Avoid verbal fillers like um
Summary
- Verbal fillers, or word whiskers, like um, ah, like should be avoided.
Details
- speakers who use verbal fillers lose credibility and appear less prepared and less competent.
- In one study a speech with fake facts and no fillers was rated by 57 percent of participants to be a well-educated person as compared to 36 percent for accurate speech with verbal filelrs
References
Quotes
For the first twenty-seven years of my life, I was addicted to verbal fillers. Specifically, I used um, so, like, well, and you know when I was nervous, thinking, waiting, or stalling, and sometimes simply out of habit.
Verbal fillers destroy your credibility. One study found speakers who use fillers are seen as less prepared and less competent.
Another study asked participants to listen to and review speeches about Brexit. One speech had no fillers but was filled with fake facts. The other speech was factually accurate but had lots of verbal fillers. When speakers didn’t use fillers, even though they had their facts wrong, they were rated as more competent, better with people skills, and more attractive than those who gave the speech with fillers. A staggering 57 percent of participants thought the speech with no fillers was given by a well-educated person despite their having their facts wrong! Only 36 percent thought those giving the factually accurate speech with fillers were well educated