Hurdle of stammering in clearing M.B.A

[Ravinder singh]

Hi! i am Ravinder Singh. I hve joined the forum recently. I am having this problem of stuttering right from the beginning. This habit is more severe in front of strangers and in situations demanding immediate response. In such circumstances breathing exercises do not prove to be much beneficial as there is no much time to perform them. I am doing B.TECH IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. After that iam planning to do M.B.A. But the problem would arise in clearing GD(group discussion) which is the second stage in this exam. If anyone of you have any solutions or comments then please post them on the thread.

[AGOFCR]

Ravinder,

I do not have a solution but I do have a comment. Group discussion is oftentimes difficult, even for those who do not stutter. During my grad school days I had to do a minimum of one oral presentation (sometimes two or three) per class . . . For all 15 classes!!! I approached it as I do with briefings at work. First and foremost, you need to be the subject matter expert. Know your topic inside and out; not being well versed on the topic places more (unnecessary) stress on you thus creating anxiety and ending in increased dysfluency. Become one with the topic. You need to be totally relaxed, meditation and visualization helped me a lot (and still does). Save your energy for the presentation; for us as stutterers it is very energy-consuming to speak in front of others. Give it your all for the 10, 15, or 20 minutes of the presentation. Then, afterwards, reward yourself for the moments of fluency (positive reinforcement) and DO NOT punish yourself for the any stuttering you might have exhibited.

That's the best advice I can give you.

Good luck and may you make the right career/educational choice!!!

[bignick]

Ravinder,

I dont have any solutions for you but all I want to do is to wish you every success in your diploma and your M.B.A.

Keep us informed on how it is going.

[Hattitude]

Ravinder,
I know exactly what you are going through. I did my undergraduate degree in Computer Science, then a few years later got my MBA.

While preparing for the MBA I was also terrified since I knew I'd have to give lots of presentations and speeches. The MBA turned out to be quite an experience where I met new friends. Everyone knew I stuttered and after a presentation, no matter how badly I botched it up, people would always come up, pat me on the shoulder and told me I did great. On some presentations I cheated by having the other team members do most of the talking if I promised to build a kick ass powerpoint presentation :)

I think it's important to let your teachers know you stutter, most people are really nice about it. I made it a point to tell teachers I stutter so that they know I'm not ignorant or trying to bs my way through, this really helped.
One teacher I remember approaching midway through the semester and explaining to him about my stutter. He replied with "you may not talk much, but at least you make valid points. Some students make a point of speaking all the time, but all that comes out of their mouths is pure bs. Don't worry about it".

Good luck with both your educational goals.