Say This Words At Your Own Risk
Updated: Feb 5, 2024
Written by: Dr. Robert A. Portnoy, Ph.D., SLP, SPHR, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“Uh,” it’s a simple little word, really. Just two letters, spoken as only one syllable. Harmless, it couldn’t cause any problems, now could it?
Wrong! “Uh” is a filler word. Just as its cousins, “um,” “like,” and “you know,” filler words can abruptly distract your listeners. Any chance you have of keeping them focused on your key point could be shattered.
The ideal way of delivering your presentation is through a seamless flow of streaming words. This ideal is easy to get in mind simply by watching a TV news anchor delivering the day’s top stories. Here’swhat you’ll notice:
You will not hear any filler words, not even one.
They deliver a long stream of words, between ten to fifteen on one breath.
They take in enough hair to deliver all those words comfortably.
At the end of the stream, they briefly pause to let their key point “sink-in.”
They repeat these steps.
The jury is out on whether you should try to rid yourself of all filler words. My own thought is that stopping momentarily to think about what to say next and filling that brief time with an “uh” will not likely break the listener’s focus of attention.
On the other hand, frequent “uh(s),” “um(s),” and “you know(s) are attention disruptors. And they can impact a listener’s impression of the speaker as perhaps nervous, unprepared, and less than professional.
With that in mind, what can you do if you are a frequent user of filler words?
Begin to train yourself to “catch” when you’re about to say a filler word.
Recognize when it’s coming.
STOP yourself from saying it.
Instead, just pause.
Collect your thoughts, then start speaking again.
Best of all, practice streaming. Fill up your mental cue with a long sequence of uninterrupted words, then let them flow.
Once you get this new habit formed, you’ll feel more confident, sound more professional, and keep your listeners focused on your key points.
If you might be interested in one-to-one coaching to improve your communication skills, there are professionals who can help. These professionals are called speech-language pathologists and audiologists. You can find a directory of speech-language pathologists at www.asha.org and www.corspan.org.
You can also contact me, a speech-language pathologist and professional speech coach, by visiting my Linkedin profile.
And for immediate help in designing your own professional presentation that grabs attention and makes a critical point, download your free copy of The Ultimate Presentation Skills Toolkit. It’s a video-based tutorial with examples that demonstrate step-by-step exactly what to do. You’ll be glad you did!
Dr. Robert A. Portnoy, Ph.D., SLP, SPHR, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Robert A. Portnoy is the President and Master Trainer at the Learn to Present Academy. Clinically and professionally trained Dr. Portnoy helps businesses increase their productivity through effective communication. Whether coaching executives deliver compelling presentations, enabling managers to boost employee performance by aligning daily work to company goals, or preparing job seekers to stand out with stellar interviewing skills, effective communication drives results. Dr. Portnoy's proprietary methods are time-tested, research based, and produce visible and measurable results.
