Throughout more than 20 years of experience in the area of communication, preparing and supporting various audiences and people to feel capable of giving good speeches, I don’t think I have met someone who does not have a single filler.
According to the definition of the RAElas fillers They are phrases that someone repeats a lot out of habit.
As their name suggests, they serve as crutches in our conversation and are a language vice. There are many, among the most common are: “”this…”, “but…”, “eh…”, “let’s see…”, “do you understand?”, “does it make sense?”, “mmm…” , “no?”, “yes?”, “OK”, “but…”, “well, nothing, that…”, “you know what?”, “truly”, “really”, “that’s right”, “as is”, “that is”, etc. and vary according to place of residence and age. There are fillers that become fashionable among certain sectors and age ranges for specific seasons and among young people, rather than a language vice, it is considered a fashion.
In the professional field, the fillers they disturb the listener and cause the message to be distorted to the point where, if they are repeated a lot, the interlocutor only hears the fillers and the rest of the speech is diluted, so it is no longer effective, incredibly hindering any speech. Avoiding them is a matter of a little effort and a lot of practice; I share 5 tips to achieve it:
1. Analyze your everyday language
Doing a personal analysis will help you identify those words that don’t make sense in your conversations and that you repeat constantly. Don’t feel bad, we all have them, but once you identify them, your brain will alert you every time you say them, and with a little practice, you’ll be able to eliminate them.
2. Speak more slowly and take more pauses
At first it will seem to you that where there used to be a filler, now there should be another word to replace it, but no, the most effective way to communicate is to speak more slowly and take pauses. You do not need to fit some sentences with others. Try silence. Even if it seems to you that it is uncomfortable, for the one who listens to you it is not at all.
3. Practice, practice and keep practicing
In informal conversations, by becoming aware when your brain sends you alerts about the fillers you are using, little by little, with effort, you will eliminate them. When you have to give a speech or a presentation, you will have to prepare and practice. Start by preparing and structuring the messages you want to convey; the first few times you will feel that they are messages that are too planned, but practice will eliminate that sensation, in addition to helping you feel more secure, managing to give clearer messages without fillers. When you least expect it, you will notice that you have eliminated those words that hinder your communication.
4. Add new words and phrases to your vocabulary
Researchers say that of the 60,000 words we know, we only use about 20,000. The rest, although they are there, we do not include in our communication. Doing so, in addition to more richness of language, will give us the opportunity to have wildcards to link sentences without having to resort to fillers. Read a lot and use a new word a day.
5. Think before you speak
It seems obvious, but have you asked yourself, do you really spend a few seconds or minutes thinking about what you will say, before speaking or answering a question? Most of the time not and doing so has great benefits, mainly it gives you the opportunity to structure what you want to convey and consciously avoid fillers. When asked a question, repeating the question out loud will give you extra seconds to think and structure your responses.
Eliminating fillers is really simple, I invite you to put into practice the tips that
I give and I assure you that you will soon notice a positive change in your conversations.
