A Gallop Poll Communication Survey revealed that the use of filler words such as “and, um, like, you know” annoyed 69% of people surveyed.
What are “filler words” or “Verbal pauses”? Words and sounds that don’t add anything to your message. They are often uttered while gathering your next thought. The problem with them is they undermine your message. They steal your thunder. They cause you to appear and sound less confident. President Hubert Humphrey (barely memorable) did a TV interview. He uttered, “I believe,” 31 times in 40 minutes. He was forgettable – for the wrong reason.
How can we be rid of them?
Here is what the evolution of eradicating “verbal pauses” from your speech looks like:
- First, you don’t realize you realize how many you use
- Once made aware, you notice them after you’ve uttered them
- Then you recognize you are about to say one and don’t
- Then the glorious day comes when they are eliminated from your speech pattern; they rarely escape your lips.
Becoming aware is the first step.
Three ways to become more aware:
1) Record yourself when you give speeches and listen to the tape.
2) Ask a friend/colleague to listen for your filler words.
3) Join Toastmasters. Toastmaster meetings have “ah counters” that count verbal infractions and report their findings to you.
Once aware of your fillers, replace them with a pause. To YOU, the pause may seem forever, but to your audience, it’s brief and powerful.
There’s a HUGE variety. Here are some more:
- ok
- you know
- and
- basically
- so
- but
- like
False Starts
I JUST learned about false starts from a fellow Toastmaster who belonged to a club that counted these along with filler words/verbal pauses. A false start is when you start a sentence, stop, start it again, or start elsewhere. The first time he reported when he served as the ah counter, I was SHOCKED when he reported I had four false starts during a talk. It’s like a series of second thoughts on what you just uttered. It is a series of incomplete sentences and thoughts. I catch myself doing them ALL time – especially when talking one-on-one! It is best to complete your thought before moving on to another!
A great additional resource
A blog titled IvyPanda recently published an informative and comprehensive article about filler words in writing & speech. There, you can find out the difference between crutch words, empty phrases, fillers in English, and tips on how to avoid them. It’s called “To Cut or Not to Cut: Filler Words in Your Speech & Writing”. A great read! Here is the link: https://ivypanda.com/blog/filler-words/
