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Hey, time to Shine today. Podcast Varsity [00:01:00] Squad. Welcome back to another powerful edition of the Time to Shine Today. Podcast with me, coach Fergie. I’m your host, Scott Ferguson. Blessed to be your gap coach, specializing in performance, mental conditioning, working with professional and amateur athletes, business leaders, entrepreneurs, entertainers, C-Suite, and students to help them bridge
success gap to live a life of options and not obligations on this platform. We are stoked to bring you high performers who are not just chasing and attaining success, but redefining it through, providing above and beyond service and squad get ready to meet a true voice liberator. My good friend James Burden is a speech language pathologist and founder of Stu, the Stuttering Blueprint, where he helps people who stutter, speak with conviction, and build real connections through his unstoppable voice process.
He tossed outdated fluency, hacks, and, and built a bold. Holistic method, blending a CT, mindfulness and the camper down approach, empowering clients to drop the fear and own their voice. This episode is all about courage, transformation, and turning struggle into strength. [00:02:00] And let’s level this up. And James, thank you so much for coming on.
Please introduce yourself to the Time to Shine Today, podcast Varsity Squad. At first, what’s your favorite color and why?
James Burden: My favorite color. Well, it used to be green my whole life, and then at some point it switched to red. There’s just something about, I love it, man. That color that is so rich
L. Scott Ferguson: and fiery and vibrant, you know?
Right. And squad, we were just off mic kinda talking about his journeys in Peru and the. The memories that he’s making. So I’m just so happy that he’s actually here with a snake. ’cause it took a lot of hoops to kind of jump through to get him on here, man. So again, James, thanks so much for coming on Brother.
And I know that you might have a little message to kind of talk to the, to the squad out there.
James Burden: Yeah. I’d love to speak directly to the audience for a moment. Yeah. Okay. So, so. I just wanna speak to everyone out there who stutters because I know you’re out there listening. Even, even if it’s not you, you probably know someone who does.
And the [00:03:00] message we’ve been getting forever is that stuttering means there’s something wrong with you. And if you don’t fix it, you don’t speak right? And I just want to, I’m just here to change that. Stuttering isn’t just about speech, it’s what happens after. It’s the self-doubt, second guessing. The, the shrinking away from opportunities, that’s what really matters.
Wow. And pretty soon stuttering isn’t just affecting how you talk, it’s running your whole life. And I’ve worked with clients who’ve turned down promotions. These are professionals ghosted interviews ’cause they just couldn’t face. Going into this thing and possibly stuttering, skipped out important dates like their friend’s wedding or not going to on a date because they might stutter.
Wow. And it’s not because they weren’t capable, it’s ’cause they didn’t trust that they could handle stuttering in the moment.
L. Scott Ferguson: Right.
James Burden: And I. I’m gonna talk a lot more about what stuttering [00:04:00] is, what we’re recently learning stuttering is, and how that’s gonna affect people going forward.
L. Scott Ferguson: And you kind of threw out like the old realm of like, what did people do like with stutters before to help the get them right?
And I’m saying this in quotes, if you’re watching a Vimeo or YouTube, like, , like before, what was the protocol for a stutter before you come with this, , revolutionary approach.
James Burden: The protocol in the old days was all about fluency. Basically talking about going from stuttering to speaking without stuttering.
And the other word for that is fluency. And fluency is great, and I’m not, I’m not against using fluency techniques, but it is not what matters. Deep down, what matters deep down is what’s underneath the fluency iceberg or the stuttering iceberg. So this, this old. Stuttering therapist, Joseph Sheen many years ago talked about the stuttering iceberg.
You got the top, and this is what traditional therapy works on. It [00:05:00] works on the top of the iceberg, the stuttering, maybe some avoidance behaviors, but it’s ignoring all of this big, underneath the water iceberg, which has got the feelings, the thoughts, the myths, the internalized negative self beliefs about yourself based on how you speak.
If we don’t address that, if we don’t take this whole iceberg to wa warmer water and melt it from the bottom, then we just chip away at the top and it keeps rising back up from the, from all of that ice underneath. What an
L. Scott Ferguson: analogy. Dude, that is an amazing, because the, the. Underneath the water is three times bigger than above.
, Way bigger. Yeah. I’ve been a blessed when I was in the military to sail around Cape Horn, where you’d see icebergs and people would be like, dude, you’re only seeing a bit of it. What it actually is. So what, in a metaphor, you hear that squad, the metaphor, the built, it’s like the top is just that.
