You Have a Stammer and Your New Team Starts Every Day With a Stand Up

You have just joined a new team. Every morning at half past nine, eight people join a call and take turns saying what they did yesterday and what they are doing today. You have a stammer, and you have been dreading your turn since the first invitation arrived.

You are far from alone. Around one in a hundred adults stammer, including engineers, lawyers, teachers and people who speak on stage for a living. Stammering is not caused by nerves or a lack of confidence, although pressure can make it more noticeable. It says nothing about how clearly you think.

The first decision is yours, and there is no wrong answer. You do not have to tell anyone. But many people find that a short, matter of fact sentence early on removes most of the pressure. I have a stammer, so sometimes I take a bit longer to get a word out. Please just wait rather than finishing my sentences. Said once, to your manager or to the whole team, it replaces their guessing with a simple instruction.

Notice how specific that request is. Most colleagues want to help and do not know how. Some rush to fill the silence, some look away, some finish your words with good intentions. Telling them what helps is a kindness to them as well as to you.

Then think about the format, not just your voice. If a long stand up is the hardest part of your day, it is fine to suggest small changes that would help everyone. A written update in the channel before the call, which people can then discuss. Going in a fixed order so nobody is waiting to be picked. Many teams adopt changes like these and keep them because they make meetings shorter.

You may also have legal protection. In some countries, including the UK, a stammer can count as a disability, which means an employer may have to make reasonable adjustments. You may never need that, but it is useful to know it exists.

Above all, do not shrink your contributions to avoid speaking. Ask the question in the meeting. Take the demo. The team needs your ideas more than it needs them delivered quickly.

– Asael Shinder