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Stuttering and Conversation I'm tired of this. If you knew me, you might say my stuttering isn't that bad. "I barely hear you stutter". Alright then, I guess I'm a covert stutterer. Life is great right? Only thing is, stuttering (or whatever additional psychological, physiological, w.e. is at play) goes deeper than that for me. I can barely hold a *meaningful* conversation with people. Thinking on the spot is definitely not my forte, so I end up saying smalltalk at best and gibberish at worst. When I do have something that I'm inspired to say, then my recurring lack of confidence kicks in and destroys my train of thought, focusing me instead on the fact that 1. people are actually listening to me 2. I have to say something significant/intelligent 3. I might stutter. Although people that have heard me in conversation might consider me 'not intelligent', my writing shows otherwise.My lab supervisor once told me "Wow, I didn't expect you to write so well!". Perhaps part of the solution is increasing my confidence. But when I've been programmed all these years to not be confident in what comes out of my mouth, how do I undo all this conditioning? Even just basic conversation elevates my stress levels, making me prone to stutter. I'm realizing that stuttering doesn't simply hinder my speech, it rids me of the privilege of speaking with a fluid train of thought. Even worse, the underpinnings behind the stuttering have created this monster in my mind that hinders my train of thought itself. I just don't know... I guess I'll start by being confident in myself and what I want to say no matter how incompetent or stupid my mind is telling me I am. What can I do to become better at conversation? How can I increase my confidence in these situations, despite being conditioned from past experiences not to be confident? How can I lower my stress levels in these situations. Thank you for taking your time to read my thoughts and questions.