Yoodli Skill: Reduce um filler words

What are filler words and why do they matter?

Filler words (often called filled pauses or disfluencies) are words such as “um”, “uh” that we use in everyday communication. Using a few filler words (fewer than 3%) is considered a normal part of communicating. Overusing filler words signifies a lack of confidence – fillers take away from your message and give your listener a less than ideal experience. We’ve all been in conversations where we cannot focus because the speaker uses a filler word in every second sentence – don’t be that person!

What’s a good filler word goal to have?

Try speaking on three calls each week where you use fewer than 3% filler words!

How can you reduce your filler words?

Learning to cut out filler words is like learning any other skill. It requires deliberate effort. Here’s the simple process:

1. Gather your statistics: Use Yoodli to analyze how many filler words you use and in what settings. If you’re already under 3%, you can try going even lower but you likely don’t have much to worry about 🙂
2. Pause for intentionality: The next time you’re speaking, pause at the start of a thought. Pausing is the single best way of being deliberate with what you’re going to say – it might feel uncomfortable at first but you’ll notice that it forces you to use the most impactful language
3. Track your progress: Measure and track your progress over time with Yoodli. Improving your speaking is like building any muscle. If you lose practice, you’ll likely recede to prior behavior.

More about filler words