“Survivor” viewers are praising the show’s host, Jeff Probst, for creating awareness about stuttering during an emotional exchange on the reality competition’s March 5 episode.

While speaking with Mitch Guerra, a contestant who stutters, Probst asked him what’s the right way to respond when someone begins to stutter during a conversation.

“Mitch, I have a question. When you’re struggling, do you want help from someone or is part of it to let you finish when you’re ready to finish?” asked Probst.

 

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Guerra smiled and replied, “The hope is that everyone would just kind of hang in there for me and just give me the opportunity to finish my sentence.

“But I’m so thankful you asked that because, honestly, like, people just naturally want to help others and sometimes, like, we don’t feel comfortable enough, like, asking that,” Guerra added. “So thank you for that.”

“Thank you for teaching us how to do it,” Probst responded.

‘Survivor’ fans praise Probst and Guerra for their ‘perfect, caring interaction’

“Survivor” fans called Probst and Guerra’s conversation a moment to remember on social media.

“This is honestly in the Top 20 all time moments of the show for me,” one wrote alongside a video of Probst and Guerra’s conversation on the official ‘Survivor” Instagram.

“‘Just give me the opportunity to finish my sentence.’ This is so heartwarming,” added someone else, quoting Guerra.

Many viewers said they were grateful to learn a useful lesson about how to have a conversation with someone who stutters.

“Just like that a bunch of people are now informed how to address a situation like that,” observed one.

People who stutter also expressed their thanks to Probst for helping viewers to learn more about the condition.

“I have his same stutter so this really hit home for me. It is SO much better (for me personally) when someone just waits out my stutters with me and stays engaged,” wrote one.

A Reddit sub devoted to stuttering also celebrated the moment, with one commenter calling it “a perfect, caring interaction.”

“So many people who don’t know how to react to stuttering will see it,” the person added.

The National Stuttering Association highlighted Probst and Guerra’s exchange on social media, writing, “This is one of the most powerful moments of meaningful stuttering education that will be seen by millions.”

What is stuttering?

Stuttering is a difference in speech pattern involving disruptions, or “disfluencies,” in a person’s speech, the National Stuttering Association explains on its website.

Stuttering can happen in “repetitions (D-d-d-dog), prolongations (Mmmmmmilk) or blocks (an absence of sound),” or a combination of the three, the group says.

People who stutter often experience physical tension and struggle in their speech muscles, as well as embarrassment, anxiety and fear about speaking.

The severity of stuttering varies widely among individuals.

The Stuttering Foundation of America lists Joe Biden, Emily Blunt, Nicole Kidman, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Bruce Willis and Marilyn Monroe among the many famous people who struggled with stuttering.

What causes stuttering?

Though stuttering is not yet well understood, most researchers agree that it’s caused by differences in brain activity that interfere with the production of speech, according to the National Stuttering Association.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says that doctors have identified two types of stuttering:

Developmental stuttering: This is the most common form of stuttering. It occurs in children as they are learning speech and language skills. A study published in 2013 proposes that it’s common for preschool-age children to stutter.

Developmental stuttering may also affect multiple members of the same families.

Neurogenic stuttering: This can start after a brain injury, such as a stroke or head trauma.

Though it was once believed that stuttering was primarily caused by emotional trauma, doctors now understand that the cause of stuttering is typically not psychological