🎙️ Stop Saying Ummm
Your words matter. Communication is your superpower.
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Words: 808 | Est. Reading Time: 3 mins
💡 Your Quick Takeaways
Filler words like “um,” “like,” and “you know” are normal—we all use them. The key is working to reduce them for clearer, more confident communication.
I’ve been practicing this for months and, while not perfect, I’ve seen steady progress. It’s all about small, consistent efforts.
Recording yourself speaking for 1 minute a day on a random topic helps you pinpoint areas to improve. Watching the playback makes those improvements obvious.
New AI tools can analyze your speech instantly—tracking filler words, tone, and pacing—without the pressure of public speaking.
Clear communication is one of the top skills companies value in executives and leaders.
If your role involves deep thinking, your impact depends on clearly sharing those ideas with others.
🌎 The Big Picture
Today, I’m focusing on a part of communication that I struggled with, removing filler words from verbal communication. Watching professional speakers talk for 60 minutes without saying “Um” or “like” and other filler words that I used was astonishing.
This video from Matt Abrahams, a professor at Stanford, talking about how to improve your speech is incredible for 2 reasons:
Abrahams shares many practical insights to mastering your speech that you can follow along and practice with the video
HE DOESN’T SAY A SINGLE FILLER WORD THE ENTIRE TIME IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE
I consider him to be the Michael Jordan of public speaking. He inspired me to focus on a skill I use daily in my personal and professional life: how to speak more clearly to convey ideas and a topic that I’ll cover another time, and how my listening has improved.
🔍 Go Deeper
As the old saying goes, “Practice Makes Perfect”. Public speaking is no different. The more you do it, the more you will become comfortable with it.
That can sound scary and believe me, it was for me too. However, I came up with some solutions that worked for me so that I could increase my frequency of practice while being in the safety of my own home.
A few minutes a day keeps the filler words away.
My practice process:
Open a random topic generator like: https://capitalizemytitle.com/random-topic-generator/
Select a topic that you can speak about
Think for 20 seconds about what you want to say to organize your ideas
Open your selfie camera on your phone
Record yourself speaking until you run out of things to say (1-3 Minutes)
STOP when you feel like you’ve said enough
Watch the recording back to yourself
While you watch, take mental notes on how you think you could have improved
Put your phone away and repeat tomorrow
This process does a few important things very efficiently:
Just like going to the gym, you will do your daily speaking reps. You will see improvements in days, not weeks.
In real life, you will be asked to talk about all sorts of topics. A random topic generator helps deal with the randomness of what you may be asked to speak on. Next time someone puts you on the spot, you will have a lower amount of anxiety when addressing the topic.
I often felt that I needed to respond within 2 seconds or else they would think I was a phony. But that’s not true, it’s okay to think, organize your ideas, and then answer.
Having organized ideas will help you remove your filler words.
Watching the recording back immediately after you recorded the video will give you the reward of feedback for your action of recording the video.
Then you can take that feedback and improve tomorrow.
This is a simple and practical way to improve public speaking within days.
A more advanced method is using AI for speaking feedback. Dedicated apps or ChatGPT’s Voice Assistant can analyze filler words, tone, volume, pitch, pacing, and more. While still evolving, these tools offer objective insights without the pressure of public performance.
Some AI apps that do this include:
I tried this one and thought it was great for the free trial period to gain some additional confidence.
💯 The Results
Part of my role is conveying our product's value during sales and supporting customers throughout. I've become more confident speaking to enterprise clients at all levels, tailoring my message to the audience. Random topic generators sharpened my clarity and adaptability, showing results in days. Ongoing practice helps me sustain these skills, even on quieter days.
📈 Career Boost
People notice who communicates well and who doesn’t
Work on being someone who communicates clearly because that is often more valuable than what you are communicating
To learn more, watch Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
💌 Spread the Word
If this resonates, share Gen Z Generalist with friends, teammates, or anyone ready to make an impact. Let’s grow the next generation of leaders—one share at a time!
great advice!