It’s like the tip of the iceberg. But below that is where all the doubt. , The lost opportunities and all that other jazz that can like, ruin and run someone’s life [00:06:00] that’s taken out of what you just said, like runs and ruins. I mean, that’s, it’s, I love how you put this and it made it so relatable.
So, I’m sorry to interject, but this is just amazing. Keep going, please.
James Burden: No, no, no. I thank you for it’s, it’s perfect interjection. ’cause when we only work on the surface we can make. Progress, and this is the way old therapy was, and you would make progress you’d see an increase in fluency, but what would happen is that it wouldn’t last.
Mm. It would, it would be like what I call white knuckle fluency. Mm-hmm. Just like holding on for dear life. I gotta make sure I don’t stutter, but all of the thoughts, all of the, if I stutter, I failed. If I. Don’t speak right. People are gonna judge me. I’m already judging myself. And that can turn into a vicious cycle.
Hmm. So you, you’re, you’re anxious about speaking, so you tighten up, stutter. Oh, I look, I was right. I stuttered on that word. Or in that situation, I better avoid that in the future. Hmm. But then we can also run it the other way. If you’re [00:07:00] in a situation where you’ve got support, you’ve got other people maybe who stutter in the group, you’ve got a good therapist, you can start to relax.
You can start to realize that it’s okay if an odd stutter comes out. It’s not such a big deal. You’re not holding on so tight. That’s where fluency can actually increase. By holding on less light, less tightly. Okay. Like reducing that white knuckle. Gotcha. But there’s a lot more to it than just say, oh, go ahead and stutter and everything will be fine.
Right. Obviously that’s not gonna work for people. Well, that’s why we use act, which is acceptance Commitment Therapy. It’s an offshoot, like a more modern offshoot of cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s about understanding the thoughts, negative thoughts about stuttering or whatever are gonna happen.
Sure. And being able to witness and let them pass. So there’s like a mindfulness, there’s a meditation style to it. It’s very, and, and, and it’s its own path towards your own values. What do you value? Do you value. [00:08:00] Hiding the stutter? Or do you value putting yourself out there and taking risks? And I’m not putting value judgments on others.
You know what? Hiding a stutter is something that most people who stutter have done for a very long time, and they have very good reasons for doing so.
L. Scott Ferguson: Sure. Because
James Burden: they’re not treated well.
L. Scott Ferguson: Right, right. So the acceptance commitment therapy is kind of. , You, you are working towards, not stuttering, but when you do, you kind of give yourself grace and space, witness it and just kinda like send it on down, like putting it on the leaf and send it on down the stream.
Right. Kind of. Am I
James Burden: Exactly, exactly. Now you could use acceptance, commitment therapy just to be a completely open, most people aren’t ready for that.
L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.
James Burden: Most people want to also work on their speech. Sure. But then be a little bit Okay. When sometimes things don’t go. Exactly the way they’d
L. Scott Ferguson: plan it.
Gotcha. But are they still efforting to like curb the stuttering? If they choose to? If they choose to. Okay. Got
James Burden: it. This is where the old techniques [00:09:00] can work, but only in the context. Sure. Of self-acceptance. If we try to do it without that. It’s gonna break down eventually. And it has so many times, and this is why people don’t trust stuttering therapy and why it’s been a challenge for many years because they’ll see progress and then they see what they would think of as regression.
And what it is is just like this lack of having dealt with the underneath of the iceberg.
L. Scott Ferguson: Wow. Okay. So you use act, which act, lemme ask you again. I’m not trying to throw, are you just telling people, oh, it’s okay if you stutter. Like, is that what the ACT therapy is? Or is it like, ’cause I think that every stutter that I’ve known in person wants to not, right, exactly.
Okay. But like I’m just go a little deeper on, ’cause again, I’m super curious. Now
James Burden: we’re not talking about accepting stuttering like we can and if people are ready for that, that’s great. But as you say, most people who stutter aren’t looking to just accept themselves. They’re [00:10:00] looking to stutter less.
L. Scott Ferguson: Right.
Right. Okay.
James Burden: On the way to stuttering, less self-acceptance, which is not get it now. The acceptance of like, okay, I’m gonna stutter forever. That’s just resignation. That’s like giving up.
L. Scott Ferguson: That’s a great way to put it. Yes it is. Right? Yeah.
James Burden: Acceptance is that I stutter.
L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.
James Burden: It’s gonna happen sometimes. Gotcha.
That’s okay. Love it. I’m gonna work on reducing it, but when it happens, it’s not gonna throw me off. It’s not gonna send me into a shame spiral. It’s not gonna make me hold back from my life.
