Why it’s okay to say “um” and “uh”

Why it’s okay to say “um” and “uh”
Why it’s okay to say “um” and “uh”

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um or uh: Your fillers

A study of how people talk in English revealed that one in every sixty words people pronounce is either um or uh.

Depending on how fast you talk, you are producing two to three of these ‘fillers’ per minute.

Targeting um and uh

Targeting um and uh themselves does not solve the problem. 

If we are going to minimize our use of fillers and benefit from the impression of control and authority that this gives, we should understand the good reasons why these conversational traffic signals exist in the first place.

In everyday conversations, there

In everyday conversations, there is no script. 

We don’t know who is going to talk and when, what they are going to say, when someone else will jump in, or how long anyone will talk for. 

But the cooperative rules of conversation require us to use traffic signals that regulate the flow of social interaction.

With good planning, we

With good planning, we can ensure that the words and ideas we are articulating are readily accessed, and avoid the need for fillers.

Second, in public speaking, the floor is all yours. So, leaving moments of silence does not present the problem that it does in informal dialogue.

Third, in public speaking, we are not engaged in the fast-paced to-and-fro of conversation, and so we are free to determine the temporal rhythm of our own speech.

Despite the fact that

Despite the fact that fillers like um and uh have clear functions in conversation, we are often told to avoid them. 

The problem is that, if you were to eliminate all of your ums and uhs, you would find people assuming you had finished your turn, and they would start speaking when you weren’t actually done yet.

The best strategy for

The best strategy for eliminating filler words in public speaking: Slow down

By consciously slowing down, we give ourselves more time to formulate what we are saying and decrease the likelihood of the cognitive pressures that lead to delays, and in turn to ums and uhs.

When we speak more slowly, we come across as more authoritative and relaxed.

You could be rid

You could be rid of filler words if you could be free of the underlying reasons why they are there. 

If you were always ready to say what you wanted to say in the split second of time you have available in which to say it. 

But in free-flowing conversation, you will always experience delays, and if you don’t use the right conversational traffic signals, you are going to be a poor or strange conversational partner.

How public speaking is

How public speaking is different

Nobody speaks with perfect fluency all the time. But we do tend to speak more fluently under certain conditions. 

These conditions cannot be guaranteed in free-flowing conversation. In public speaking, the situation is different. We do get to decide in advance what we are going to say. 

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