a dire calamity either to
himself or an acquaintances.
Those who have personal knowledge of hundreds of cases and
get to know their patients well are better able to realize fully how
fear dominates their lives, fear of asking for a ticket, fear of being
asked a simple question in the street, until fear becomes the
constant companion of the sufferer. To the normal person, asking
for a railway ticket hardly breaks into conversation with a
companion, but for the stammerer it is an alarming crisis
necessitating special practice beforehand and an event which has
been dreaded for many hours. The sudden question is even worse
because there is no clue, no chance to dodge the difficult word
and no chance of practicing beforehand; yet to the normal person
it means less than the striking of a match.
The outward sign of this incessant strain may be a marked
diffidence of manner or a bombastic insistence to occupy the
center of the stage and to be in the limelight all the time; again, it
may be reflected by an abrupt manner or the habit of putting the
other person in the wrong. Many stammerers develop into athletic
fanatics in their endeavor to prove that although they may be
unable to compete with other people in speech, they can excel in
games. There was a case of a stammerer who took up motor
racing and flying to convince himself and others that he was not
afraid, yet all the time he was shadowed by the fear of speech.
Numberless instances could be given to show the effects and
repercussions of this habit, but the important fact to be realized is
that life is distorted and unhappy until the habit is corrected.
There are cases in which the disability does not appear to worry
the patient, but it is doubtful if this is really the case; it is far
more probable that the indifference is assumed because he lacks
the confidence to make a determined effort to correct it. There are
a few cases of the stammer being used as a protection against
work or additional responsibility, but it is probable that in most of
such apparent cases fear is the real trouble and the patient
distrusts his own ability to compete with the normal parson.
It is no exaggeration to say that stammering in very many
cases amounts to a tragedy and yet, until the last few years, the
only medical advice frequently given to the parents of a
stammering child was, to do nothing because the child would
probably grow out of it. It is quite true that many stammerers get
better as they get older and that by the age of fifty have very little
trouble left, but even if the average case did correct itself by the
age of twenty-five, think of all the unnecessary misery of the
years-from seven; eighteen years during which character is
formed, clouded by fear, with confidence being undermined by
failure day by day and year after year.
During the last few years much has been learned about the
habit of stammering and it is realized by the medical profession
that the average case of stammering can be corrected. Medical
books of reference contain informative articles on the subject. At
most of the larger hospitals speech clinics have been opened, but
the general public is still under the impression that little if
anything can be done for the stammerer. This erroneous idea is
partly accounted for by the number of charlatans who appear
from time to time and widely advertise sure and permanent cures
in a given time for a definite and generally substantial sum of
money. How can it be possible to say that anyone else can and
will break a bad habit? How can it be possible to say how long it
will take?
 The confidence shown by the medical profession by the
institution of speech clinics at some of the larger hospitals is an
assurance to the public that good work can be done and is being
done, but the public should be guided by this medical confidence.
To seek help from an instructor who has not got medical
recommendation is to court disaster; it can only be compared with
seeking medical advice from the local grocer.
As will be shown in more detail in the following chapters
there are two distinct aspects from which stammering may be
viewed; it is a definite bad habit and may be viewed and treated
as such; there is also a strong element of fear, but whether the fear
is the cause of the stammer or the result of it is a question which
must engage the attention of every student of speech disabilities.
If the fear is the primary cause of the stammer the help of the
psychotherapist should be sought, but if the habit of stammering
has caused the fear it is obviously the concern of the expert in
voice production.
 Chapter II

A GENERAL SURVEY

I N order to evolve an effective method for the correction of

the stammering habit and reducing the risk of a relapse to a
minimum, it is necessary to take careful notice of the actual
differences between the speech of the stammerer and that of the
normal speaker; this will help us to form an opinion with regard
to the primary cause of the intermittent breakdown in the
complicated mechanism of human speech which is called
stammering.
We are apt to take for granted the wonders of nature; to take
an instance, in the choice of our food, most of us are guided by
likes and dislikes rather than by the study of food values and a
balanced diet, but we are astonished at the occasional rebellion of
the digestive system, nature’s warning to us to be guided in future
by common sense, knowledge and experience. In a similar way
we take speech for granted, although it is surely one of the
greatest wonders of nature. We are astonished at partial speech
failure (stammering) in one percent of the population, whereas
the real wonder is the speech control of the ninety-nine per cent.
We share many of our activities, mode of living and even the
faculty of reasoning with the animal kingdom, but whereas all the
animals with the exception of one or two can make a vocal noise,
ability to mould that vocal noise into speech belongs only to
human beings. Note carefully what you have just read, the
moulding of vocal noise into words and sentences constitutes
what we call speech, i.e. vocal noise is the primary essential.
This is an important link in the chain of evidence which we are
trying to form; its importance will be made clear presently.
Vocal noise is made in the larynx by the vibration of the vocal
cords; the cords are vibrated by the breath from the lungs passing
between them. For vocal noise, then, there are two essentials, the
vocal cords and the breath which causes them to vibrate. To make
vocal noise into speech a third factor must be added, the
movements of the lips, jaws, soft palate and the tongue, the last-
mentioned being the most important. As the stammerer knows to
his cost, the tongue has been well named “the unruly member”.
The ventriloquist’s art consists in having his tongue under such
perfect control that he can make it do the work of the lips and
jaws and thus speak distinctly and audibly without the normal
mouth movements. In the case of the stammerer he tries to make
the tongue do the work of the larynx, a physical impossibility!
Whistling is the only way in which the tongue can in any sense
do work comparable with the work done by the larynx.
We have seen that there are three essentials without which
even rudimentary speech is impossible, exhalation (breathing
out), the vibration of the vocal cords and movements of the lips,
jaws, soft palate and tongue. These are the essential factors which
are coordinated into speech; the stammerer fails to coordinate
them.
This failure to coordinate is all the more remarkable when we
remind ourselves that the average stammerer can sing without any
difficulty, in other words, failure to coordinate does not hinder
song although it prevents fluent speech. This point cannot be too
strongly emphasized, because we are not bi-vocal, we use the
same organs for speech and song. The late Harry Plunket Greene
did valuable service to the art of singing both by his own singing
and his teaching by insisting on the “essential similarities
between speech and song”. The only differences which should
exist are that in song the pitch of the voice and the time values of
the notes and syllables are decided by the composer whereas in
speech these are left to the discretion and literary instinct of the
speaker. With these exceptions it is to the advantage of both
speaker and singer to remember that what is right in song is also
right in speech, and that what is right in speech is also right in
song. If I may be allowed to borrow the words of a great singer
and teacher of singing, I would say:— “What can be sung, can
equally easily be spoken as long as the speaker realizes and
abides by the essential similarities between speech and song”.
The next step will be to show what factors should be included
among essential similarities.
 All who have studied singing will agree that, whatever
methods may be employed by different teachers, they all aim at
definite and universally appreciated characteristics.
1. A full, firm and resonant vocal tone under full control
throughout the singer’s vocal range.
2. An open production with no muscular tenseness in the neck
and face.
3. Controlled breathing.
Since we have only one larynx apiece it is obvious that there
is only one way to use it correctly. Having mastered the art of
producing full tone from it for singing, we ought to use a similar
tone in speaking. How can the singer expect to produce a perfect
tone when singing for a couple of hours per day at most, if he is
content to use an incorrect tone while speaking for several hours
per day? How can a singer expect to sing with an open production
if the muscles of his throat and neck are constricted during his
speech? If breath control is necessary during song it must also be
necessary for speech.
Although the essential similarities between speech and song
should exist, it is obvious that much more time is required for the
training of the voice for song than for speech, because for the
latter the range of pitch is very much more limited than in the
case of song, when the trained singer reckons on a range of two
octaves or slightly more. Whereas the middle notes can be
produced with a full, resonant and open tone comparatively
easily, it generally takes a great many months of hard work to
carry the tone to the top notes. For speech, only middle of the
singing range is used, so the correction of the tone production is
not a very difficult matter.
Much the same may be said about breathing; control of breath
is essential for the production of the high notes, whereas for the
middle notes which require very much less breath pressure, a
lower standard of breath control will be sufficient.
Now in the average speaker there is too little similarity
between speech and song; very few people make the most of their
voices in speech. In the case of stammerers, not only is there no
similarity, but it is no exaggeration to say that speech and song
are in the strongest possible contrast.
 Whatever clearness of tone the stammerer achieved during
song has gone and in its place is a thin, feeble voice that is very
little more than a whisper; so feeble is it that frequently there is
no vocal sound at all.
Any freedom of tone and absence of muscular tenseness that
was present during song has gone and so great is the tenseness
that the stammerer is making grimaces in his efforts to produce
his words.
Any control of breath during song is entirely absent during
speech.
The greater the contrast between speech and song, the
greater will be the difficulties of the stammerer: the more he
can ally speech to song, the less he will stammer and the better
he will be speaking. The better the speaker, the more closely
does his speech resemble song.
This matter will be discussed in detail in the following
chapters and an endeavor will be made to explain the exact nature
of the speech breakdown which we call stammering; whether or
not we can succeed in finding the primary cause of the
breakdown must be left to the judgment of the reader. Meanwhile
we must go back to the first undeniable fact that the stammerer
fails to coordinate the functions of the lungs, the larynx and the
articulatory organs, which will now be described.
 Chapter III