L. Scott Ferguson: Right,
James Burden: right. I’m gonna work on it while knowing it’s okay and adults, people can hold these two things together. I even have a, like, I don’t think we’re gonna have time, but I have a whole visualization exercise that helps people do that.
Maybe we’ll
L. Scott Ferguson: bring you back for it. You know that? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That’s really, really like, like this is. Good stuff. So do you meet with people one-on-one [00:11:00] when you work with them? Obviously mainly like kind of one-on-one, correct?
James Burden: Well. Ideally in the long term, I want my clients to join our group. Sure, okay.
Because there’s so much power in meeting other people who stutter. Our self-judgment suddenly falls apart when you meet someone else and you see their humanity and like now you’re not judging them, so then you have to question why you judge yourself so harshly. But. I have to meet people where they are.
And many people who stutter don’t wanna meet other people who stutter because they, one of the myths, and there are so many myths around stuttering, right? But one of the myths around stuttering is that if I start to stutter, I won’t be able to stop. If I meet other people who stutter, I’m gonna get triggered and I’ll just stutter forever and it’s gonna be terrible.
So this idea of, I gotta hold on so tight. If I let go at any point, it’s over. It actually works the other way. When you start to meet other [00:12:00] people, when you start to interact with other people, you start to feel, see their humanity. Take that own judgment away from yourself. Accept them and by accepting them, accept yourself.
These are such powerful healing methodologies and they’ve been around for a long time, but they are, they are stunted by this fear and this myth.
L. Scott Ferguson: So what was it that you, is there anything personal about stuttering that made you want to go in and, and, and spear the, , go sharpen the spear? Like into the, the, the helping people that stutter.
James Burden: I had an incredibly moving experience. Okay. When I had first started my career as a speech therapist, I hadn’t even graduated from grad school. Mm-hmm. I started at this 10 day super intensive old school stuttering intensive workshop. So it was, there was some stuff about thoughts and feelings, but it was mostly about prolonged speech, reducing the stutter, and I saw 10 people go from [00:13:00] stuttering intensely.
Many of them quite intensely. Mm-hmm. Like very hard to understand, even too fluent. And it took 10 days of, but this was intensive. This was like eight hours a day, 10 days, well I think it was seven days and then a break, and then, then another long weekend, like within two weeks. So it was a lot of intensive stutter.
What I learned. This, this was so moving to see this that I, I got mentors after grad school. I got, I got, I got sent a lot of clients. I got a lot of help in learning how to do this kind of therapy from real giants in the field in Vancouver. That’s great. And so I had all of the, the help. But even then, even what happened was.
I, I started seeing clients. I started seeing the same kind of progress, but now I was able to do it in much less time, not intensive. Now I’m able to do it online even, which is super cool. That’s
L. Scott Ferguson: beautiful, man. That’s so cool. Yeah, but
James Burden: here’s what got me. Okay, so I [00:14:00] was reaching out to one of my old clients.
Many years after the fact. This is like 10 years later with no therapy in between. And I expected to hear how he’s doing great. But he was on a Zoom call with me and he looked through the screen and he said, James, I dunno what happened. I just started falling into old habits. I started avoiding, I started not using my technique, and it was almost as if he felt like he’d let me down, which hit me right in the heart.
’cause I felt like I, I’d let him down, right? Yeah, right. Like, I, like I screwed up. You, I was supposed to give you this perfect stuttering methodology that’s gonna help you not stutter for the rest of your life. And here you’re 10 years later. Back in the same boat. So this is when I had to go back and I got, went back to the research.
I started looking into act. I looked into self-acceptance. I looked into, I, I talked to a friend of mine who’s a big stuttering advocate, and she talked me about neurodiversity. And so we’re looking at [00:15:00] stuttering now as a neurodivergence, like a DHD, like autism, like left-handedness.
L. Scott Ferguson: Okay?
James Burden: Okay. Because when we look at it like that, imagine it was in some of our parents’ lifetimes that you got punished for being left-handed.
L. Scott Ferguson: And you, you, yeah, you,
James Burden: you had to write with your right hand and you’re not allowed to use your left. Now, anyone would look at that and say, that’s crazy. Why would you do that to somebody? Gotcha. That’s what, that’s the way I think it’s gonna go with stuttering. People are like, okay, once we break the miss, it’s just another form of neurodivergence, like being a DHD.
