How to stop saying um is one of the most common questions people ask about speaking, usually after hearing a recording of themselves and counting. Filler words, um, uh, like, so, you know, are among the most noticeable habits in speech, and the most misunderstood. They are not a sign of low intelligence, and most listeners barely register a few of them. But a high rate of fillers does change how a speaker comes across, and in presentations, interviews and important meetings, that matters. The good news is that fillers have a clear cause, and once you understand it, reducing them is much easier than trying to ban them by willpower.
This article explains what filler words are, what research says they do, when they actually matter, and practical steps to reduce them.
What filler words actually do
Filler words appear in almost everyone's spontaneous speech, in every language. In a 2002 paper in the journal Cognition, the psycholinguists Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree analysed large collections of recorded conversation and argued that uh and um are not random noise. They are words that speakers use to announce a delay: uh typically signals a short pause, and um a longer one.
In conversation, that signal is useful. It tells the listener you are still thinking and have not finished, which holds your turn and prevents interruption. The trouble is that in a presentation there is no one to interrupt you. The signal is no longer needed, but the habit remains, and the audience hears it as hesitation.
Um is not a mistake. It is a signal that you are still thinking. On stage, the audience does not need that signal; they need the thought.
Check yourselfLeave the total count aside. Predict the moments in a presentation where fillers do the most damage to how you come across.Show the answerHide the answer
At moments that should sound certain, such as a key number or a recommendation, and when fillers cluster at the start of every sentence. There the audience reads them as uncertainty or lack of preparation, even if the content is strong. Scattered fillers elsewhere are mostly filtered out, as they are in conversation.
When filler words matter, and when they do not
A few fillers in a presentation go almost unnoticed. Listeners filter them out, just as they do in conversation. Fillers start to matter when they become frequent enough to draw attention, when they cluster at the start of every sentence, or when they appear at moments that should sound certain, such as a key number or a recommendation.
At that point, audiences tend to read them as uncertainty or lack of preparation, even if the content is strong. That is why reducing fillers is worth the effort in high-stakes speaking, and why trying to eliminate every single one is not.
Why fillers happen
Fillers appear when your mouth is ready to speak but your mind has not yet decided what comes next. That is why they cluster in predictable places:
- At transitions between points, when you are working out what the next one is.
- When answering questions, as you search for a response.
- When you are nervous, because anxiety makes silence feel longer and more uncomfortable than it is.
- When speaking without a clear structure, because each sentence has to be invented from scratch.
Understanding the cause points directly to the cure. You reduce fillers far more by reducing the moments of uncertainty than by policing the words themselves.
How to stop saying um: five practical steps
1. Record yourself and count. Most people have no idea how often they use fillers, or which ones. Record a two-minute practice talk and count. The number is your baseline, and simply becoming aware of it often reduces it.
2. Know your structure, not your script. Memorising every word tends to produce more fillers when you lose your place. Knowing the structure well, your one message and the three or four points that support it, means you always know what comes next. The approach is set out in how to structure a presentation.
3. Replace the filler with a pause. When you feel an um coming, close your mouth and pause instead. A pause of one or two seconds feels very long to the speaker and sounds deliberate and confident to the audience.
4. Practise the transitions. Most fillers live between points. Rehearse the exact sentence that moves you from one point to the next, such as "That is the problem. Here is what we propose."
5. Slow down. Speaking fast leaves no time to think, so thinking happens out loud as filler. A slightly slower pace gives your mind time to stay ahead of your mouth.
How this is taught inside Astra Trainer
The Compelling Presentations direction in the Leadership, Career & Influence world covers the delivery side of speaking, including Sounding Confident, on developing a clear, strong and steady speaking voice, and Overcoming Fear, on calming the anxiety that drives so many fillers.
Voice, pace and pauses are practical skills that improve with short, regular practice. Lessons take about five minutes and a guide walks you through anything strange.
Where your own fillers stand before the next talk
Ticked: 0 of 5
If the first line is unticked, start there: the count is your baseline, and awareness alone often lowers it. The aim is fewer fillers, not zero.
Fillers in questions and interviews
Fillers are most common when answering an unexpected question, because you are thinking in real time. Three habits help.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Um, so, uh, I think..." | A short pause, then the answer |
| Starting to speak before you know your answer | "That is a good question. Let me think for a moment." Then pause. |
| Circling towards the point | Say the answer first, then the reasons |
Buying a moment openly sounds far more confident than filling it. The same principle applies to question time after a talk, covered in handling audience questions.
Other filler words to watch
Um and uh are the most obvious, but they are not the only ones. Common alternatives include like, so at the start of every sentence, you know, basically, actually, right? at the end of statements, and and at the start of sentences strung together without pause. They serve the same purpose, holding the floor while you think, and respond to the same cure.
One caution: some people replace um with a different filler, such as so or right, and end up no better off. The goal is not to swap one sound for another. It is to let a pause do the work.
Nerves and fillers
Anxiety increases fillers because silence feels threatening when you are nervous. Working on the nerves themselves, through preparation, breathing and experience, often reduces fillers without any direct effort. The approach is covered in presentation anxiety.
Why fillers fade with practice
Fillers are a habit, and habits change through repetition rather than resolution. Most people see a clear drop after a few weeks of recording, counting and practising pauses.
Astra Trainer is built around that kind of steady practice. Quizzes follow each topic and each course ends with a ten-question final exam, while daily quests, points and a streak keep five-minute lessons going. A Circle gives you a small group with a shared weekly goal and live sessions, useful for practising out loud in front of real people.
What to take from this
Um and uh are normal parts of speech; research by Clark and Fox Tree suggests they signal a coming pause, uh a short one and um a longer one.
A few fillers go unnoticed. A high rate of them can make a speaker sound uncertain, especially at key moments.
Fillers come from moments of not knowing what comes next, so the best cures are a clear structure, rehearsed transitions, a slower pace and pauses in place of sounds.
Which is why the most useful answer to how to stop saying um is not to fight the word, but to remove the uncertainty behind it, and to trust that a pause sounds better than you think.
Test yourself
Question 1 of 3
Why does um do a useful job in conversation but hurt a speaker in a presentation?
Why do I say um so much?
Um usually appears when you are ready to speak but still deciding what to say next, so it clusters at transitions, when answering questions and when you are nervous. Research by Clark and Fox Tree suggests it signals that a longer pause is coming.
How do I stop saying um when presenting?
Record yourself to find your baseline, know your structure well rather than memorising a script, rehearse the transitions between points, slow down slightly, and replace each um with a short pause, which sounds deliberate to an audience.
Are filler words bad?
Not in small numbers. Listeners filter out a few fillers, as they do in conversation. A high rate, or fillers at moments that should sound certain, can make a speaker seem less prepared or confident.
What can I say instead of um?
Ideally nothing: a short pause is the best replacement. When answering a difficult question, saying 'Let me think for a moment' and then pausing sounds more confident than filling the silence.
Where can I practise speaking more confidently in short lessons?
The Compelling Presentations direction inside the Leadership, Career & Influence world of Astra Trainer covers Overcoming Fear, Looking Confident and Sounding Confident, in five-minute lessons with quizzes. The first lesson needs no card.
Where this leads. How to Get Promoted shows why speaking clearly in meetings and presentations is one of the most visible signals of readiness for the next role.
