The more public speaking I do, the more I listen to others when they speak.  Have you ever been listening to a speaker and every sentence starts with Um… or the answer to a question begins with “That’s a great question!”  If everyone who asks a question hears that exact same phrase, isn’t that like declaring everyone a winner in tee-ball?  My thought is: it is better to eliminate some phrases completely.

What prompted this article is an article I read recently entitled 22 filler terms we abuse every day – and how to avoid them.  As I read the article, it reminded me my efforts, while speaking publicly, to: Stop; Pause; Pull the thoughts together; and, then proceed with coherent sentences instead of all of the “filler” words.  Otherwise you might become as annoying to listen to as “YUPPP” on one of my favorite kitchy reality television shows “Storage Wars“.

I created the image above using many of the words from the list and a few additional ones that I have noticed. Here is the list from the article:

1. Um
2. Uh-huh
3. Right
4. Cool
5. OK
6. Yeah
7. Like
8. Really
9. That’s interesting
10. Hmmm
11. All right
12. Good answer
13. I’ve heard of that
14. Is that so
15. You know
16. I know
17. I hear you
18. Surely not
19. You don’t say
20. Seriously
21. Basically
22. Got it

I added a few: So, Uhhh, Gotcha

What other words or phrases do you hear repeated within conversations, presentations or in a classroom that would be better off un-said?