So many people are A, D, HD, and they have their own shame around it, but. We’re moving through that. So now is the time. Now is the time. The neurodivergence movement is huge and I think if we can get stuttering put where in its rightful place there, then its acceptance will widen as well. But what’s more important than the world accepting it is the people who stutter [00:16:00] themselves, accepting themselves.
And it’s like kind of one of those from the inside out.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
James Burden: Issues.
L. Scott Ferguson: So I have to ask you, since you are a pro in the field, like. , Conway Twitty, the country singer? Yep. Wicked bad. No. Was it Mel one? One of ’em had a really bad stunner. But when they sing, they don’t have it.
Where is that from? And I know other people that. It can do things with their voice in certain situations without stuttering, but if you just have a conversation with them, they’re stuttering. Like what is a switch that’s in that? And if you ever, is there ever been research that said, okay, let’s find out what the neural pathways are there and then see how they would align into their just regular life?
I, again, I’m just curious, like why can he sing without stuttering, but he can’t talk.
James Burden: I’m so glad you asked this ’cause my masterclass goes into this a little bit and why that is Okay. That I’ll tell you about later. But the [00:17:00] way that we teach. People to control their stutter. And this is again, the fluency piece, not the underneath The iceberg piece is a form of what we call prolonged speech.
So it is slowing the speech down and making sure it’s connected and flowy in much the same way that people sing. But we take out the notes and we make it sound natural for speaking. Hmm. Okay. So the, almost anyone I, in fact, everyone I think who stutters can still sing, you don’t stutter when you sing some something to do with the way that our breath support and our continuous formation, that’s the ah, sound here.
We’re continuously using the voice and there’s no chance for a stutter to get in. It’s nice and flowy, and that’s the exact way we approach. More fluency and it works like a charm as long as you’re doing the other work as well.
L. Scott Ferguson: [00:18:00] Right. Wow. How about. The movie, which is one of my favorite of all time, the King’s speech.
Like what is your kind of take on that? Is that kind of more of the old school kind of thing that we were talking about with moving towards fluency or what are you, what is your thoughts on that movie? Because it, it’s literally one of my favorite movies ever. I, I love that
James Burden: movie. It, it came out the year I graduated from grad school, so it was like 2009.
It’s an old movie now. Yeah. Like it’s been around like
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, it’s been a minute. Yeah, absolutely. 16,
James Burden: 17 years, something like that. Right. And , at the time I didn’t know enough about stuttering to really know if it was accurate or not. I don’t know if it was hugely historically accurate. Right.
And I
L. Scott Ferguson: thought it was that bad in terms of the, in terms of
James Burden: the therapy. But I know that the king actually stuttered. And this is a man. Who was under an enormous amount of pressure from the royal family, from his country. He was giving speeches throughout World War II when yeah, the England is like worried about invasion constantly.
Like this [00:19:00] is a scary time and he has to stand up and he stutters and he does. And , whether I agree with his therapist’s methods. Right. I mean, a long time ago. Right, right, right. He did it. He did it. And if, if someone like that can do it with support, we have much more modern support, much more holistic support.
It’s not all about the speech, it’s all about like, like fixing what’s really underneath. Right, right. It is possible to make a huge difference and I’m seeing it in one of my clients right now.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, like
James Burden: can I share a little client story with you, please? Yeah, I
L. Scott Ferguson: would love to hear it. Yes, please.
James Burden: Okay. So she’s been in the program about, I think six weeks now.
So she’s not even done, but she is, she’s doing amazing and I think for her. Because there’s two different types of clients that I can have. Sometimes if they’re on the more severe side, then the, or the more intense side of the [00:20:00] stutter, then the gains they make are much more obvious. You’re like, wow. Right.
Wow. I’m stuttering so much less. And then there’s other people who don’t actually like to hear them. You wouldn’t say that they stutter that much. Mm-hmm. But inside, in their mind, in their heart. In their stomach, they feel the pressure to be perfect. So it’s actually doesn’t seem to matter how much someone stutters on the outside.
It’s how much they’re thinking about it on the inside.
L. Scott Ferguson: Right.
James Burden: Because I’ve also met other people who stutter a ton and they just don’t seem to care. ’cause they’ve come to terms with it. Right.
L. Scott Ferguson: Their acceptance. Right. Of their own study.
James Burden: Exactly. Right. Okay. Now I do find that. Sometimes women, I think because women are under a lot more societal pressure than men are, absolutely.
Just in general, I think that it stuttering can actually affect them more on a psychological level. So for her, I wouldn’t say she’s the most severe, but it’s really gotten her. Here and we’re working through it. She’s starting to soften. She’s [00:21:00] starting to see it in a different light, right? She’s starting to put herself out there and like, yes, she’s using the speech technique to be more fluent because that helps her feel calm in the moment.
