Stammering while speaking: fear of the interview

Here is my response to Judy, a visitor to the site who fears job interviews and finds herself stammering when nervous. She asked for advice regarding how to stop stammering and being afraid of the interview.


Hi Judy

I recall stammering and stuttering when I was younger when I was in stressful situations. I guess there are a few ways you might try to deal with it:

1. Practice makes perfect: The more you go for interviews, the better you'll probably feel in terms of your confidence.

2. Speak slowly: I have a tendency to speak quickly during presentations I've been told, so I now make an effort to speak slower.

3. Make sure you properly prepare for interviews: The better prepared you are, the more comfortable you'll be.

4. Don't overdo it: Don't look at each interview like it's the end of the world if you don't get the job. If you get too worked up over each interview, you're setting yourself up for failure before you even go in.

Ask friends to critique you when you speak with them in person, on the phone etc. Do you speak too fast like I did? I didn't even notice and had to have someone else tell me.

What about videoing yourself speaking or talking and then playing it back and watching it. If you stutter at this time, think about what it was that caused you to stutter. Perhaps you got flustered, maybe you were just trying to speak too quickly.

I hope that helps.

Carl