Former US President Barack Obama addressing an audience during his recent visit to Kogello, Siaya County. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
You can turn this weakness into a strength by replacing fillers with pauses.
For many speakers, even the briefest pause can feel like an interminable silence.
That’s because we tend to think faster than we speak.
Um. Ah. Well.
When we find ourselves rattled while speaking — whether we’re nervous, distracted or at a loss — it’s easy to lean on filler words. These may give us a moment to collect our thoughts before we press on and, in some cases, they may be useful indicators that the audience should pay special attention to what comes next. But when we start to overuse them, they become crutches that diminish our credibility and distract from our message.
To get your message across effectively, you have to keep your audience engaged. When you use excessive fillers, audiences are less likely to hang onto your every word because the fillers get in the way of the emotional stories or fascinating research you’re trying to share. While of course most people use fillers in casual conversation, when you bring them with you to the microphone, for example, they distract from your core personality and make you sound nervous, distracted or disengaged rather than authentic.
If you want your audience to buy into your message, you have to make it clear, logical and easy to follow. Unfortunately, filtering through crutch words to catch the important parts requires more cognitive effort than audiences are willing to put forth. So too many fillers will likely mean they’ll tune out in favor of an easier cognitive task — such as thinking about their to-do lists.
The good news is that you can turn this weakness into a strength by replacing fillers with pauses. For many speakers, even the briefest pause can feel like an interminable silence. That’s because we tend to think faster than we speak. According to research by Quantified Communications, the average professional speaks at a rate of 150 words per minute. Yet, according to research from Missouri University, we think at 400 words per minute. Because of this discrepancy, when you’re giving a speech, your perception of time is often distorted, and what feels like an eternity in your mind is actually a few short seconds for the audience.
Despite how they may feel at first, well-placed pauses make you sound calm and collected, and they help to collect your thoughts, calm your nerves and build suspense.
The first step in embracing pauses is awareness. Identify your crutch words by videotaping or reviewing a transcript of your most recent talk. What vocal fillers do you rely on most? Once you’re aware of them, you’ll likely start to hear these words in your day-to-day communication. Pair your crutch words with small actions. Every time you catch yourself saying “like,” for example, tap your leg.
Next, begin forcing yourself to be silent. To practice, set up a video to record and talk about what you did from the beginning to the end of the day. Practice using pauses instead of filler words as you recall the events.
Finally, make sure you are prepared. Nerves are one of the biggest reasons people overuse vocal fillers. The less prepared you are, the more nervous you’ll be. So practice.
As you prepare for your next presentation, identify the words you lean on most and train yourself to avoid them. Then, next time you’re in front of an audience, use silence to gather your thoughts, rather than filling the air with sound.
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