But then as she’s doing that, as. Putting ourself out there and moving up the speech hierarchy. We, we, we want people to put themselves a little bit out of their comfort zone just a little bit every day just to like, I’m gonna talk to this person that I would usually avoid. Now I’m gonna talk to this person that I would usually avoid.
Come back, talk to me, talk to the group, bring it up, celebrate each other’s wins. This is where you get the real progress to happen. I love that
L. Scott Ferguson: you’re doing it in the group setting too, because like, I, I was wondering, ’cause sometimes you can just get, , with the. With your speech pathologist or somebody that’s working with you, it’s like you just get so downed.
And some of those people, they probably really like the support from their peers, right? And then they actually will perform better a lot of times when they have that support, which can [00:22:00] carry over into, , quote unquote real world. Right? Absolutely.
James Burden: That this is where the power is, , practicing with each other.
Love this. That being said, I do wanna point out for anyone listening and interested in doing this kind of support, that if you’re not there yet, mm-hmm. That’s okay. A lot of people still have that fear and we start one-on-one just to get a feel for it and introduce you gradually. So it’s not just, here you go, here’s a whole bunch of people that stutter and go, no, it’s like a more graduated entry and went on on people’s own pace.
Love that.
L. Scott Ferguson: Let we dig it a little bit into you here, James. So have you seen the movie Back to the Future?
James Burden: Oh, yes. Yes. So it’s,
L. Scott Ferguson: it’s been 40 years ago last week. It came out crazy, right? I was 13 when it came out. 53. I was crazy. Anyways, so let’s get that DeLorean with Marty McFly, right? Let’s go back to the double deuce.
A 22-year-old James. Okay. What kind knowledge nuggets in life right, did you [00:23:00] pick up that you might pass on to him? Not to change anything on your trajectory, but maybe shorten a learning curve a little bit or blast through a little quicker in life in general.
James Burden: Be kinder to yourself buddy. Like just
L. Scott Ferguson: buddy.
I love that you added buddy, man.
James Burden: I know. Love that. Oh my god, I spent so much time judging myself and this, this is, this is my own journey. Recently, like I went through divorce, brain tumor, financial crisis my, my, all the pillars of my life. And then when I discovered that I hadn’t been doing speech therapy for stuttering, right?
And I had to go change everything, I felt like all, everything was crumbling down. And I was so hard on myself. Why aren’t you successful? Why did you give up your old way of doing things? You were doing fine. Now what are you doing? You’re crazy. ? And just hard on myself. I’m hard on myself with sports when I’m learning how to wing foil or kite surf or ski.
It’s like, why aren’t you doing it [00:24:00] better, faster? And just like it doesn’t help. Right. And it actually holds you back, right? Yep. And I thought you needed that to stay sharp, to stay on it. But actually I realize now that I’ve just been shooting myself in the foot with all this personal negativity, which if I had put the energy that I was using to criticize myself on improving.
I’d be way further ahead than I am now. Love it. But I’m not criticizing myself for that. ’cause that would just be the same thing.
L. Scott Ferguson: I love it that you hear that squatty, basically. So give yourself grace and space in those moments, right? Like, really don’t quit, but give yourself grace and space. Sometimes you just have to step back and reevaluate sometimes, but just keep progressing and moving forward.
And James, how does you want your dash remembered that little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date, your life date, and death date. How does James want his dash remembered?
James Burden: You know what? I don’t know if this is super hokey sounding. I, I want [00:25:00] to raise the vibration of the world, honestly, and yeah. Okay. I’m picking stuttering right now as the place that I think I can raise the vibration, but I. In this journey that I’ve been on, I’ve, I, I started a very deep meditation practice.
I did Vipasana 10 day silent retreat, and what I’ve realized is all of this stuff on the outside, all my striving for success, all my trying to be better at everything is actually tr it, it’s all kind of meaningless. What actually matters is what’s in here. And I know if that sounds hokey, go for it.
Hundred
L. Scott Ferguson: percent is true.
James Burden: I know. It’s just,
L. Scott Ferguson: yeah. With the coaching clients that I have, that I’m blessed, like they’re famous. Right. But what we do is we really work on what is in there in them. Them, like, I’m not a consultant. I can’t, like, I’m not a speech pathologist, be like, do this and this. , I’m basically ho holding a mirror up to him.