RESPIRATION

R ESPIRATION requires careful consideration and some

explanation, because it provides the power which causes
the vocal cords to vibrate, thus producing the sound
which we call vocal tone or voice; we have an additional interest
because many and widely divergent theories are held with regard
to the connection between respiration and the stammering habit.
From the time we are born until the moment of death
respiration is continuous and automatic. During sleep it is
reduced to the minimum and during violent exercise it is
increased to the maximum; it is of the utmost importance that we
should realize that when speaking, very little in excess of
minimum respiration is required. Since, however, a slight
increase above minimum respiration is required for speech, and
because speech is closely allied to song for which the maximum
expansion may be required (for instance in grand opera when the
singer may be accompanied by a full orchestra), we must
understand the elementary facts about respiration and how it can
be consciously increased and controlled, but we ought to realize
that breathing is naturally automatic and that conscious control is
advantageous only under special circumstances. Violent exercise
will automatically compel maximum respiration; this fact will be
thoroughly appreciated by anyone who has had to run a
considerable distance to catch a train!
Deep breathing has a definite health value, especially in the
early morning, so that the lungs may be fully aerated after the
hours of sleep during which respiration is reduced to the
minimum, but for our purpose we are concerned rather with
respiration in so far as it is a factor of speech.
The entrance to the air passage is at the back of the throat and
continuous with it is the larynx which will be described in the
next chapter. Again, below the larynx and continuous with it is
the trachea or wind-pipe which goes down into the chest where it
divides into two main tubes, called the bronchi; these divide and
sub-divide again and again till they reach all parts of the lungs;
but for our purposes we are concerned, however, more with the
bony cage which encloses the lungs and the expansion of that
cage, than with the lungs themselves.
The cage containing the lungs is called the thorax which must
be enlarged by expansion; to allow the lungs to be filled to
capacity. The boundaries of the thorax are—the breastbone in
front, the ribs at the sides, the spinal column at the back and the
diaphragm below; the last-mentioned is a large dome-shaped
muscle which divides the thorax from the lower part of the body.
The thorax is expanded laterally by raising the lower ribs with
the intercostal muscles and at the same time the breastbone
moves forwards. A further word of explanation is needed here
because it is not easy to understand how the ribs, which are
attached to the breastbone in front and the spinal column at the
back, can be moved in such a way that the space which they
enclose may be enlarged. If you join the tips of your first fingers
together and also join your thumbs so that your hands form a
rough circle lying in a horizontal plane, you will get some idea of
the position of your ribs after they have been raised. Now, still
keeping the tips of your first fingers and thumbs respectively
joined, drop your wrists slightly; the circle formed no longer lies
in one plane, but it gives you an idea of the position of your ribs
before they are raised to expand the thorax.
Vertical expansion is accomplished by lowering the
diaphragm so that the front wall of the abdomen is pushed
slightly forward; as the diaphragm is raised again, the front wall
of the abdomen will be drawn inwards. Any attempt to expand
the thorax by raising the shoulders is valueless because the
narrowest part of the lungs is at the top and the widest below,
therefore to expand the upper part of the thorax at the expense of
the lower will hinder rather than help respiration.
Having described the principle of inhaling air we must now
turn our attention to its exhalation, the most important part of
respiration for us; because it is the breath coming from the lungs
which passes between the vocal cords, thereby causing them to
vibrate and thus produce vocal tone.
 Breathing out or exhalation is mostly governed by a natural
recoil of the lungs which tend to contract after inflation. This
recoil of the lungs is further accelerated by the recoil of the
thorax, the bones of which tend to return to their relative
positions before expansion. Unless this recoil of the thorax is
controlled, the breath may flow between the vocal cords too
quickly, in which case vocal tone will be diminished instead of
being increased.
It is essential that the reader should realize that an
increase of breath will not necessarily produce an increase of
tone volume. Control of the breath is far more important than
volume of breath. The most difficult problem in voice
production is to preserve the balance between vocal cord
control and breath control. The reader is once more reminded
that very little breath is required for speech in excess of what
is required when sleeping or sitting still.
The amount of breath required when at ease is called tidal air;
that extra amount of air—which can be forcibly inhaled is called
complemental air; that which can be forcibly exhaled is called
supplemental air. Complemental air will be needed for singing,
more especially in a large hall with a full orchestra; for public
speaking very much less will be required, while for ordinary
conversation the amount of complemental air necessary is almost
negligible.
For singing the lateral expansion should be maintained all the
time, while inspiration and expiration will be automatically
controlled by the action of the diaphragm. By this method we are
able to breath with an enlarged lung capacity, although
respiration is controlled by the normal action of the diaphragm
which is automatic. For lecturing it should be sufficient to stand
very erect; this will slightly enlarge the breathing capacity and
should provide ample breath; it is not necessary consciously to
maintain the lateral expansion.
For ordinary speech so little complemental air is needed that
conscious control of the lateral expansion is likely to do more
harm than good. As we have seen, our breathing is automatic and
there should be a very good reason before an attempt is made
consciously to control it.
 “Little and often” is the golden rule for respiration during
speech. By breaking sentences into short phrases, as is done by
the normal speaker, we get an opportunity of taking a little more
breath at the end of each phrase, that is to say, after every few
words. Short phrasing is instinctive for the average speaker in
ordinary conversation. By this means we have frequent
opportunities for taking breath and therefore experience none of
the discomfort and dryness of the throat experienced so often by
public speakers, who use phrases which are too long, with the
result that they have to use not only tidal air to reach the end of
the phrase or sentence, but often find it necessary to draw on
supplemental air. Short phrasing makes speech more comfortable
for the speaker and far more intelligible to the audience.
The above remarks apply to normal speech, and explain the
part played by respiration as the power which causes the
vibrations in the larynx. The misuse of respiration by the
stammerer will be considered in a later chapter, in which his
failure to coordinate respiration, the larynx and the articulatory
mechanism will be discussed in detail.
 Chapter I V

