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by kMitnick18 3052 days ago
I'm a stutterer and English is my second language so I get even more nervous when trying to speak, it does affect my work because I can't really communicate what I'm trying to say without going back to a whiteboard explaining a programming concept or something so I usually resorts to not saying anything even when I know what other people are saying is bs.

I dread making or taking phone calls and even though I'm confident on my programming knowledge the anxiety prevents me from looking for another job where I can be making what I think I'm worth, on the flip side I would like to be a salesman talking to people all day and not having a desk job but my anxiety prevents me from doing so, anxiety worsen my stutter which in turns makes me more anxious ( a never ending cycle)

1 comments

Thank you for sharing, I totally understand and know what that feels like. I have a bad stammer which causes me to block of any word I want to say when I'm feeling nervous.

I get nervous anticipating any form of public speaking outside of a small group people that I feel comfortable with.

Fortunately, my team mostly uses slack for intra department communication but slack can't be used for everything. The worst for me are round table meetings where participation is mandatory, i.e going around and taking turns to introduce yourself, or conference calls with new people.