Like, listen, you’re okay. What, this is what you want. And you’re a [00:26:00] different version of the world than to yourself. Right. And the the love yourself. I mean, that’s, that, that, that’s why I love that you were very transparent that you, you pointed out some stuff that you didn’t like about yourself and, but it’s still part of you, right.
And you, and you working through. I love that. I love it. And so do you think there’s anything, or let me ask, what do you feel people might misunderstand the most about you?
James Burden: About me. Oh, , I sometimes I wonder if they think, if people think I got it all together all the time. Okay.
L. Scott Ferguson: I get that all the time, dude.
Like, Fergie, you are like, I’m like, bro, you have zero clue.
James Burden: ? And this, it’s like, this is what I’m finding on podcasts. I talk to people and every time I meet somebody, , they, they present. Like I’m looking at you right now. You’re presenting super confident, like very strong voice, everything.
But I know I don’t know you well, but I know that you’ve got some stuff going on in there and you were just talking about. All these famous people who [00:27:00] everyone looks at. I mean, I don’t know which famous people you’re talking about, and I’m sure you’re not gonna tell me. Yeah, I can’t unfortunately, but I’m sure from the outside everyone thinks this guy has got everything.
Yeah. But then there are the Robin Williams of the world, right? Mm-hmm. Like that guy had everything and he took his own life. So what does that mean, right about. People not feeling good enough. Like is it about chasing the next goal, the next goal, the next goal, the next goal? And never getting there because there’s always a new goal.
We’re always moving that goalpost. We gotta get okay in here, gotta
L. Scott Ferguson: get
James Burden: okay in here.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, you can’t, you can’t progress without being okay where you’re at. But also when you get to the new peak, celebrate yourself. Like that’s, that’s the hardest thing that for me to under, to get through to people without trying to consult them.
I want them to realize that it’s okay to, I call it stacking dubs or stacking Ws wins. Right. You stack that dub. Stack that dub. Yeah. And for people like you and I, the top of one peak [00:28:00] is the bottom of the next. ’cause we’re always wanting to go up. Right. But we gotta spend time and enjoy like, and, and give yourself credit.
Sometimes for invisible progress, right? You’ve got to do it. And that’s, I can see you doing that with your, I call ’em patients or your clients, but you’re almost forcing them in your own way to give themself credit for very little progress, right? So they keep moving forward and keep moving forward. It’s like, I can see you planting that in their brain, like listening with your neck, like really empathetic to ’em, right?
I can see you in action, , which is a beautiful thing.
James Burden: I think, I think it’s, I, I love to celebrate when clients come back and they tell me a story about, oh, I did this and I didn’t stutter. I did that. I didn’t stutter. You know what I really like to hear? What’s that? I did stutter and I didn’t get thrown off, and I just kept going.
I was like, yeah, I stuttered. And then it was okay. I didn’t get, it was fine. I just kept going and I kept going. And then the more that happens that I really, really [00:29:00] clap hard for those. I mean, both are great, but that’s super cool because that’s, that represents a shift in thinking.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. That, that’s beautiful.
Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. ’cause they’re like, they, they actually trip up or stutter, but they just kept plowing through. Yeah. And they just keep going and going and they’re, after a while it’s like whatever. But they still wanna progress, but they’re giving themself that grace and space to just, keep firing forward.
So James, what is your definition of a life well lived
James Burden: man? , I used to think it was. A collection of the best experience. So, , how many places have you been? How many what have you succeeded in stuff? Have you, how many sports have you done? Right? Like, just like kind of a big list. And when I stack it up and when I die, I am gonna have this big list of awesome.
And what I’m realizing is, especially as I get older, it’s, it’s about the connections. It’s about how you. Vibrate with [00:30:00] people. It’s about how you move people, right? The, the, the changes you can make. And I’m not necessarily saying like cosmetic changes, like reducing stuttering, but like helping someone realize that they are okay.
Yeah. And they are fine and good. Love that is so much more rewarding than doing a new trick on my wing foil. I mean, I love that too.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Do I, I love that they’re celebrating, stacking the dubs no matter what the win is. ? And like I have people that in my kind of squad of coaches where we get together and be like, let’s have an energy exchange.
Right. And that’s what we call it. We don’t call it a meeting we don’t like. ’cause I love, I don’t know if you ever drink kava at all, but like I enjoy kava and I have a kava bar in South Florida here. And we go, let’s have an energy exchange. We’ll go there and we’ll just bounce stuff off each other that we’re kind of working through and that, I love that vibration like that.
You kind of talk about this, keep the vibration going and going. Right. So, yeah, that, that’s a beautiful thing.
