I don't have a problem with my name - first name is one syllable and I always have to spell my last name. However, for thirteen years, I lived on a street with 4 syllables and a lot of Rs. That was ugly often. :| I could not do my Ls or Rs as a child either. I spent about 5 years in speech therapy to correct that. Regarding my stutter, they gave me a sheet of paper with tips. Really, what tween would ever do anything with that??? I stuttered since I could speak. My mother had a degenerative disease that made verbal communication difficult for her and apparently I picked it up from her. That is the logic anyway as not a single other relative stutters in my family. That apparently makes me an oddity. They flew me out to the Natl Inst of Health in Wash DC to do a study. I could not participate because it turns out I am partially deaf. But I got a cool trip to D.C. I used to use word substitution all the time but it made me sound uneducated. I don't do that anymore. Now, if I get caught up on a word, so be it. If someone makes fun of me, so be it. I actually do training at my work. I have my good days and my bad days. When I do presentation-type training, I rehearse the heck out of it. I probably rehearse it about 20 times before I actually present it. It also gives me a chance to fine tune it and cut the fat. I am more apt to stutter with one-on-one training as those discussions can take you anywhere. My worst experience is I had to do a presentation on a topic I knew little about and I knew at least half the room knew more than me. I could sense their impatience, which made things so much worse. The only time I am really self-conscious is when we are joking around at work and then I basically kill the entire vibe because I get stuck on a word. lol. One of my close friends stutters. He does the therapy and the support groups. He has had some expensive aids. One was a hearing-aid type device that cost him $5K. He said that really helped him and you could tell a difference. He now has an iPod type device that helps him with his cadence. I don't think I have ever gone to therapy because I simply do not care enough. Yes, it sucks to stutter. No one is perfect and everyone has issues but we cannot hide ours. However, I have a good job, good health and a roof over my head. I really cannot complain about much. I am no doctor but it sounds like your biggest issue is your anxiety. When I first started working, I had a lot of phone work. I would always panic and it would make me say stupid things - not to avoid a stutter but because I was so worked up about the possibility of stuttering that I could not think straight. I am not on the phone as often but now if I stutter, I will just say, "Yes, I stutter" and move on. I wish you good luck!