THE LARYNX

A S the intention of the following chapter is to explain the

part played in the production of vocal tone by the vocal
cords, no attempt will be made to give a detailed
description of the larynx; it would serve no useful purpose and
would merely tend to distract the attention of the reader from the
vocal cords themselves and the method of their control. Those
who wish for further details are referred to my book, Your
Speaking Voice and its Possibilities, while anyone who wants a
full and detailed description in medical terms will find it in any
textbook on anatomy.
To form some definite conception of what the vocal cords are
like, think of the stage curtains at a theater; they are joined at the
top even when fully drawn back to expose the stage, or they can
be drawn together so that the edges meet and completely obscure
the stage, shutting it off from the auditorium.
Think of the vocal cords as a pair of muscular curtains
meeting at the front, being attached to the thyroid cartilage or
Adam’s apple. These curtains can be opened widely for
respiration so that the air passes into the lungs and is exhaled
without any obstruction. Or for the production of vocal tone they
can be drawn together so that their edges are approximated and
they shut off the windpipe from the throat.
When the vocal cords are drawn together, the breath
exhaled from the lungs is forced between them, causing their
edges to vibrate: this vibration is called vocal tone.
Whereas the theater curtains are drawn back by cords fastened
to their sides, the vocal cords are opened and closed by the
arytaenoid cartilages to which their extremities are attached.
These are like three-sided pyramids, which, moving freely on
their bases, by rotatory movements, not only open and close the
vocal cords, but increase and decrease their tension, thereby
changing the pitch of their vibration.
The vocal cords are controlled by a muscular system which, in
turn, is controlled by the mental conception of the vocal tone
required.
This is one of the most important facts in our chain of
evidence and to make it clearer we will use another wording. The
vocal cords are not under the control of the will, but are
controlled by our mental perception of the sound they make.
In a later chapter the importance of this fact and the light it
throws on the stammering habit will be discussed. Meanwhile
there are other facts about the vocal cords which we ought to
know.
In the case of musical instruments, of which the larynx is one,
the power must be in proportion to the vibrator. As an illustration,
think of the varying weights of the bows used respectively for a
violin, a cello and a double bass. If the power (the breath) that
drives the vibrator (the vocal cords) is too powerful and out of
proportion, the vocal tone will suffer in quality. In the case of the
human voice quality depends on the full use of the resonating
cavities, to be explained later, which amplify the tone produced
in the larynx and supply the harmonics or overtones, which make
the voice-tone full and “round” instead of thin and reedy.
If the voice is perfectly produced, the whole of the thorax is
converted into a musical instrument, inasmuch as all the bones of
the thoracic cage will act as resonators supplementary to the
vibration in the larynx. It is by this means that the voice is
reinforced, gains in musical quality and carrying power, and
gives an impression of power and personality. In addition to
thoracic resonance, the top of the head, the forehead and the
cavities round the nose all contribute to and help to “fill up” the
original tone.
The valuable contribution of these auxiliary resonators can be
hindered or even entirely frustrated by constriction of the throat
above the vocal cords; it is therefore essential to learn what is
called the open production, if full use is to be made of the voice.
Open production is impossible unless the pressure of the breath is
so regulated that there is never a shortage or an excess over what
is required to cause the laryngeal vibration.
 If the breath is exhaled from the lungs too quickly by the
natural recoil of the lungs and the thoracic cage, an instinctive
effort will be made to assist the control of the breath by closing or
partly closing the pharynx (the back of the throat) above the vocal
cords. Any tendency to this closure must be overcome if we
intend to make full use of our voices. We now see the importance
of controlling the breath so that it reaches the vocal cords with
the correct pressure to cause vibration. The larynx is a delicate
machine, intended for the production of vocal tone; it must not be
misused by allowing too great a force of breath to reach it.
Having stressed the fact that we are not bivocal, and having
urged the application of the principles of singing to speech and
vice versa, it is necessary to mention the need of breath control in
connection with the function of larynx, even though our subject is
the use and misuse of the voice in speech. It is obvious that
breath control by the intercostal muscles is an absolute necessity
if the larynx is to do its work perfectly and have the support of
the auxiliary resonators for singing. We must not, however, lose
sight of the fact that, whereas the utmost expansion and control
will be necessary for singing in grand opera, for ordinary speech
so little breath is required in excess of tidal air that conscious
control cannot be required unless the circumstances are
exceptional. In the case of stammerers circumstances very often
are exceptional; many stammerers form the habit of breathing far
too deeply in their attempts to speak. This is often the result of
well-meaning but misguided advice. The greatest hindrance to the
correction of a stammer is very frequently a deep-rooted habit of
taking in enough breath for a long-sustained and high note in
grand opera, whereas the amount of breath required is so little
more than tidal air, that its inspiration should be automatic and
conscious control is quite unnecessary. This will be discussed
again fully in a later chapter.
It is impossible for people to judge the quality of their own
voices; very often a constricted tone will sound better to the user
than the free open tone with all the resonators working perfectly.
The reason of this is that we hear our own voices directly, the
vibrations being carried by the bones of our heads; other people
hear our voices only after the vibrations have traveled to them
through the air. It is necessary to have the advice and guidance of
a reliable voice producer who, by giving a criticism from time to
time, will keep the student on the right road.
For those who cannot get advice and must rely on their own
judgment, the best general test of correct tone is a feeling of
absolute effortlessness in its production; it should be as easy and
effortless as the emission of sigh. A first indication that the tone
is being produced properly is the vibration of the breastbone,
which should be clearly felt with the tips of the finger.
We have now considered correct breathing and the correct use
of the larynx; the result of the combination of these will be
correct vocal tone, resonant and clear with an open production.
Our next chapter will describe the moulding of vocal tone into
words.
 Chapter V

VOWELS AND

CONSONANTS

W E are now going to consider the contribution of the

mouth to what we call speech. Its work is twofold, as
the first resonator, and as the machine that moulds
vocal tone into words and sentences. Its importance as a resonator
cannot be overestimated, but since it is our object to explain the
mechanism of normal speech with a view to helping the
stammerer to break his habit, rather than to improve the average
speaker, we must leave the consideration of the mouth as a
resonator and pass on to its function as the articulatory
mechanism.
The speech sounds are divided into twenty five vowel sounds
and twenty-seven consonants; a full list of them is given on
following pages. It will be seen that the vowels fall into three
groups, monophthongs or single vowels, diphthongs or double
vowels, and triphthongs in which there are three vowels linked
together.
The consonants are divided into two groups, explosives and
continuants; both these groups are divided again into two,
aspirate and vocal. For instance, sound a prolonged “F” (a hissing
sound made by the breath passing between the upper teeth and
the lower lip) if, instead of sending air through this narrow
aperture, vocal tone is emitted, the “F” will be changed into “V”.
We are not concerned with the details of sound formation,
those who are so interested will find the matter discussed in the
fullest details in my book, Your Speaking Voice and its
Possibilities. It is our object to understand the general
construction and mechanism of normal speech.
The vocal tone produced on the larynx is formed into vowels
and consonants as it passes through and out of the mouth. By
changing the shape of the cavity of the mouth, either by different
positions of the tongue or by opening the jaws to varying extents,
fourteen different vowel sounds can be made, these are combined
together in a further eleven compound vowel sounds. The widest
of the vowels is “AR” and the narrowest is “OO”, that is to say,
the vocal tone has absolutely free exit in the former, whereas in
the latter case, the emission of the tone is reduced to the
proportion of a consonant “W”.
(List of English vowel and consonant sounds is not included
here.)
For the pronunciation of the consonants, emission of the vocal
tone is either very restricted, as in the case of M, N or V, or it is
completely interrupted, as in the case of D, B or G. In the case of
the aspirate consonants the emission of vocal tone is suspended
so the consonant is sounded with breath which has not been
vocalized in the larynx, that is, the breath has passed through the
larynx with the vocal cords widely divided.
Speech, then, consists of the emission of vocal tone in varying
degrees of freedom (the vowel sounds), and the further restriction
of tone or its total suspension (the consonants). The problem is to
keep the ideal balance between vowels and consonants, but since
it is the vocal tone which has individuality, carrying power,
musical quality and which carries the rhythmic swing of the
sentence, some preference should always be given to the vowels.
There is no doubt that the best speakers and the most pleasant to
listen to and easiest to understand, are those who sound their
vowels clearly and fully. On the other hand, speech with over-
stressed consonants gives no pleasure and is difficult to hear. It is
a fallacy to claim that audibility depends upon stressed
consonants; to emphasize an unfamiliar word stressed consonants
have some value, but there is a great difference between
distinctness and audibility; the former depends on consonants,
while the latter depends on the carrying power of the voice, the
clear sounding of each vowel to bring out its individual character
and the rhythmic swing of the sentence or phrase.
 There are essential similarities between speech and song; for
the latter, vowels (which carry the vocal tone) must predominate.
If our aim is to speak musically and with rhythm the vowels will
receive a certain amount of preference over the consonants.
Broadly speaking, the vocal tone has free exit from the
mouth during the sounding of the vowels, while it is
considerably restricted during the pronunciation of the
consonants: another very important link in our chain of
evidence. Remember, it is always in the consonants that the
stammerer imagines that he finds his difficulties.
Any attempt to sing necessitates concentration on the
production of vocal tone, which has free exit during the
sounding of the vowels. The stammerer can sing without any
difficulty.
So much then for normal speech in the average case and some
hint of how it may be improved. The next chapter will describe
the mannerisms of the typical stammerer.
 Chapter VI

