The first time I caught myself on video, I counted seventeen “ums” in under two minutes. Seventeen. I was presenting to a group of maybe thirty people at a regional marketing summit in Cairo, and I thought I’d nailed it. The energy felt right, the audience was nodding. Then I watched the recording.
Every other sentence had an “um” or “uh” wedged in like a nervous hiccup. It was painful to watch. And here’s the thing — I’m not alone. Research from the University of California found that the average speaker uses filler words about five times per minute in normal conversation. On stage, when the pressure mounts, that number can double.
But I fixed it. Not overnight, and not perfectly — but I went from being a chronic “um-er” to someone who can hold a clean pause without panic. And if I can do it, so can you.
Why We Say “Um” in the First Place
Before you can stop a habit, you need to understand why it exists. Filler words aren’t random — they’re your brain’s way of buying time. When you’re thinking ahead to your next sentence while still finishing the current one, your mouth fills the gap with an “um” or “uh” to signal: I’m not done talking yet, don’t interrupt me.
There’s also a psychological component. When you’re nervous, your cognitive load increases. You’re processing the audience’s faces, your slide content, your body language, and your next point — all at once. Filler words slip in during those moments of overload. Understanding this is important because it means the solution isn’t about willpower. It’s about reducing cognitive load and retraining your speaking patterns.
Record Yourself — Yes, It’s Uncomfortable
I know, I know. Nobody wants to watch themselves speak. But this is the single most powerful thing you can do. Pull out your phone, record your next practice run, and count the fillers. Don’t judge yourself — just count.
When I started doing this with coaching clients, something fascinating happened. Just the awareness of being recorded reduced their filler words by about 20% in the very first session. Your brain starts self-correcting once it knows someone — even if it’s just future-you — is listening. Watch any great TED speaker and you’ll notice they almost never use fillers. That’s not talent — that’s hours of recorded practice.
The Power of the Pause
Here’s what the best speakers do differently: they pause. Where you would normally say “um,” they just… stop. For a beat. Maybe two. And the effect is powerful.
Think about it — when someone pauses mid-sentence on stage, what do you do? You lean in. You pay attention. A pause creates anticipation. An “um” creates distraction. The technique is simple but uncomfortable at first: when you feel a filler word coming, close your mouth. Literally. Let the silence land. It will feel like an eternity to you, but to your audience, it reads as confidence and authority.
Barack Obama is a master of this. Go watch any of his press conferences. He pauses constantly — sometimes for two or three full seconds — and it makes every word that follows feel deliberate and important. You can learn to do the same.
Chunk Your Content Into Smaller Pieces
One of the biggest triggers for filler words is trying to hold too much in your head at once. If you’re thinking about a four-minute stretch of content, your brain scrambles to keep it all organized, and “um” leaks out while it sorts things.
Instead, break your presentation into small, digestible chunks. Think in sentences, not paragraphs. Know your opening line cold. Know your transition phrases. Know your closing line. The spaces between those chunks? Those are your natural pause points. If you need a deeper get into structuring your talk, check out our guide on the art of giving powerful presentations.
Practice With a Filler Word Buzzer
This is one of my favorite coaching exercises. Grab a friend, a colleague, or even use an app like Ummo that tracks your filler words in real time. Then practice your talk. Every time you say “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” or “so” as a filler — buzz. Stop. Reset. Start that sentence again.
It’s brutal the first few times. I had one client who couldn’t get through a single sentence without buzzing in our first session. By session three, she was delivering clean two-minute stretches. The brain learns fast when there’s immediate feedback. It’s not about eliminating nerves — it’s about channeling them into cleaner delivery.
Slow Down — Your Mouth Is Outrunning Your Brain
Most filler words happen because you’re speaking faster than you’re thinking. When your mouth gets ahead, it fills the gap while your brain catches up. The fix? Deliberately slow your pace.
I tell my clients to speak at about 70% of their natural speed during practice. It feels absurdly slow at first — almost theatrical. But when you watch the recording, it looks perfectly natural. And those filler words? They practically disappear. The extra time gives your brain room to formulate the next thought before your mouth needs it. For more techniques on managing your delivery, explore our article on conquering stage fright.
Know Your Transitions Cold
Here’s a pattern I’ve noticed after coaching hundreds of speakers: filler words cluster around transitions. The end of one point and the beginning of the next — that’s where “um” lives. You finish explaining your first idea, and there’s this terrifying moment where you need to bridge to the next one, and out it comes: “Um, so, moving on…”
The fix is to script your transitions. Not your entire talk — that makes you sound robotic. But your transitions? Script those word for word. “That brings me to my second point.” “Now, here’s where it gets interesting.” “Let me show you what happened next.” Have three or four go-to transition phrases ready, and practice them until they’re automatic. You’ll notice your fillers drop dramatically.
The Real Secret: It’s Not About Perfection
I want to be honest with you. I still say “um” sometimes. Every speaker does. The goal isn’t to sound like a polished newsreader delivering lines from a teleprompter — the goal is to reduce fillers enough that they don’t distract from your message.
An occasional “um” actually makes you sound human. What kills your credibility is when every other sentence has one. Or two. Or three. The techniques above — recording, pausing, chunking, buzzing, slowing down, and scripting transitions — they don’t make you perfect. They make you prepared. And as I always tell my clients: practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes prepared.
Your next presentation is your next chance to be better. Start with one technique. Master it. Then add another. Within a few weeks, you’ll watch your old recordings and wonder how you ever let those “ums” fly. That’s not magic — that’s the work paying off.
And honestly? Once you hear the difference, you’ll never want to go back. The clarity, the authority, the sheer presence of speaking without verbal clutter — it changes how people listen to you. And that changes everything. If you want to take your speaking skills even further, don’t miss our piece on the invisible psychology of winning hearts and minds.
