Integrating Orchestral Speech & The Jump

Introduction

Once you have learned how to employ Orchestral Speech and the Jump and have started experimenting with using them in real-life speaking situations, you will probably have noticed that each technique works well in some situations and less well in others. Therefore, to benefit most from these two techniques, you need to know which technique is best suited to the particular speaking situation in which you currently find yourself.

In most speaking situations there are moments where it is more appropriate to use the Jump and other moments where it is more appropriate to use Orchestral Speech, and you will achieve the best results by freely alternating between the two, using Orchestral Speech for the phrases you need to say fluently with a minimum likelihood of blocking, and the Jump for the phrases that it is important to say accurately. But whatever the case, if you find that one of the techniques doesn’t work in a particular situation – insofar as the listener fails to understand what you have said – you can always repeat the phrase using the other technique. More often than not, one of the two techniques will enable you to successfully get your message across.

To clarify why Orchestral Speech is better in some situations and the Jump is better in others, it is useful to have a clear picture of the similarities and differences between them.

As you worked through our online course modules on Orchestral Speech and The Jump, you will have noticed that these two ways of speaking share much in common. In particular, both Orchestral Speech and the Jump require you to…

  • Immediately abandon the sounds you find yourself blocking on
  • keep moving forward (to the end of the phrase you intended to say)

The key differences between these two ways of speaking are…

  • what you prioritize while you speak
  • what you do when you get stuck

Broadly speaking, Orchestral Speech is best suited to speaking situations where there is time-pressure and where it is more important to speak fluently and where the accuracy of your articulation of individual sounds and words is less important than the speed with which they come out.

In contrast, the Jump is best suited to speaking situations where the speed or fluency with which one speaks is less important.

Differences between Orchestral Speech and the Jump

Orchestral speech

Orchestral speech, when employed properly enables you to avoid blocks and results in instant fluency. This technique is particularly useful in situations where there is time-pressure and a limited window of opportunity in which to speak and in situations where blocking would have negative consequences

The Jump

The Jump does not enable you to avoid blocking. However, it does enable you to quickly get re-started on the next sound when you find yourself blocking. This technique is particular useful in situations where there is little or no time-pressure and where it is OK to allow yourself to block.

With Orchestral Speech, you speak with a firm determination to keep up with the intended forward flow of speech even if you need to miss out some sounds and words in order to do so (just like you would do if you were speaking in a chorus). This means that if you block, you may need to miss out some sounds or words in order to catch up.

Because Orchestral Speech requires you to give priority to maintaining the intended forward flow, it significantly reduces the extent to which you focus on trying to pronounce each word accurately. This shift of your focus of attention away from the quality of your pronunciation substantially reduces the likelihood of blocking while using Orchestral Speech. However, because Orchestral Speech relies on distraction, in the long run it does not teach you to accept your speech errors and dysfluencies, nor does it desensistize you to them. So its fluency-enhancing effects only last as long as you continue to use the technique.

With The Jump, when you start to speak you simply focus on what you want to say, and if you block you abandon the sound you are blocking on and jump to the next sound. Because you don’t need to keep up with the intended forward flow and you have time to attempt every sound. You only jump over the sound you are blocking on.

Unlike Orchestral Speech, with the Jump you do not have to focus on maintaining the forward flow, so your are likely to be much more aware of your dysfluencies and speech errors. However, because the Jump enables you to notice these speech errors and dysfluencies and to accept them and to carry on regardless, it desensitizes you to them and reduces your fear of them. Consequently, in the long run, it reduces your tendency to block and it reduces the fear and any negative emotions that have become associated with blocking.

Thus, the net result of using these techniques is slightly different…

With Orchestral speech, you will block less when you speak,

Thus Orchestral Speech is best suited for use in situations where  one is under pressure to speak more fluently and to move forward at a faster rate.  Orchestral Speech is also particularly well suited to people whose stuttering is relatively severe.

With the Jump, you will block more than when using Orchestral Speech, however each time you block, and successfully jump to get restarted, your fear of blocking and your tendency to block in the future will reduce significantly.

Thus the Jump is best suited for use in situations where time-pressure is not an issue and for use at times when one’s stuttering is relatively mild.

Both ways of speaking have some potential pitfalls…

With Orchestral Speech, if you become overly attached to it, there is a danger that you may use it to avoid blocking and you may thus continue to evaluate blocks as undesirable and fail to overcome your fear of blocking.

With the Jump, if you become overly attached to it, there is a danger that you may start to focus too much on saying each individual sound and word. Consequently, although the Jump will enable you to keep moving forward, you may still find yourself blocking more frequently than is desirable.

 go to the next page: Combining the Jump with other techniques and other modes of communication >>