Speech.

Luiz

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I am 18 years old and this forum has been so helpful with all my motorcycle needs so I figured the the community would help me with this.

Everyone once in a while someone would tell me I have a lisp. I don't notice it but i asked my friends and they told me they all noticed I had it from the first time they met me. I am not self conscious and I do not hesitate to speak but I would rather not have one. I had some time and tried learning all about them.

There are supposedly lateral lisps and interdental lisps. I don't know which one I have. go to college and I took a speech class and got a B in it and an A in every speech. Nobody so much hinted that I had a lisp.

I can't afford to go to a speech therapist and I've been reading that they won't cure a lisp. I will eventually get a job that requires a lot of talking and I do not want this to hold me back. What should I do?
 
I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't sound like it's that bad that people can't understand you. So it wouldn't effect any job performance or anything like that.

Everyone has their own little quirks, flaws, or whatever you want to call it. That's what make us all unique individuals.
 
Well if your are serious I would do what a friend of mine did .Back when we were in our teens he used to get teased a lot about his lisp so what he did was practice, he kept repeating a sentence into a tape recorder and playing it back till he could no longer hear the lisp.Worked for him,give it a go.
 
Hi Luiz,

I think that your grades speak for themselves; you have also said that you are not self-conscious. So just be yourself Mate.
Speech and language therapy is something that I know very little about.
You seem to have done some reading on the subject and concluded that it is not something that can be cured (if that is the right term of phrase).

It may be worth just one visit to a specialist as there may be varying techniques for them both. If you know which category you fall in it may make your own self help training more focussed

Well if your are serious I would do what a friend of mine did .Back when we were in our teens he used to get teased a lot about his lisp so what he did was practice, he kept repeating a sentence into a tape recorder and playing it back till he could no longer hear the lisp. Worked for him, give it a go.

Ozz Luiz is 18, do you think he as ever seen a tape lol, Joking aside I have to do presentations all the time. I have used the technique to get my projection, intonation and timing right.

I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't sound like it's that bad that people can't understand you. So it wouldn't effect any job performance or anything like that.

Everyone has their own little quirks, flaws, or whatever you want to call it. That's what make us all unique individuals.

This is very true, I will ask at work on Monday if the speech and language guys have any advice.

Nelly
 
Luiz, I will talk with my wife and ask her professional opinion. My wife has her Doctorate in Audiology and is employed at a Speech and Hearing clinic.
With the grades you have received , it sounds like you are doing great :thumbup:
 
I have a small speech impediment as well, it is a physical feature of my mouth. When I was a baby I fell off a bed and landed on where my front teeth would grow in, then jumped off a roof as a kid and hit my front teeth straight into my knee bone, then later in high school was head butted in the teeth by a marine. I have one front tooth that is twisted and in behind the other teeth. It drives me crazy sometimes.

Any fr sound followed by a fl or fe sound messes me up. I am still a very persuasive speaker. It just takes practice, but I still mess up sometimes when I am in a hurry.

No biggy man, just a part of life.

Hope you get it worked out.

Steve
 
I am 18 years old and this forum has been so helpful with all my motorcycle needs so I figured the the community would help me with this.

Everyone once in a while someone would tell me I have a lisp. I don't notice it but i asked my friends and they told me they all noticed I had it from the first time they met me. I am not self conscious and I do not hesitate to speak but I would rather not have one. I had some time and tried learning all about them.

There are supposedly lateral lisps and interdental lisps. I don't know which one I have. go to college and I took a speech class and got a B in it and an A in every speech. Nobody so much hinted that I had a lisp.

I can't afford to go to a speech therapist and I've been reading that they won't cure a lisp. I will eventually get a job that requires a lot of talking and I do not want this to hold me back. What should I do?


hey man, you sould fine on here.. thats whats important :thumbup:
 
Try going to an auction. You don't have to buy anything, but watch how the auctioneer sells the product. They sometimes talk REALLY fast.

Great VISUAL and AUDITORY model.
 
Well if your are serious I would do what a friend of mine did .Back when we were in our teens he used to get teased a lot about his lisp so what he did was practice, he kept repeating a sentence into a tape recorder and playing it back till he could no longer hear the lisp.Worked for him,give it a go.

First off, allot of broadcast journalist have some sort of speech impediment that they have overcome. Just take some time and study how they speak and you can tell that they have trained themselves to speak the way they do. Just look at Barbara Walters. She is notorious for overcoming a speech impediment and going on to be one of the most successful journalists ever.

