About the Authors: Ezra Horak is a lifelong (basically) stutterer who lives in the USA. They run the popular platform Stutterology, where their mission is education and advocacy from a stuttering perspective – for SLPs, for parents and guardians, for allies, for strangers… and of course, for fellow people who stutter. They have been involved with various stuttering non-profits for 10 years, and currently serve as co-chair of the board for SPACE: Stuttering, People, Arts, Community, Education. Their interests outside stuttering are limited but mostly include researching family history and hanging out with their cats. Check them out on instagram or facebook at @Stutterology Aidan Sank is the Executive Director and co-Founder of SPACE, a Canadian nonprofit organization creating more SPACE for stuttering in the world. A passionate ally of the stuttering community for nearly 15 years, Aidan is particularly interested in the intersections between stuttering and the arts and is a firm believer in the transformative power of open listening. Being a native of Vancouver, Canada, Aidan is a lover of plants, birds, books and the Pacific Ocean. Visit spacetostutter.org for more.

“Active listening” has become a buzzword in recent years, often touted as the gold standard for effective communication. Experts and influencers provide checklists: nod your head, maintain eye contact, interject with affirmations like “mhmm.” Follow these steps, they say, and you’ll be recognized as a great listener.

But what if true listening isn’t about checking off a list of behaviors? Have you ever noticed someone performing all these actions yet still failing to grasp the essence of what you’re saying? For people who stutter, this superficial form of listening is all too familiar—the glassy-eyed stares and empty nods that technically meet the criteria of “active listening” but leave us feeling unheard and misunderstood.

It’s past time we move our focus from physical action to inner awareness, from active listening to open listening.

The need for this paradigm shift guided us in the process of developing listening workshops over the past year for our non-profit organization, SPACE. Our goal in any listening moment should be to achieve genuine understanding, which stems from engagement—with both the topic and the person speaking. But how does this relate to stuttering? 

The key lies in embracing silence—the spaces between the words.

Many people, stutterers and non-stutterers alike, feel uncomfortable with even brief moments of silence. Yet, silence is invaluable; it allows for reflection, understanding, and deeper connection. In fact, research shows that holding space for silence is essential for meaningful communication.1 

Allowing silence shows respect for the speaker’s agency and provides room for their thoughts to unfold naturally. This might require sitting with moments of discomfort or impatience, but with practice, these moments become opportunities for empathy and connection.

When asked, “How can someone best listen to stuttering?” many who stutter respond:

• “Give us time to speak.”
• “Don’t interrupt by guessing the word.”
• “Don’t make us feel rushed.”
• “Focus on what we’re saying rather than how we’re saying it.”
• “Treat us like you do anyone else – just listen.”

You probably notice that these aren’t requests for specific actions, but instead are appeals for awareness and patience during conversation. 

Dysfluency can often feel unpredictable. Instead of trying to control or rush to the next word, an open listener embraces this unpredictability, allowing the necessary space and time for the speaker to express themselves fully.

Stuttering is often labeled a “fluency disorder” because it disrupts our expectations of conversational flow with repetitions and pauses. For anyone unaccustomed to silence, these interruptions might provoke impatience. But it’s worth it to sit and wait through these moments, creating more authentic and respectful exchanges which benefit everyone involved. 

These techniques we teach—patience, self-awareness, and openness—aren’t just applicable when listening to people who stutter, although they certainly apply to us as well. This practice enhances interactions with any person in our lives; by cultivating these skills, we become better listeners, better friends, better colleagues, better community members.

Ultimately, there’s no special “listener hat” reserved for engaging with stuttering. We’ve all experienced the pain of not feeling heard. The qualities people who stutter seek in listeners mirror what any person wants: space and time to express yourself and to be understood. 

The way we listen to stutterers should reflect how we listen to everyone—with openness, patience, and genuine presence. When we move towards open listening, we create environments where every voice is valued and heard.

1 David Robson, “The Science of Having a Great Conversation,” Wired, excerpt from The Laws of Connection: The Scientific Secrets of Building a Strong Social Network, Crown (Penguin Random House), 2024,
https://www.wired.com/story/the-science-of-having-a-great-conversation-research-social-connection/.