Prior to starting the assignment, there were feelings of apprehension on my part. One of my primary concerns was being able to produce a convincing pseudostutter to unfamiliar listeners. There were definitely feelings of discomfort, anxiety, and nervousness initially, partially due to how others would react to instances of pseudostuttering.
During the brief in-class practice, I gained a bit of insight into some of the personal obstacles I would face while pseudostuttering. Immediately, I noticed there is a lot of planning time involved in pseudostuttering. Additionally, my thinking revolved around the manner in which I would communicate rather than the content I was attempting to communicate. With pseudostuttering, I often found my utterances …show more content…
What stood out to me in these instances was that in contrast to the first two phone calls, in which associates tried to figure out what the product was and the department they would need to consult, the associates I spoke with initially on calls #3 and #4 simply re-directed me to another individual without additional questioning, resulting in some confusion. The second associates on both of these calls were very helpful and there were no instances of communication breakdowns that required me to repeat …show more content…
I felt the associate gave me ample amount of time to say what I intended. He sounded very patient and would often restate himself to make sure he had understood my question. In this interaction, it was difficult to determine if my relative ease during this call was due to my own comfort level with pseudostuttering or because this associate seemed very patient and respectful without sounding rushed or giving me the impression he wanted to end our interaction as swiftly as possible.
Anytime I was asked to repeat myself, I had an increase in anxiety and nervousness, despite knowing that I was not having an in-person interaction. Following the remaining phone calls, I definitely noticed a feeling of physical tension, specifically in my throat, the back of my neck, and shoulders. The sensation in my throat was very similar to days in which I've had to talk a lot or have been yelling for an extended period of time.
I found my experiences during in-person interactions particularly uncomfortable. Throughout each of these interactions, I definitely felt nervous, a sensation that did not abate regardless of the number of times I pseudostuttered. This contrasted greatly with my phone interactions where I gradually became more comfortable over the course of the