James, [00:31:00] if you ever make it back stateside here, or , even though we are in two different countries, technically by citizenship, but if you ever make it to South Florida and want to get warm, like I’m sure we’ll meet up and probably.
, Talk about some of these questions for, , 15, 20 minutes, but today you got five seconds with no explanations and I promise Okay. They can all be answered that way. Okay. You ready to level up? Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do this. Here we go. James, what’s the best leveling up advice you’ve ever received?
Go inside. Yes. Share one of your personal habits that contributes to your success. Daily meditation. Yes. So you might see me at an event or hanging out or you’re like, Ky looks like he’s in his doldrums a little bit. What, what book might you have read that really kind of flipped the script to kind of pull you more into positivity?
James Burden: The power of now. Love it. Great book.
L. Scott Ferguson: Your most commonly used emoji when you text,
James Burden: The smiley face with the open mouth. That really excite. Yeah. Yeah. Love it.
L. Scott Ferguson: Nicknames growing [00:32:00] up.
James Burden: Jimmy
L. Scott Ferguson: and Jimbo love it. Hidden talent that you have or superpower or hidden talent that you have that nobody really knows about until now.
James Burden: Oh, hidden talent. Let me think. Okay, I can juggle. Okay. That’s lame, but whatever. I’d still the first one that came up. I love
L. Scott Ferguson: it. Chest checkers a monopoly. Checkers love it. Headline for your life.
James Burden: What’s he gonna do next? That’s,
L. Scott Ferguson: that’s awesome. Go to ice cream flavor. I know this is lame, but it’s no chocolate. Chocolate. Okay. Very cool.
. There’s a sandwich called the Jimbo. Build that sandwich for me. What do we have it?
James Burden: Okay, so we’re gonna have avocado ’cause it’s my favorite vegetable, avocado, veggie mite. I’m partially from New Zealand, so I know it’s gross to most people, but us Kiwis and, and Aussies love it.
Right? So once you got those two, then some cheese tomato, [00:33:00] salt. Sometimes I’m a vegetarian, sometimes I’m not. So let’s say I am for right now. So just let’s, just nice and simple. Avocado, tomato, salt, cheese, Vegemite. Well, salt don’t need too much with the, with the Vegemite, but yeah, that’s a, that’s a good juicy sandwich right there.
Love it.
L. Scott Ferguson: Sounds healthy too. Good stuff. Favorite charity and or organization you like to give your time and or money to?
James Burden: Well, okay. In Nepal, I went and I worked for a place called Karma Rex, and they, what we did was we were hiking into the mountains delivering coats to kids. So when I, yeah, like it’s really cold in the mountains there.
So we have these nice, puffy winter coats, so we go out and trek. So when I’ve got a couple extra bucks, I like to shoot it to them and help Nepal. Perfect.
L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. And last question is the best decade of music. Sixties, seventies, eighties, or nineties?
James Burden: I’m gonna go with seventies because I was a big fan of like, pig, [00:34:00] Floyd, led Zeppelin. Do like that growing up. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how do you pick, but that’s the one that comes to mind first.
L. Scott Ferguson: No, I gotcha. Like, I love the, the, like when I’m actually listen, re-listening after the sound engineer, engineer gives me the podcast, I’m listening, building the rest of my notes. It’s like I always have kind of the seventies music on the background, right? Because there’s, there’s stories that are told.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. From like, whether it’s Floyd or Zeppelin, Croci, right. Or like anything like that, that Kansas, Boston, that you could understand what they’re saying had a good rhythm, that there’s actual stories that you could follow wrong. Like reading a book, , that’s, yeah. Like, like ballads,
James Burden: right?
Yes.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. A hundred percent, yes. I love it. And James, how can we find you, my friend?
James Burden: Alright, well, I think one of the easiest things to do is to check out my short masterclass that’ll give you, like, it gives you all the information if you’re a person who stutters or if someone who stutters. Yeah, it’s perfect.
Yeah. It’s discovered the three step system that [00:35:00] helps professionals and entrepreneurs speak with conviction and make effortless connections using my unstoppable voice process. So it’s just, it’s a three step thing and it’s, it’s really. This will give you the information and a link to call me or make a book, book a free call with me.
Okay? There’s no pressure. I don’t do pressure. ’cause pressure is the last thing that’s ever gonna work for anybody who stutters. This is gonna make them stutter more and not want to, anything to do with it, right? So it’s really, it’s really like, come check it out. Have a talk with me. Think about it for a while, whatever you need.
To get yourself ready, but know that help is out there.
