By far the easiest way to practice the Jump is in situations where you are producing some real blocks to jump over. Unfortunately, when you are on your own, you probably won’t produce many real blocks. Nevertheless, it is better to start practicing on your own, before trying it out on other people, because when you are alone, you can take your time and make sure you know what you are meant to do.

If you don’t produce enough real blocks when reading aloud to yourself, a good alternative is to practice jumping over voluntary (pretend) blocks while reading aloud to yourself. Although this feels very different to jumping over real blocks (it’s actually more difficult) it nevertheless does give you the necessary practice.

Jumping over pretend blocks

Select a few pages of relatively straightforward text to read out loud. Underline or highlight about 10% of the words. These underlined/highlighted words are the ones that you will do voluntary blocks on.

If, in real life, you tend to block on words beginning with a particular sound, highlight the words that start with that sound. If you don’t have any particular problem-sounds, highlight the words that would normally be stressed —These are generally the ones that are more important for conveying the meaning of the sentence and so they are the ones you would normally be most likely to stammer on.

Once you’ve completed the highlighting, read the text out loud. If possible record or video yourself doing the reading. This will make it feel more authentic (Recording yourself will also increase the likelihood that you will produce some real blocks—which will give you the chance to practice jumping over real blocks).

Practical exercise1: Jumping after you’ve started to push

Ideally, you should jump over blocks before you start to try to push through them and before you start to produce any prolongations or repetitions. That way, you can avoid much of the muscle tension that arises from pushing. However, when people who stammer first start to employ the Jump, they are often a bit slow at recognising they have got stuck. So they often have already started to use force to try to push through the block or already started to prolong or repeat before they realise it. This exercise is designed to provide you with some practice letting go after you have already started to try to push through a block, prolong, or repeat.

Procedure

• Read the text out loud exactly as one normally would when not using any technique at all.
• When you come to a highlighted word, produce  a voluntary block on the first sound of that word, and mimic the sort of behaviour you normally produce when you stammer. (This may be a block together with some pushing, a prolongation or a repetition).
• Then, a fraction of a second later, STOP and let go of all of the muscles associated with producing the sound you are blocking on.
• After a moment’s pause, start againgently, from the next sound of that word or from the beginning of the next word. (Don’t repeat the sound you pretended to block on).
• Always make sure there is a break between the sound you initially blocked on and the sound you start again from. (i.e. Don’t try and join these sounds together).

Try this exercise on words starting with a variety of different sounds.  See the first half of the voluntary jumping demo video 1 to check that you are doing it in the correct way. Click here for the associated text.

Of course, if you happen to produce any real blocks during this exercise, make sure you do The Jump on them too!

Practical Exercise 2 Jumping as soon as you block

A far more satisfactory way of doing the Jump is to jump as soon as you start to block (and before you start to push or produce any repetitions, prolongations or secondary symptoms). To practice doing this, you can use the same highlighted text as in exercise 1

• Read the text out loud exactly as you normally would when not using any technique at all.
• When you come to a highlighted word, as soon as your mouth is in the position required to begin the first sound STOP. (this is your pretend block)
• Don’t use force, and don’t repeat or prolong the sound. 
• Let go of all of the muscles associated with producing the initial sound you are blocking on.
• After a moment’s pause, carry on gently, from the next sound, with the rest of the word, or from the beginning of the next word. (Don’t repeat the sound you pretended to block on).

Try this exercise out on words starting with a variety of different sounds.  See the second half of the  jumping demo video 1 (from 4 minutes onwards) to check that you are doing it in the correct way.  Click here for the associated text

Important points to remember while practicing The Jump

When you anticipate an upcoming block…

• Don’t slow down
• Don’t speed up
• Don’t change what you intended to say.

As soon as you find yourself blocking…

• STOP and“let go” before carrying on with the next sound
• Never use force to try to push through a block. (From now on, you should be jumping over blocks—not pushing through them.)
• Don’t go back to attempt the problem sound again.

When you start again after jumping over the block…

• Start gently
• if the sound you are re-starting on is a vowel sound, to ensure a gentle start, it may help to insert a silent /h/ before it (See the section on glottal stops for an explanation)

No matter how hard you try, you will probably find yourself occasionally pushing, slowing down, avoiding, substituting, repeating and prolonging words— before you realise you are doing it. Don’t worry about it. These are, after all, deeply ingrained habits. The main thing is to stop, let go, and jump as soon as you realise you are blocking.