THE STAMMERER’S

SPEECH

I N the earlier chapters we have considered in some detail the

factors which are combined in normal speech, the speech of
the average person. The way is now clear for the most
interesting and important aspect of our subject, the consideration
of the speech of the stammerer. First of all we must remember
that the stammerer is not unable to speak, but that under certain
conditions and for a few seconds at a time, his speech fails him. It
is probably a fairly accurate estimate of the average case to say
that his speech is at least ninety per cent efficient.
If a child is liable to faint, it is not necessary to wait for a
fainting attack for the doctor’s examination; he examines the
heart in its normal condition in order to account for its partial
breakdown during a fainting attack. I am constantly asked to
listen to detailed descriptions of what a boy does during a
stammering attack; such details are of no importance, what does
matter is how he speaks when he is at his best, for this will reveal
the weaknesses in coordination that make speech failure in a
stammering attack possible. We shall find that there are very
definite characteristics which are common to very nearly all cases
of stammering.
 1. The Stammerer Speaks Too-Fast
As we have seen, speech depends on the coordination of three
factors all of which are controlled by muscles—respiration, the
approximation of the vocal cords and the movements of the
tongue, jaws, lips and soft palate. In a similar way, walking and
running depend on the coordination of muscular movements, but
this does not mean that two men of the same age, height and
weight will be able to run a hundred yards in the same number of
seconds. For each of us there is a limit to the speed at which we
can control muscular movements, beyond this limit we cannot go
without the risk of a breakdown. Typewriting and piano-playing
offer good illustrations; to exceed the speed at which we have
control, is to invite a breakdown—we shall begin to stumble with
our fingers.
Some people can talk fast without losing a high standard of
tone production, clearness and audibility, but they are above the
average and must be reckoned as exceptional. Some of the
announcers at Broadcasting House can, when necessary, speak
fast, but we must remember that they are experts, they have a
control of voice production and pronunciation of vowels and
consonants that is far above the average. The stammerer whose
safe speed is far below the average, attempts a speed far above it.
The stammerer calls the speed of the announcer slow; it is slow
compared with the speed, or rather the attempted speed, of the
stammerer, but the fact remains that the announcer can not only
speak but he can be heard and understood, while the stammerer’s
intermittent speech failures make his opinion about speed of no
value.
2. The stammerer uses a high pitch and a light vocal tone.
We have noted in a previous chapter that it is easier to control
a low medium pitch than high one; the low pitch requires less
tightening of the cords and consequently less breath pressure, and
therefore less effort.
A light, breathy vocal tone is the result of failure to
approximate the vocal cords correctly; it means that some of the
breath, instead of causing the cords to vibrate, is merely escaping
between them and is being wasted. As we have seen in a previous
chapter, this is due to a loss of balance between breath pressure
and vocal cord resistance. By this loss of balanced proportion the
stammerer is using more than the average amount of breath,
but is producing less than the average amount of vocal tone
with it.
3. The Stammerer Breathes Irregularly
The stammerer shows breathing irregularities in three different
ways. First, by a sudden exhalation, so violent that it is audible
although it is producing no vibration of the vocal cords; the lungs
are in a state of empty collapse with no breath supply with which
to finish the sentence. It is this familiar habit of the stammerer
that causes the well meaning schoolmaster wrongly to urge his
pupil to take a deep breath before beginning a sentence.
Here again we have another aspect of lack of cord resistance,
in this case so marked that the cords are wide apart when they
should be approximated; it is a further development of failure to
close the cords by the only control, that will close them, the
mental picture of the tone required. The schoolmaster, with the
best intentions, makes matters worse by insisting on such a
supply of breath, without any attempt at intercostal control, that
cord resistance is hardly possible, except for the production of a
very high note in grand opera.
Secondly, the stammerer often holds the breath after
inhalation and before exhalation. This forcible closing of the
vocal cords is due to having taken too much breath; for speech
there is no need for such a supply of breath that conscious control
is necessary or advisable.
Both these breathing irregularities are really caused by taking
in too much breath. It is essential to remember that we want a
very little breath for speech, but we want an adequate cord
resistance. Remembering this essential balance between cord
resistance and breath supply, we see how breathing irregularities
are linked up with use of breathy tone.
There is a third type of breathing fault—a sudden spasm of the
diaphragm just before beginning to speak. This sudden “catch”
can be distinctly felt if the hand is placed on the abdomen; a
similar spasm is felt during an Attack of hiccups, and the same
“catch” of breath is experienced if we are suddenly startled and
frightened. The fear factor will be discussed presently, but there
is little doubt that fear causes the spasm of the diaphragm.
 4. The Stammerer Speaks Jerkily instead of Smoothly and
Evenly
If you listen to a small child playing a tune on the piano and
using only one finger, there will be no continuity of musical
sound. The musical term for this is “staccato”, and it is in strong
contrast with a smooth continuous flow of sound, the musical
term for which is “legato”. It is convenient to use these terms—
staccato and legato in describing speech rhythm. Normal speech
is legato, but the speech of the stammerer is staccato to a marked
degree, so much so that while speaking he gives the impression of
frequently breaking into the vocal tone, frequently stopping and
re-starting.
To understand this jerky speech even better, try this
experiment. Make up a sentence and speak it with every
consonant very much overstressed. You will notice that the more
you exaggerate the consonants, the more will the continuity of
vocal tone be lost; your sentence will have lost all its rhythm and
tune and will have deteriorated into a sequence of ugly
explosions. In other words, the stammerer over-stresses his
consonants at the expense of his tune, which is carried in the
vowels. By using a staccato rhythm he has lost the rhythmic
swing of tone which carries on the tune of the sentence from each
word to the next one. Over-stressed consonants rob speech of its
natural legato rhythm and musical quality. This way of speaking
is usually a form of affection; at best it is an indication that the
speaker has taken a course of lessons from an inefficient teacher
of elocution.
5. The Stammerer Shows Sign of Tenseness in his Face
Muscles
This is a further development of overstressing the consonants.
Test this for yourself by saying your sentence over again while
you look at yourself in a glass; if you exaggerate enough you will
see that you actually make grimaces. The truth of the matter is
that a very slight movement of the face is sufficient to enable you
to speak plainly. The ventriloquist proves that clear and audible
speech is possible in a large theater without any visible
movement of the face. Watch the average person speaking with a
cigarette in his mouth; all the time he is speaking the cigarette is
flapping about, yet the ventriloquist can sing a song with a
cigarette in his mouth and can keep it still all the time. So much
then for the typical mannerisms of speech which can be noticed
in nearly all stammerers; here they are once more.
1. Talking too fast.
2. Using too light a tone on too high a pitch.
3. Breathing irregularly.
4. Speaking staccato instead of legato.
5. Tightening of the face muscles.
Numbers 2 and 3 can be taken together because they are
mostly cause and effect, while the same can be said of numbers 4
and 5. We, therefore, reduce our stammerers characteristics to
these.
1. Talking too fast.
2. Failing to use a firm tone of voice.
3. Speaking in jerks instead of smoothly.
Think now of the speech of a small Child when learning to
talk; they all try to talk too fast and they all talk with a staccato
jerk. It is easy to account for this. The small Child’s idea of words
is limited to “Papa”, “Mamma”, “Nana”, “Baba”, “Dada”, etc. A
firm open vowel “AR” and a single consonant. From this we
build up the complicated system of sounds which we call speech;
this is done mainly by adding more and more consonants, thus
making the child concentrate more and more on consonants,
whereas good speech depends on a balance in favour of the
vowels. It is not to be wondered at that the child grows up with a
quick, jerky, staccato rhythm. Try the experiment of asking a
child to say “splash”; the child will try two or three times,
probably make a grimace and finally jerk the word out with a
violent movement of the head. It is easy to see why; the only
vowel is a short “a” as in “cat”. Before this vowel is a triple
consonant and it is followed by another consonant—“SH”.
The efforts of that small child will be identical with those of a
stammerer, the repeated attempts, the jerky movement of the
head, and the resultant word will sound like that of a stammerer
with a “clipped” vowel and all the weight of the word on the
consonants. In spite of all these difficulties which have to be
overcome before normal speech is mastered, only one per cent
develops a stammer; all the others muddle through somehow and
settle gradually down into a normal standard of speech.
 The above remarks apply to the typical stammerer, but there
are occasional cases of very much more complicated stammering,
cases in which there does not seem to be a single factor of speech
which is under control nor one which can readily be brought
under conscious control. Such cases will most probably defy all
efforts to correct them in a reasonable time.
 Chapter VII

