How to sound more professional: learn to omit filler words

"Hmm", "I mean", "like", "uh": all these are typical filler words and many people use them to a greater or lesser extent when talking to colleagues, managers, clients and subordinates. Some people's use of such fillers is so prominent that those around them can hardly focus on anything else. But even if your filler words are less obtrusive, they still have a subconscious impact on your listeners, who then regard you as less confident and professional. How can you stop using these fillers and sound more professional?

Illustration

These tips were published by the Brian Tracy blog.

Speak more slowly

First of all, you must learn to speak more slowly. People often use filler words because they talk fast and want to say as much as they can in the shortest possible time. Speak in a slow and brief manner, and use more suitable and powerful words rather than long phrases.

Make pauses

Do not be afraid to pause. If you are thinking, stop for a moment; there is nothing wrong with that. Also use pauses to mark individual parts (paragraphs) of your speech or to separate individual thoughts.

Speak in sentences

If you were to write down verbatim how most people talk, you would end up with one long never-ending sentence. One way to omit filler words is to speak in proper sentences, which have a beginning and an end, and are separated by pauses.

Record yourself

Try recording yourself speaking, then listen to the playback. You might detect many problems you would otherwise not have noticed. You can talk about anything in these recordings, such as what happened to you that day.

Practise

Just like any other skill, talking without fillers requires practice. Rehearse the correct way of speaking and have short "training sessions" even when talking to other people during the day. Focus on omitting filler words during these sessions.

 

-mm-

Article source BrianTracy.com - Brian Tracy's official blog
Read more articles from BrianTracy.com