INTRODUCTION: Fluency, probably more than any other feature of verbal communication is susceptible to variation within and across speakers and speaking conditions. Many factors have been shown to both increase and decrease the incidence of disfluent episodes as well as effect the specific pattern of disruptions. Degree of cognitive demand, propositionality of the message, social ramifications, speaker comfort level and expectations, and speaking rate are among the more prevalent factors that affect fluency. Thus, it is important that an analysis of a client's fluency patterns be based on a representative sampling of their range of speaking difficulty.

The following is a list of speaking tasks that cover a broad range of speaking conditions. While it is not often feasible for the clinician to obtain and analyze sample from every task, every effort should be made to obtain a representative sampling across cognitive, linguistic, and temporal demands. In addition, the clinician should discuss with the client whether the client perceives the samples to reflect the range of difficulty they consider to be their speech problem. Any qualifications of such should be reported.

The tasks marked with "*" are minimal samples that should be obtained in an initial fluency evaluation. Additional samples, as well as variations of the examples below should be considered at the discretion of the clinician.

Automatic, Planned, And Imitated Samples
Count from 1-10, 250-260*
Say days of the week*
Say months of the year*
Count backwards from 437 to 415 by 3's *(adolescents and adults only)

Imitating sentences of varying linguistic complexity (e.g. CELI)

Spontaneous Speech Samples
Interview with examiner*
Single word picture cards* (children)
-single syllable words
-multisyllabic words

Describe action of a picture or make up a story about the picture (children)*
Speak on one or more topics, such as:
-pets, cars, talking, movies, friends

Speak on an "open" topic* such as:
-work/vocational goals
-hobbies
-giving speeches
-stuttering

Make telephone calls, such as:
-ask to speak to fictitious person
-ask information from stranger (store, travel agent, etc.)
-call about a classified add

Talk with parents or guardians (if appropriate)
Ask for directions from stranger in the clinic
Ask directions from stranger outside of the clinic
Perform survey on a prepared topic

Oral Reading Samples
Two-three minutes using material suitable to client's age and reading ability

Speed Tasks Samples
Name single word cards at increasing rate (as presented by examiner)
Name as many items in room as possible in ten seconds. Repeat several times prompting client to go faster.