CAUSATION

W E have described in some detail the three factors which

are combined in speech, and we have noted some
typical mannerisms of the stammerer; we realize that
what may be described as imperfections of speech in the average
speaker, have assumed the proportions of definite faults and
failure to coordinate in the case of the stammerer. We must now
try to find the cause of the habit of stammering; how can we
account for it?
Even though imperfections have grown into faults sufficiently
serious to make a stammer possible, these faults do not wholly
account for it. There are many people who talk as fast as the
stammerer, but they do not stammer. There are thousands of
children who hold diplomas for elocution, most of them have
little or no musical tone or speech rhythm, they over-stress their
consonants at the expense of their vowels, but they do not
stammer.
There is one factor in stammering upon which we have not yet
touched—the fear factor. That fear plays a very big part in the
stammer habit is proved by the fact that however bad the
stammerer may be, he can always speak fluently when alone, it is
the presence of other people that defeats him. Further indications
of fear are found in the speed of the stammerer’s speech; he wants
to reach his goal, he gets started and is filled with the idea of
getting to the end of the sentence. As has been already stated, fear
will account for the irregular breathing, that spasm of the
diaphragm with which we are all more or less familiar. Years ago
it used to be described as your heart coming into your mouth!
Whether fear causes the stammer or the stammer causes the
fear, is a frequently debated question, but whichever is the true
answer, no one will deny that a vicious circle is established—the
stammer increases the fear, which in turn increases the stammer.
There are those who believe that shock or fright in early
childhood is the primary cause of the stammering habit, and that
when the fear has been explained away, the stammerer will speak
normally. It is, however, difficult to imagine any childhood that is
so sheltered that there have been no shocks, no moments of fear.
Those who believe that fear is the primary cause of stammering
will find it an easy matter to “dig out” an episode to account for
it, but the life of a normal child is so full of what appear to be
calamities and catastrophies, that it might be difficult to select the
one particular episode to be held responsible.
Turning to the alternative theory that the fear is caused by the
stammer, I can think of nothing more calculated to set up a fear
complex than to find that speech, over which ninety-nine per cent
of the population find no difficulty, is liable to break down at any
time. What could be more devastating than to realize that one’s
particular disability had been made the subject of ridicule again
and again in stories and on the stage. That this alternative theory
is the right one is indicated by the fact that as the stammer is
corrected so the signs of fear and anxiety disappear. Furthermore,
there are quite a large number of first-class athletes who have
stammered; those whom I have encountered personally have
never seemed to be of the nervous type; any signs of fear or
anxiety which they betray being connected only with their
speech. That there are a few cases in which fear seems to be the
primary cause of the stammer is undeniable, but such cases are
probably very much rarer than is generally supposed.
There is a widely held theory that the stammerer needs deeper
breathing, that his cords will not vibrate because there is not
enough breath to cause a vibration. In actual fact, although it is
possible that such cases exist, we have seen that the cords do not
vibrate because they have not been approximated. It is obviously
improbable that the same person who has enough breath to sing
(and singing needs quite a lot of breath) will find himself short of
a breath supply for speech (which needs very little more than
tidal air). As the reader will realize, it is the cord resistance that is
insufficient; many more stammerers are over-supplied with breath
than under-supplied. About eighty per cent, or even more, of
public school-boys whom I see, have been told to take a very
deep breath before beginning to speak. Unfortunately, this seems
to be the one correction which the average stammerer learns
easily and puts into practice consistently; it often takes a few
weeks for the patient to unlearn this acquired habit which, with
his weak cord resistance, makes it almost impossible for him to
speak without violent efforts and facial contortions.
The theory that unnecessary tension is responsible for
stammering is pretty widely held and has led to a regular system
of exercises to overcome it. Those who have read the earlier part
of this book will realize that tension is present in every normal
pupil who is learning to sing or speak, and that it can only be
corrected by keeping the balance between cord resistance and
breath supply and between the sounding of vowels and the
pronunciation of the consonants. As the reader will realize,
nothing will contribute to tension of muscles more than having
more breath than is needed to vibrate the cords.
Parents often say that their child stammers because he thinks
more quickly than he can speak. The fallacy of this theory is very
easily shown; read a page of a book to yourself and see how long
it takes you; now read the same page again, but aloud this time
and compare the times taken reading to yourself and reading
aloud. It is obvious that your brain will work at least as fast as
your silent reading, but your silent reading is very much quicker
than your pace of reading aloud, which is probably about the
same pace as that at which you speak. Whenever I am met with
this erroneous idea, I suggest that the boy would not be at large if
he could not think at least ten times as fast as he can speak.
Incidentally, my chief argument in favour of slow speaking is that
it gives the speaker so much more time to think.
Connection between Stammering and left handedness. The
facts are as follows:—For skilled actions of the hand the control
is diagonal, if the child is right-handed, his skilled actions such as
writing and drawing will be controlled from the left side of his
brain. It is also stated that speech in the case of a righthanded
child is controlled from the left side of the brain. It was thought at
one time that to compel a child, naturally left-handed, to write
with his right hand, disturbed the control of his speech. It is now
thought by most people who have studied the question that there
is no proved risk to the speech control. My own experience
during the last twenty years tells me that the use of the right or
left hand is such a small factor that it will not make the difference
between a successful treatment and a failure.
The risk from imitation. There is no doubt that many cases of
stammering have developed from the imitation of another
stammerer, intentionally for the purpose of ridicule, in which case
the development of a stammer is indeed a Gilbertian punishment!
In other cases the imitation has been subconscious, but the result
equally disastrous. There is a definite risk in permitting
association with another stammerer, and for this reason remedial
treatment in classes is not to be recommended.
Is Stammering Hereditary? This is a question that is very
often asked by young people who contemplate marriage and are
themselves stammerers. To answer it, I would remind you how
the average child learns to speak; he is not taught by experts, but
he picks up speech from those immediately round him. He will
naturally learn chiefly by imitation, and if his mother, with whom
he is likely to spend a good deal of his time, happens to be a rapid
speaker with a staccato rhythm, the child will grow up with the
type of speech liable to break down into a stammer. In many
families there is a great similarity of speech among the various
members. To quote two or three instances, in one family both
parents stammered slightly and all the six children stammered. In
another case, the father stammered and two sons out of six
children required correction. In a family of eight children both
sons stammered, one of them very badly indeed; the father had
stammered in youth and the whole family, without exception,
spoke at excessive speed, so fast indeed that it was almost
impossible to understand what they were trying to say. This
unfortunate propensity among children to imitate the speech of
those around them, whether it happens to be desirable or not,
brings us to the consideration of the most probable cause of
stammering in the average case.
How the stammer develops in the majority of cases. We have
carefully noted the characteristics of speech which are audible in
nearly all cases of stammering.
1. Speaking too fast.
2. Failure to use a firm vocal tone.
3. Speaking with a jerky, staccato rhythm.
 We noticed too, that all small children while learning to speak
have similar speech characteristics, and that very nearly all of
them stumble over double and triple consonants.
What is it that turns one per cent of these stumbling children
into a stammerer? They have all stumbled, all talked too fast, all
used the typical breathy vocal tone and all talked jerkily. Ninety-
nine per cent find their way to normal speech, but the luckless
one per cent, instead of growing out of the stumbling stage,
continues to speak with visible effort. Suddenly comes the
realization that he has been left behind, that he cannot get his
words out; this leads to fear and anticipation of more failure. In
this way the vicious circle is formed and the stumbling child
begins to be a nervous stammerer. The conscious effort to speak
and the determination not to stammer makes matters worse;
speech should be without effort and a determination not to fail is
in itself a suggestion of more failures to come.
What is it that steps in and prevents the natural mastery of
speech in that unfortunate one per cent?
I believe the primary factor in the typical stammer is SPEED.
In the last chapter we discussed speed limitations as they
apply to typewriting, piano playing or athletic exercises like
running. Some people are capable of speed, while others are not
capable of it and to attempt normal speed is to court disaster.
The stammering child fails to grow out of the stumbling stage
because he happens to have definite speed limitations. Not only
does he attempt the normal, average speed, but as he becomes
conscious of his stammer, he tends to hurry still more in his
anxiety.
I have never met a former stammerer, who, having
successfully corrected his disability, is not slow speaker.
I have never met a stammerer who has not been brought up in
daily contact with a very rapid speaker.
I am convinced that speed is the determining cause of the
stammer; therefore fear is the result and not the cause.
 Chapter VIII

DEFINITION

I T is a matter of the utmost importance that we should arrive

at a true definition of a stammer, in order to decide by which
method it should be corrected, a method that will prove
effective and permanent if properly carried out.
Stammering is not a disease that can be cured by a physician;
it is not a defect, like cleft-palate and hare-lip, which need the
work of surgeon or dental surgeon or the combined skill of both
to be followed up by speech training. It is bad habit which must
be corrected by the stammerer himself by the formation of a
correct habit to take its place. The speech therapist will advise
and guide him, but he must make the personal effort.
Stammering is the result of a combination of three bad
habits in speech.
1. Excessive speed which shortens the vowels and prevents
consistent coordination of the muscular movements which are
combined in speech.
2. The use of an incorrect vocal tone which upsets the
normal balance between breath pressure and vocal cord
resistance.
3. Speaking jerkily instead of smoothly; this upsets the
normal balance between the production of vocal tone in the
larynx, and the formation of consonants by movements of the
mouth.
This habit is further complicated by fear and anxiety, the
natural consequences of frequent failure.
 Chapter IX

