Planning to not stammer

The other day, Meghan commented that I seem to structure my thoughts well when I talk. For some reason, I then flashed back all the way to grade school, when I had a tendency to stutter or stammer. It wasn’t a debilitating problem: I wouldn’t have to rephrase something because of a word I couldn’t get out, and other kids didn’t tease me very much, but it was embarrassing sometimes.

After Meghan’s comment, I wondered if maybe the way I try to plan before I speak is some kind of compensation technique — I don’t think I’ve had a real stammering problem since childhood, and maybe this was how I learned to avoid the problem.