Negative Conditions

All speech is more difficult when under pressure. Commonly, social pressures, like speaking to a group, speaking to strangers, speaking on the telephone, or speaking to authority figures, will irritate and make worse a stutter. Also, time pressure often exacerbates a stutter. Pressure to speak quickly when answering or conversing is usually very difficult for a stutterer, particularly on the telephone where stutterers do not have body language to aid themselves. This usually leaves dead silence in the place of nonverbal communication, which will indicate to the listener that the stutterer is not there or the line has been disconnected. Other time pressures will also worsen a stutter, such as saying one's own name, which must be done without hesitation to avoid the appearance that one does not know his or her own name, repeating something just said, or speaking when somebody is waiting for a response.