TREATMENT

T HERE are four definite and widely employed systems of

treatment.
1. Voice Production and Speech Training.
It must be clearly understood that identical instruction and
advice are given to an actor, a public speaker and a stammerer.
The imperfections in the speech of the actor and public speaker
have merely assumed greater proportions in the case of the
stammerer, whose lack of balance has been so intensified that it
has led to intermittent breakdown, and his speech has become
unreliable. In every case the aim of the instructor should be to
teach a perfectly balanced speech which secures the maximum
result with the minimum effort.
Learning to use a firm, open and resonant tone necessarily
increases cord resistance and thus corrects breathing
irregularities, it will also go a long way towards building up self-
confidence.
Speaking smoothly will bring the vowels into prominence and
will soften the consonants, the over-stressing of which have
caused so much difficulty. Smooth speech is more easily heard
and is more musical and it necessitates continuity of vocal tone.
Remember, it is the sudden stopping and breaking off of the vocal
tone which is a regular characteristic of the stammerer.
Speaking slowly will further develop the vowels and thus
increase the essential similarity between speech and song; in
addition to this it assists correct coordination of the factors of
speech. It is impossible for anyone to stammer if he will speak on
the lines indicated above.
The outstanding characteristic of a stammer is failure to
produce the vocal tone at the right moment: the shape of the
sound is made with the mouth, but the vocal tone to be
directed into that shape is not produced.
 We have seen that the larynx is controlled by the mental
picture of the tone required.
By concentrating his mind on a continuous “tune” the
stammerer will be able to keep his vocal cords together.
While singing, vocal tone is continuous, and as the speech of
the stammerer resembles song more and more, the failure to
produce vocal tone will be mastered.
Allowing the vocal tone to stop is a bad habit which can be
corrected only by learning to keep the vocal tone continuous.
That it can be done is proved by the stammerer’s ability to
sing fluently.
With such a simple and logical method of correction, the
reader will naturally ask whether the results are a hundred per
cent cure. In the cases where the patient will cooperate with the
instructor and is willing to follow his advice, the stammer is
quickly and permanently corrected; in a few weeks the trouble is
mastered. There is, however, a tendency for the patient to hesitate
about making the change of voice tone, speed and rhythm. He is
accustomed to his own speech, he does not notice its excessive
speed, its breathy tone and staccato rhythm. He feels self-
conscious and reluctant to change.
To the normal speaker, and still more, to the expert, this
reluctance to adopt a new way of speaking seems merely foolish
and obstinate but it really is a very natural result of stammering.
When we remember that the normal speaker will feel nervous if
he is asked to make a speech lasting for a few minutes, is it to be
wondered at that the stammerer (whose unfortunate habit has
made him particularly self-conscious with regard to speech) will
be reluctant to make a change which necessitates speaking more
loudly and slowly? The natural instinct of the stammerer must be
to escape notice as far as possible and get his talking over as
quickly as possible. To escape notice he speaks in a breathy
undertone and rushes through his words at express speed.
Unfortunately, both these efforts to escape notice are doomed to
failure; not only do they fail in their object, but, by actually
increasing the stammer, more attention than ever is drawn to the
unfortunate victim. The patient must be brought to realize that the
new voice is the right voice for every speaker: It is not a trick to
cure a trick, it is the best way to use the voice, it is more musical,
more persuasive and gives an impression of personality and
sound knowledge. If he will listen with an open mind to other
speakers, he will soon realize that theirs is the better way and that
his way is not only inefficient, but is unconvincing and unmusical
to hear.
The mental attitude of the stammerer to this treatment is of the
utmost importance; to change a long established habit is not easy
and requires courage, determination and a genuine wish to
accomplish the change; if there is a mental reservation, a wish to
compromise or to procrastinate, to delay the change or to keep it
for special occasions, the patient had much better be honest with
himself and his instructor and postpone his treatment until he is
able to appreciate the obvious advantages to be gained by
following out the advice of an expert who has made a special
study of speech from every angle.
Sometimes school-boys imagine that if they change their
voices they will bring upon themselves the ridicule of the other
boys; this is contrary to my experience. Many boys have made
the change without any comments; anticipation of ridicule is
caused by over-sensitiveness and self-consciousness. Even if a
few remarks were made, the benefit gained would surely be
ample compensation. For his comfort the stammerer may
remember that changing the voice is a gradual process and that he
and his teacher will probably be the only people who are aware
that a change is being made. In any case, surely the conquest of
the stammering habit outweighs every other consideration
including anticipated remarks which will probably never be
made!
The choice is a very simple one:—Keep your old voice and
keep your stammer, or change your voice for a better one and
lose your stammer: a few weeks of hard work can rid you of
your stammer and change your whole life.
2. Relaxation.
This method is used very widely, both in London and in the
newly formed provincial speech clinics. For many years the
teaching of relaxation was combined with breathing exercises, the
assumption being that incorrect breathing was the cause of
stammering. During the last few years it has been realized that
the teachers of voice production were right after all and that—
 Stammering is the cause of incorrect breathing.
It is important that the reader should remember what has been
explained in a previous chapter, that the balance between vocal
cord resistance and breath supply should be kept. With a view to
establishing this balance, attention must be directed towards the
control of the vocal cords and the breath supply. With regard to
the latter the best advice is to take very little; it is better to take
the small amount needed for the vibration of the cords which
needs no conscious control, than to take more than is required
and have to learn how to hold it back until it is wanted.
The more the vocal cords are controlled, the less breath will
be necessary, and it is obviously easier to train the vocal tone
which we can hear, imitate and judge than to change our method
of breathing which is, as we know, automatic.
We now come to the question of relaxation to correct the habit
of stammering. We have seen in the previous chapters that
stammering is due to lack of control, which is evident in three
ways.
The stammerer lacks
1. Control of speed.
2. Control of quality of vocal tone.
3. Control of continuity of vocal tone.
How can Control be Established through Complete
Relaxation?
No one will dispute that general relaxation may be beneficial,
but from the stammerer we want effort, effort in the right
direction, in which case speech will appear to be effortless.
Stammerers are “tense in body and mind” we are told by users
of this system. This is probably true and should cause no surprise
if we remember that the stammerer is trying to do everything in
the most difficult way possible. He is trying to produce tone
without having approximated his vocal cords; when he succeeds
in approximating his cords, he is inhaling far more breath than is
required to vibrate them, or he closes them so tightly that no
breath or tone can escape.
The stammerer needs training and exercises, so intense that he
may need relaxation after his exercises, but it is difficult to see
how relaxation can be expected to take the place of training. It is
admitted that muscles are being used which should be relaxed,
but the first step must surely be to tell the patient what to do and
how to do it; we may summarize the position thus—
Correction by relaxation is entirely negative.
Correction by voice training is entirely positive.
The use of wrong muscles and the tightening up of the body is
well known to every golfer, but the bad golfer needs instruction
in what is right, not complete relaxation.
Again we readily admit that tenseness of muscles is the result
of speaking in jerks with emphasis on all the consonants; instead
of smoothly, with the vocal tone carried through the vowels, but
we again remind the reader that the words are uttered smoothly in
song and that the stammerer can sing. Why go the long way
round and try to teach a legato (smooth) rhythm in speech by
learning to relax the arms and legs? There is a definite value in
learning general relaxation; it is the best correction of insomnia,
but it is very hard to teach or learn, even in the case of people
with highly educated and trained minds.
The weakest part of this system is the grouping of stammerers
in classes. All stammerers can read in chorus without any
difficulty, so to allow them to do so suggests to me “taking the
line of least resistance”. As soon as a stammerer has been shown
how to speak, he is capable of doing it, and the sooner he makes
himself do what he knows he can do, the sooner he will be a
normal person with normal control of his speech.
3. Psycho-therapy.
As we have already seen, in every case of stammering there is
an undeniable element of fear; this is conclusively proved by the
fact that the stammerer can read aloud or speak as long as he is
alone. The Psycho-therapist sets himself to overcome the fear
factor, and if he is successful, the stammer will cease. This
method is the quickest of all and is complete as long as the fear
factor is kept under, but with the faulty speech of the average
stammerer left uncorrected, there is an obvious danger of relapse
if mental poise should again become upset. To guard against this
it should be combined with speech correction so that, not only is
the fear eliminated but the door is closed against the stammer for
all time.
 A great number of stammerers have been cured by this
method, but it is not always successful, and if used by itself there
is a very considerable chance of a relapse.
4. Elocution.
The derivation of this word suggests that elocution teaches the
art of speech delivery, but in actual fact, most of the teachers of
elocution are engaged in training children for the stage. With this
end in view far more attention is given to the study of gesture and
expression than to the basic principles of speech, in fact there is
little done in this direction except to teach pupils to emphasize all
the consonants. There are very few teachers of elocution who
ever mention voice production or who teach the correct formation
of the vowel sounds of what we may call Southern Educated
English.
With the enormous expansion of elocution as a business there
has come into being an examination system whereby pupils can
gradually progress from diploma (in various grades) to medals (in
three grades) and finally to a teacher’s diploma. This diploma
generally contains a statement to the effect that the holder is
qualified to undertake the correction of speech defects and
disabilities, but as far as can be ascertained, among the various
schools of elocution which organize public examinations and
grant diplomas to teachers, there is only one in which instruction
in speech therapy is given by a specialist in that work and who
holds a public appointment.
Since speech training in most of the schools of elocution
consists of teaching over-stressed consonants while voice
production is entirely ignored, it is obvious that the stammerer
who already over-stresses his consonants and has faulty voice
production cannot look for a cure in that direction. There are of
course, a few teachers of elocution who are speech trainers and
whose help would be of definite value.
The German opinion of the English methods will be
interesting, all the more because the percentage of stammering
has always been very high in Germany, with the natural
consequence that they, as a nation, have given much more careful
thought to its correction than we have.
The view held by the Germans is that the essential corrections
are in vocal tone, speed and rhythm. With this they couple some
psychological treatment, chiefly with the object of persuading the
stammerer to make the necessary changes in tone, speed and
rhythm; thus, this side of the treatment does not aim so much at
the conquest of the fear of the stammer, as at the fear of changing
to a better and more reliable way of speaking. They maintain that,
even if the fear is overcome, if the speech is left uncorrected, the
stammer is still there—below the surface, and that it will come
back again.
They emphasize the need for a quick correction and maintain
that a slow method is psychologically bad, inasmuch as it
suggests to the patient that he has a chronic illness which needs a
very long time to cure it. They say that a few weeks should
correct a stammerer and that any treatment which necessitates
years to effect a result, is unsound.
 Chapter X

