Trouble with/anxiety about talking

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I'm wondering if anyone here struggles with talking in the same way that I do. For a long time now ( or maybe always?), I've had this anxiety about accidentally saying something horrible. Like, I know I've always had a tendency to pick up on/mimic the way other people talk, so even just something like watching an hour of Richard Pryor's stand-up comedy would be enough to make me feel like using the n-word, almost compulsively - which as a white person I would never want to say that, but I still have this paranoia that I won't be able to control myself. That's just an example, but it's one that sticks out in my mind. I also stress out about just saying something that sounds stupid or out of place.

Generally, I just feel like I need to strictly monitor anything I say to make sure it's not the "wrong" thing. I stress out about it to the point that, even if I'm in a situation where know exactly what I want to say, it's hard if not impossible for me to force out the words. Does anyone else stress out like that? And if you do, do you have any advice for dealing with it/getting over it?

I know what you mean. I normally don't speak or keep to short phrases. The more I worry about saying something wrong, the more I am likely to do it - like it puts the idea in my head then I can't get rid of it until I say it. I don't do this when I use sign language, but not everyone can understand sign language. I've tried the old write it down and burn it but I don't think this was helpful. Sorry, I'm not much help either. I'd be interested in any suggestions too.

So glad to hear that I'm not the only one that feels that way.One thing that u should not do is to try and talk as much as the other people.Trust me I did that last year and I failed miserably.I asked a ton of stupid questions to try and seem normal.And guess what the other girls gave me mean looks like I was stupid.

Yeah, it's pretty tricky. A while back I saw someone on tumblr say that telling someone with social difficulties to just talk to people is like telling someone who wants to learn to play the piano to just press keys.

It is nice knowing I'm not the only one, though. I've been reading things like this and other articles on that same site, but I'm not totally sure how helpful that will be just yet.

The analogy with the piano is that once you learn to play the piano, you don't have to consciously search for each key. The brain just takes over. Wouldn't it be better in social groups to talk without concentrating on what you are saying and let the subconscious take over? If you slip up don't take it to heart. If you have good friends they learn to accept you for who you are.