If this is an issue you intend to overcome, I agree with Ozfazer6, read speeches into a recorder and play it back. You hear yourself much differently when listening to your recorded voice as opposed to what you hear in your head when you speak. I know I don't think I sound like myself when I hear my recorded voice.

The main thing is, do not let this issue discourage you from pursuing your dreams.
 
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Dude, I'm from Kentucky. Do you have any idea how bad of an accent I have? It might as well be a physical condition. I don't speak like a hill person or use slang like what is commonly depicted in stereotypes of people from the Appalachian area, but I still have an accent that is really noticeable when I am around anybody not from this area.

If it doesn't impact your life in a negative way or cause you any stress then why even worry about it? I admit that it isn't a bad idea to research the issue and see a specialist but just don't let it rule your life.
 
Don't see the problem. Does anyone say they have trouble understanding you or ask you to repeat yourself often? If the answer to these questions is no then you'll be fine. Seriously mate.
I talk quietly and have a deep mumble kinda thing happening, not to mention that some people think I talk too fast so i am constantly asked to repeat myself. I'd be no good in a job like that.

Besides. It might make you more interesting to listen to:thumbup:.

Go for it:rockon:.

Cheers
Mike
 
Hi Luiz,

I think that your grades speak for themselves; you have also said that you are not self-conscious. So just be yourself Mate.
Speech and language therapy is something that I know very little about.
You seem to have done some reading on the subject and concluded that it is not something that can be cured (if that is the right term of phrase).

It may be worth just one visit to a specialist as there may be varying techniques for them both. If you know which category you fall in it may make your own self help training more focussed



Ozz Luiz is 18, do you think he as ever seen a tape lol, Joking aside I have to do presentations all the time. I have used the technique to get my projection, intonation and timing right.



This is very true, I will ask at work on Monday if the speech and language guys have any advice.

Nelly

Thanks guys. I try to record myself but I can't catch myself doing it. I think I'll go to a specialist and see the correct technique and then practice it myself in front of a video.

Hi Luiz, do not worry yourself over this, we all talk differently but as long as we are understood that is the main thing.

I found this interesting article on Lisping which is worth looking at.

Lisping / Caroline Bowen PhD

Steve

Great article it gave me a lot of information I did not know.

First off, allot of broadcast journalist have some sort of speech impediment that they have overcome. Just take some time and study how they speak and you can tell that they have trained themselves to speak the way they do. Just look at Barbara Walters. She is notorious for overcoming a speech impediment and going on to be one of the most successful journalists ever.

If this is an issue you intend to overcome, I agree with Ozfazer6, read speeches into a recorder and play it back. You hear yourself much differently when listening to your recorded voice as opposed to what you hear in your head when you speak. I know I don't think I sound like myself when I hear my recorded voice.

The main thing is, do not let this issue discourage you from pursuing your dreams.

Thanks Oscar. I would not let it discourage me from pursuing my dreams but as I advance in life and strive to be a politician or a cfo it would be a lot more difficult I think.

After reading some articles I think I have an interdental lisp and with some practice I can resolve this.
 
Honestly, the worst thing you can do is let it bother you. If people understand you fine, then all the more power to you for being so verbal even with an impediment. I tend to say things too quick and mess up words, and it holds me back sometimes before I talk.

On a side note, my chemistry professor is a nuclear chemist with many of his own hypothesis' named after him now, and he has a lisp. He never let it stop him, and he has to talk to many big wigs for money and speech's to provide his findings.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
It sounds like your lisp is not bad - stop worrying about it - it probably only makes it worse! When hiring people, a lisp is the least of my worries - skills and abilities are way more important!!
 
I agree witht he others who say that if it isn't affecting your successes, don't worry about it. If it is something that makes you self-conscious, I might ask you why it made you so self-conscious? Do you not want to be perceived as something you are not (not intelligent, homosexual, etc.)? If that's the case, I'd look into your reasons and talk to someone you trust abotu them.

If that has nothing to do with it, and you just want to lose the lisp, they make tiny digital voice recorders now that you can keep in a pocket or something while you are going about your daily business. Maybe you don't notice it when you record, because you are not talking quickly, in a social context. If you are recording actual conversations with friends, you may be more likely to pick up on things that you might not do when talking to yourself. Just knowing that is what you are looking for may be enough for you to unconsciously overcome it (especially if it isn't bad to begin with, which it sounds like it is not).
 
Try not to let it bother you. When I was younger i couldn't say my r's all the way up into high school. I used to think about it all the time and try to pick words that didn't have an r in it but it didn't work out too well. Do you know how many words have r's in them?!? It was a rough time, but don't even think about it.
 
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