EXAMPLE AND PRECEPT

W HEN a decision has been reached with regard to the

type of treatment, much can be done by the parents and
other members of the family to expedite the correction
of the stammer; there are many things which the immediate
family ought to be able to find out more easily than the speech
therapist, who has only just begun making the acquaintance of his
patient. For instance, some boys make use of a stammer as a
protection against work; many young men have told me quite
frankly that, when they were small boys, they found a stammer a
very useful screen to cover insufficiently prepared work. Parents
should know whether their boys are lazy or industrious; school
reports are very often misleading. A bad report often leads to a lot
of correspondence, and for this reason bad reports are never sent
out from a number of schools. If a boy loafs about during the
holidays and can show nothing at the end of the time, it is a pretty
sure indication that he does not work at school; if he is always
busy with some new idea, learning something or making
something, he is likely to be a steady worker at school.
If there is even a suspicion that the stammer is being used as a
defence against work, treatment should be delayed until the
patient is genuinely anxious to get rid of his disability. Any
unsuccessful treatment is worse than no treatment at all, since it
leaves the patient with less confidence in the possibility of
correction.
Athletic sons of rich fathers sometimes use their disability to
delay the dreaded day when work begins in earnest and there are
no long holidays at frequent intervals, and no leisure for daily
rounds of golf. In such a case a few weeks in London for
treatment is a pleasant alternative to settling down to an office
routine, but it is much better to delay the treatment and get the
plunge into work safely over; so that the boy knows the worst;
later on, he can be given a few weeks leave from his work so that
he may go through a course of instruction. The more the parents
can tell the speech therapist about the patient, the better are the
latter’s chances of success.
When the treatment actually begins, sympathetic help from
the other members of the family may be the deciding factor
between failure and success. While it is true that the effort must
be made by the stammerer and the correction must be his, it
makes all the difference if he is in a sympathetic atmosphere. If
he wants to be reminded about his voice, it is very unkind of the
family to show complete apathy, yet I have known many cases in
which such simple help was withheld because the family were too
busy with their amusements to take trouble on behalf of the
unfortunate stammerer. Again, there are other cases in which the
stammerer is better left alone, he prefers to worry through his
correction by himself. It is surely the business of the members of
the family to know what is wanted and to do all in their power to
help, whether by leaving the stammerer alone or by reminding
him of his voice without nagging at him.
The most valuable help of all in every type of case will be for
the other members of the family to talk slowly and firmly and
evenly. While they are helping the stammerer they will be
improving their own speech.
We have seen how large a part is played by imitation; the
child learns speech in the first instance by conscious imitation;
we see how grown up people unconsciously imitate an American
accent or an Australian one. Subconsciously the stammerer will
tend to talk like the people around him and apart from this he will
appreciate the sympathy that is felt for him in his efforts to
correct his faults. I have personal knowledge of many cases in
which a stammer has been averted at its first onset, by the efforts
made by the parents; no mention of stammering has been made,
but the parents have spoken slowly with the happiest results. I
have also personal knowledge of cases under treatment which
have been made successful by the patient efforts of parents. I
know of actual cases in which failure was the direct result of the
gabbling speech of the rest of the family; it is not too easy to
speak slowly, but it is made ten times more difficult if brothers
and sisters display complete apathy by continuing to speak
rapidly although they know that the stammerer is making a great
effort to speak slowly.
There are still people who advise parents to leave a stammerer
alone, they say that the boy will grow out of it. First of all, there
is no reason why he should grow out of it, but if he did it would
probably not be until he was over thirty; meanwhile think of the
half wasted school years, with constant interference with work
and comparative certainty of being passed over instead of being
appointed to the office of prefect. The most valuable time during
the years at a public school is the year or so during which boy is a
prefect; a neglected stammer makes such promotion out of the
question except in special circumstances.
It is useless to send a boy for treatment unless he has a real
and personal wish to speak properly, it is unfair to the boy and to
the instructor, who gets blamed if the treatment is unsuccessful,
but it is even more unfair to withhold treatment if the patient is
genuinely keen and prepared to do his best.
 Chapter XI

THE STAMMERER

T HE stammerer must realize from the first that his stammer

is a bad habit, nothing more and nothing less; he has got
into it and he has got to get out of it. It is not a disease for
which he must seek a cure; it is not a defect to be remedied by a
surgeon, it is a bad habit into which he has drifted and the only
way out of it is to cultivate a new, correct habit to take its place.
The speech therapist can explain the facts of the case and he
can advise the patient how to make the necessary change, but the
work has got to be done by the stammerer himself; it means work
and lots of it, but the time it takes and the completeness of the
correction depend on the courage and energy of the patient.
The task is to change—from fast to slow—from feeble tone to
firm tone—from staccato rhythm to legato.
Scores of stammerers have already made this change, some
have done it in a couple of weeks, others have failed to do it in as
many years. Boys of seven and men of fifty have broken this
habit, others of all ages have lacked the moral courage to win, for
it is a test of courage. The stammerer must decide whether he is
going to change or not; half-measures are useless, the old habit
will win every time if there is a hint of compromise. If you mean
to keep your old voice, be honest about it and say “No” straight
away. Keep your voice and don’t grumble at the price—the
possession of a stammer. If you want to get rid of the stammer,
pay the price, change a poor voice for a good one, a gabble for
audibility, a voice that does justice to your personality, but don’t
grumble at some hard work; it is worth it.
From the moment the stammerer can say one sentence with
correct speed, correct vocal tone and correct rhythm, he knows
that—
he can correct his stammering habit.
 If he can speak one sentence correctly, he can speak the
others.
Below is a sentence which has corrected scores of stammers.
“He ordered his men to break down the bridge.”

H D D H S M N T BR K D N TH BR DG
EE OR ER I E OO EA OW E I

The upper line shows the stammerer’s version—all

consonants.
The lower line shows what the singer has in mind—all
vowels.
Make sounds instead of merely shapes of sounds.
There is a pattern sentence; what I have done with that one,
you can and must do with all the others—bring out your vowels.
Speak slowly, firmly and smoothly all the time.
That is the motto for the stammerer who means to win.
Keep at it constantly, try to practice for two minutes in every
half-hour of the day. By practice, I mean “tuning in” to your new
voice so that you get used to its sound and the sensation of
producing it. Stimulate consciousness, think about it; if you don’t
hear your voice when you speak, listen until you do, then listen
again! The object of tuning-in is that you may be able to speak
the better for it for the next twenty-eight minutes, until it is time
to tune-in again. Every time you tune in, focus your mind on the
tune of the sentence rather than its words. Every conscious effort
is practice, don’t wait until you can find an empty room in an
empty house! Force your opportunities; keeping on a firm voice
all the time, ask thirty different people the shortest way to your
own house! If you want some matches, buy one box in each of
twelve different shops, instead of buying a dozen boxes in one
shop.
Don’t measure your progress by whether you stammer or not,
but by whether you keep to the right speed, tone and rhythm. You
did not always stammer before, so the presence or absence of a
stammer during one day tells you nothing, it is a change of voice
which will correct your stammering habit.
The most valuable practice is with your family, especially if
you are at your best with them, that is the time when you can
concentrate on your voice and keep to it; they are the people who
can remind you if you forget your voice.
If you are a cricketer and wish to improve your batting, you
get someone to coach you and you practice your strokes in the
nets; you don’t keep your new strokes for the most important
matches; you get used to them in the nets, so that you have full
confidence in them when you play in the match. Do the same
with your voice, get used to it until you trust it and eventually it
will come naturally, it will be your voice, the only way you can
talk; by that time you will have lost your stammer, your muscles
will work smoothly, the former jerky movements will have been
lost and you will have forgotten how to stammer. Every day you
keep on your new voice is a good day, do it every day, every
week till you have formed a new muscle memory for the right
way of speaking, instead of the old wrong way.
Some stammerers are anxious to learn things which may help
them, they will suggest learning to sing because it may improve
their speech. Don’t be content with parallel roads, the direct road
is the one for you if you mean to win.
Above all things remember it is your voice, your speed and
your rhythm you have to correct; when you have done this your
stammer will have gone. The stammer is the result of second rate
speech; it is the proof that you had much to learn about speech.
Correct the faults and the stammer will disappear automatically.
Get interested in good speech for its own sake; you are
interested in doing other things in the right way. Why be content
with second rate speech, your chief way of expressing yourself
and your thoughts to other people. Read Your Speaking Voice
and its Possibilities, a book written to help the man who is above
the average, and who has to address meetings and make speeches.
He wants to do justice to his personality, you want to do the
same.
When you have won, and you will win, you will have done far
more than correct a bad habit of speech; you will have proved to
yourself that you have courage and determination, that you can
meet and surmount difficulties. You will then be a proved man,
ready to undertake further tasks and more responsibility. When
you have proved your power to control yourself, you will be
equipped to control other people.
 Remember you are following a certainty; correct your voice
and your stammer will leave you.
 Chapter XII