L. Scott Ferguson: Yes.
James Burden: This is the thing. Help has not been out there. And this is the thing that is, there’s just not a lot of support for stuttering. Right. And what there is isn’t always it’s often not. Focused or specialized. Right. And there’s a lot of distrust, right?
And my process, I am not trying to fix [00:36:00] anybody. I am trying to help people become okay with themselves and manage their speech in a way that works for them,
L. Scott Ferguson: right? And what I was just so blown away about you is how you break it down in your, actually make it. I know it’s not, I’ve never enjoyable, especially if you’re a lifelong stutterer, but you make it kind of, in a sense, almost entertaining for them.
That’s what I’m kind of getting where it’s actually kind of fun for them while they’re doing the hard work. You find that people like enjoy working with you? I mean, I hope they, they do, but you know what I’m saying? Like actually enjoy working with your personality and what you have to offer ’em.
James Burden: I think they enjoy working with me.
I, I keep getting great feedback in terms of like the energy that I put out. Yeah. And I hold space. It’s my job to relentlessly hold space that stuttering is okay, even as I work to make it easier to speak. Right. So it’s coming and working with me is not like going with a speech therapist where you feel like you’re being judged because you’ve [00:37:00] gotta speak a certain way.
Right? And then when you start adding the other people, that’s where it gets really fun. And that’s where the real connections start to happen. Like people connect with each other in these programs and support. It’s just so beautiful to
L. Scott Ferguson: see. Yeah, I mean like if you get. 10, and this is nothing against obese people.
If you’re listening there, you get 10 obese people together, right. And then they get past that kind of shameful part like or embarrassment part. But then they get around each other and they have someone like a leader like you, or , leading them and making it kind of fun. They start to support each other and they start to build probably, I’m sure some of your clients and that have lifelong friendships now through it,
oh yeah. Which is absolutely, which is beautiful. Absolutely squad. I just had a really fun conversation. I’m sorry for any technical issues that we had. It’s not on James Zen. It’s definitely on my end. But, , we had a really good, , conversation about stuttering is not about just it happening in that moment.
It’s what happens after [00:38:00] they stutter in their feelings, that they get of lost opportunities, lost confidence, , he said not only does it run your life, but it can ruin your life. There’s a process called fluency. It’s great, but it’s not what really matters. Deep down, it’s what’s underneath that fluency light, , iceberg.
You know what? And when you broke it down, it’s like just the tip of an iceberg is what it has. But if you’re only using fluency only, you’re just chipping away at the top, and that bottom still keeps growing. Right. And it’s what’s underneath it really stops us in our tracks. And that’s with anything in life.
It’s what’s underneath it really stops us in our tracks. , He had, he brought up the, the act, the acceptance, commitment therapy. And that’s kind of like what he said, just in a nutshell, like actually witnessing it, the stuttering and just kinda letting it pass and not judging yourself, giving yourself grace and space, which I think is beautiful.
And I really want you to get over to my good friend, , James’. Like site over here and if you’re watching again, I’m gonna, I’m gonna pull it up here. I want you to get over here to this site, which will be in the show notes. [00:39:00] And make sure you go in if you’re working with somebody, if you, if somebody that stutters or you wanna stop stuttering yourself, please, please, please go join the site and I’ll put that in the show notes that it’s below as well.
And my good friend James, is, , he’s raising the vibration of the world or what he does. , He’s planting trees. He’s probably never gonna sit in the shade of. He does things for the intention, not the attention. He’s not saying, look at me, look at me. I can help you stop stutter. No, dude, he wants to help.
And he’s adding it into group therapy or group, group settings to where people can support each other, which I love that. And he’s all about the collection of memories, which I’m sure in Peru. He just had build a few of those just in the past couple days. But also, biggest thing, in all joking aside, he, he holds space.
To understand that stuttering is okay in his space, even while he’s leveling up and improving you, and that’s the kind of people we have here at Time to Shine today. So James, thank you so much for coming on. You level up your health, you level up your wealth. You’ve [00:40:00] urged your varsity letter here at Time to Shine Today.
Thank you so much for coming on, brother. Absolutely love your guts.
James Burden: Thank you so much. It’s been an honor to speak with your audience and for anyone who’s listening, especially if you’re someone who stutters, here’s what I want you to take away. There are people out there that need to hear your voice. Not a polished version, not a perfect version, but the real you and I’d be if you invite me to help you, I would be honored to do so.
Love that.
L. Scott Ferguson: Take good care, James. Appreciate you. Thank
James Burden: you so much, Scott.
Bye.