How to Eliminate Ums When You Talk

Have you ever listened to yourself talk in a video or podcast and realized you said a bunch of “ums” and “likes”?  I know I have and it’s pretty rough. I’ve gotten better over the years, but they still show up here and there.

Here are 3 tips to help you eliminate ums in your speech.

Rehearse:

When we have “ums” when we talk, it’s typically because we’re trying to think of what we want to say.

Before you talk on camera, you want to go over your content and rehearse a few times so you have it down on video shoot day.  As a result, you’ll come off as professional and confident.

Slow Down:

If you’ve been following our content for a while, you’ve heard this before.  Slowing down your speech pattern will help you eliminate “ums” because if you need to think for a second, you have time to “catch up” without using filler words like “um”, “like”, and “ah”.

Take a Pause:

If you find yourself at a loss for words, pause to gather your thoughts quickly.  This is strong for a couple of reasons: 1: it eliminates an “um” and 2: people will tend to lean in because they are waiting for what you’re about to say. ex: a dramatic pause.

Please keep in mind, that we can eliminate some of your “ums” in our editing process but if there are a ton, the video can come out choppy so it’s best to not have them to begin with. This will also help you come across as more confident in your day-to-day conversations.

What filler words have you been able to eliminate?