CLEFT PALATE SPEECH

I T must frequently have been the experience of parents to find

that, after a cleft palate has been completely closed by a
surgeon or by a denture or by a combination of the two, the
dull muffled tone, that is generally associated with this defect,
still persists. There are a few patients who are naturally adaptable
and are able to find out for themselves how to readjust their
speech and thus take full advantage of the skill of the surgeon,
but the majority have no idea how to begin; many of them do not
realize in what fundamentals their speech is abnormal and
defective, and therefore have no idea what has to be corrected and
how it is to be done.
There are two definite defects:
The vocal tone is dull and muffled and the consonants are
indistinct, especially: P, B, T, D, K and G.
In the normal speaker the speech function of the soft palate is
to open and close the nasopharynx (the passage upwards to the
nose). To open it the soft palate is drawn downwards and
forwards, and to shut it the soft palate is drawn upwards and
backwards. In cases of cleft palate the soft palate is frequently too
short to reach back to the back wall of the nasopharynx, while in
cases in which the soft palate has been surgically joined, its
movements are very often considerably restricted by the presence
of scar tissue.
The first effect of this inability to close the nasopharynx is
that the vocal tone passes more through the nose than through the
mouth, and for this reason has an abnormal and ugly resonance.
The second is that it is impossible to articulate some of the
consonants in a normal manner, more especially in the case of the
explosives, P, B, T, D, K & G.
 All consonants necessitate some degree of breath pressure in
the mouth, more particularly the explosives, but any such
pressure is impossible until the nasopharynx can be closed. Until
this is done it is impossible to prevent an escape of breath
through the nose before and during the release of breath through
the mouth, which release is itself the consonant. To explain more
fully, for P & B the breath is released by the lips; for T & D it is
released by the tip of the tongue behind the upper front teeth; for
K & G it is released by the back of the tongue and the soft palate.
Now it is the different position of release of the above consonants
which enables us to know one from the other, but if during such
release there is in each case an audible escape of breath through
the nose, it is obvious that all will sound alike.
The first essential then is to learn to close the nasopharynx;
this can be done in two ways, first by increasing the movement of
the soft palate and secondly, by hyper development of auxiliary
movement of the back wall of the nasopharynx. In plain words
we must make the soft palate move more freely backwards
towards the back wall of the nasopharynx, and, if it is still unable
to meet the back wall, we must make the back wall move forward
to meet it; somehow or other we must contrive to make this
closure before we can make a normal explosive consonant.
When the cheeks can be puffed out, normal speech is possible.
If the cheeks can be puffed out, it is obvious that escape of breath
through the nose has been prevented by closure of the
nasopharynx. Blowing up toy balloons, blowing out candles at
increasing distances and whistling all depend upon pressure of
breath in the mouth. Nature is extremely resourceful and
inventive and persistent efforts to do the above exercises will be
rewarded with success. There are several other ways in which the
escape of breath through the nose can be prevented, nature will
find these ways in answer to the effort made to do the exercises
and, most important of all, to puff out the cheeks.
Having learned how to close the nasopharynx the first
essential has been mastered, but it is very important that the
patient should stimulate consciousness of what he is doing; he
must make a mental note of the sensation of the closure in order
to apply it to speech. He must link up exercises and actual
formation of consonants.
 Full details about the correct positions of all the English
consonants will be found in my book, Your Speaking Voice and
its Possibilities. The patient will have to work hard to learn the
correct formation of each consonant, but he may be quite sure
that it can be done and that success will be in exact proportion to
the amount of work he does.
As we have seen in previous chapters the outflowing vocal
tone is interrupted chiefly in the consonants, in other words, more
breath pressure in the mouth is needed for the consonants than for
the vowels; therefore the greatest test of skill for the cleft palate
patient is the correct articulation of the consonants. If he is keen
he will not be satisfied until he has learned to make every
consonant perfectly. It is a lengthy task but it is worth while to
get it right.
So far we have considered the greatest speech difficulty for a
cleft palate patient, the articulation of the consonants; we must
now turn our attention to the vowels, which although they present
very much less difficulty are of far more importance. They
present less difficulty because, as we have seen in a previous
chapter, the vowel shapes are made by movements of the tongue
and by opening the jaws to a greater or less degree. It is evident
that the cleft palate will not affect the vowel formation itself.
In most cases the vowels are suffering more from neglect than
from faulty formation. It is only natural that the consonants which
presented particular difficulties should have claimed the chief
attention, but we must remember that audibility depends on the
vowels far more than on the consonants; the aim of the patient
being to speak audibly, he should now turn to an easier but more
important task, the study of the vowels. Audibility depends
chiefly on clear differentiation between the twenty five vowel
sounds. The complete list is on tables given previously and it will
repay careful thought and study.
The shortened soft palate will only affect the vowels inasmuch
as it will impart an unusual quality of resonance; it is this point
which will receive attention now that we are passing on to
consider voice production in relation to cleft palate. If the
consonants are correctly articulated as a result of learning to close
the nasopharynx, there will be particular difficulty about getting
normal mouth resonance for the vowels, and general vocal tone.
 For tone production the first thing to be learnt is to open the
throat to its fullest extent by raising the soft palate as it is raised
when yawning; this will increase the flow of vocal tone through
the mouth and decrease the escape of it through the nose. Much
can be done, too, by development of chest resonance, the chest
acting as a sounding board for the vocal tone produced in the
larynx. The violin offers an excellent illustration of the
importance of a sounding board, since the quality of the tone
depends, not on the string which can be bought for a few pence,
but on the violin itself, which is ninety percent a sounding board.
So with the voice, the tone produced by the vibration of the vocal
cords depends for its quality on the development of resonance,
both thoracic and what is contributed to it by the resonating
chambers, i.e. the mouth and nose.
One of the most important factors in voice training is to bring
chest and nasal resonance into their right proportions. In cases of
cleft palate the tendency must always be for nasal resonance to
predominate, but the control of the soft palate necessary to form
the consonants should be quite sufficient to direct the vocal tone
forward through the mouth instead of upwards through the nose.
As has been already explained, voice and vowels are far more
important than minutely correct consonants, therefore the patient
should first concentrate on the consonants and learn to form them
and when this is completed, he should ignore his consonants as
far as he can and concentrate on the flow of the vocal tone and
the clearness of the vowels. The first is the hard part, but it is the
latter which though far easier is much more important, since the
aim of the patient is to speak audibly and as normally as is
possible.
It is difficult to suggest a definite age at which a patient
should consult a speech therapist, because success must depend to
a large extent on the efforts of the patient, but there are great
advantages in an early start. When the child is about five years
old the mother or nurse, under the supervision of an expert, can
do a great deal to accelerate the mastery of the consonants, and
thus prevent the habit of nasal tone becoming very deeply fixed,
but the chief effort should be made when the patient himself has a
wish to speak normally. The amount of time needed depends on
the quickness and adaptability of the individual, but even when
the speech has been corrected it is wise to keep in touch with the
speech therapist, for the sake of occasional criticism and advice.
As a general rule, therefore, it is a good plan to get some help in
childhood but to concentrate when the patient has the personal
wish to improve; this will be at the age of 16 or 18.
As has been emphasized already, adaptability plays a very
large part in speech correction; this is clearly shown by the ability
of some patients to speak almost equally well with or without
their dentures. It must be clearly understood, however that a high
standard of speech is only made possible in the first place by a
satisfactory denture or surgical procedure, adapt-ability merely
enables the patient to achieve the high standard made possible by
the denture.
Anyone who has been surgically or prosthetically treated for
cleft palate can learn normal or very nearly normal speech by
hard work and consistent practise on these lines.