I'm 20 and I can't speak properly.

LegacyUser

I'm 20 years old, and I can't speak properly. Whenever I engage in conversation, I mumble. It happens about 60% of the time. I can feel it happening, and I can't stop it. Even if i stop, and think of what i'm going to say, I can feel the words not forming properly in my mouth.

I also can't pronounce words that end in 'ing'. So for example, the word king, would come out as kin. I wen't to a speech therapist when i was younger, and nothing worked.

I'm just back from holidays with my mates, and this is when I noticed it big time. They had to keep asking me "what" every time I spoke.

I have no idea how to solve this. It's embarrassing especially when I'm to be a working professional in 2 years time. How will managers perceive someone, you they can't understand.

Merkin

You definitely need to go back for speech and language therapy. A good SLT will be able to establish the type of therapy you need or if you need elocution. The way you speak has a huge bearing on how you present yourself to the world so it's imperative that you tackle the problem head on, especially before entering the workforce.

gercoral

are you a shy or anxious person?

lazybones32

Go to a therapist for help. Just because you didn't perceive the change last time doesn't mean there won't be improvements this time. You won't regret going.

LirW

Are your voice organs okay? I have a professionally trained voice and do have some experience with it, the first thing I'd consider is to go to a doctor and do a physical check-up if everything is alright there.
Afterwards check out good therapists and consider getting advice from professional voice trainers (because they have lots of experience since they work with voice every single day).

Best of luck!

fluffybiscuits

speech1121 wrote: »

I'm 20 years old, and I can't speak properly. Whenever I engage in conversation, I mumble. It happens about 60% of the time. I can feel it happening, and I can't stop it. Even if i stop, and think of what i'm going to say, I can feel the words not forming properly in my mouth.

I also can't pronounce words that end in 'ing'. So for example, the word king, would come out as kin. I wen't to a speech therapist when i was younger, and nothing worked.

I'm just back from holidays with my mates, and this is when I noticed it big time. They had to keep asking me "what" every time I spoke.

I have no idea how to solve this. It's embarrassing especially when I'm to be a working professional in 2 years time. How will managers perceive someone, you they can't understand.

Mindfulness might also help as well in conjunction with what the poster said above. We have a tendency as humans to react on the spot. Do not be scared to mull over an idea or thought then respond to let an answer formulate in your head. When people go "hmmmm" or other little actions like that , it is because they are thinking.

KikiDee

Hey OP,

I have a little indirect experience of this. A buddy of mine was in the same boat as you. It sometimes seemed like he was struggling to form sentences and when he did, we couldn't really understand what he was saying. He's being doing S&LT for about 6 months now and the difference in him is amazing. And I don't even mean just his speech. His confidence has soared and he text me over the weekend to say for the first time ever, he went up to a girl while he was out and got her number.

He went to his GP who referred him to an S&L therapist but I'm sure this info could also be gotten via other channels.