Filler Words – “Less is More”

From Guest Blogger- Sandi Dale

“Um, like, we really, actually need to; you know, um, like, kind of talk about “Filler Words” and “Filler Phrases", and stuff like that.  Does that make sense?”

The sentence above is becoming a standard of how many of us communicate today.  This sentence could and should have been written like this:  “We really need to talk about “Filler Words” and “Filler Phrases.”

To begin, let’s identify the most common, prevalent filler words, in our language today:

“Um” – this word is used to indicate hesitation (well, um, I don't know). When you have a statement to make, do you want to indicate hesitation in what you’re saying?  Speaking slower so you have more time to think can help reduce the use of this filler.

“Like”– Unless you are a valley girl, these are some examples of how to appropriately use the word like:

·         He likes baseball, but he loves football.

·         Do you like Mexican food?

·         I liked the movie a lot more than I thought I would.

·         They were political allies who truly liked each other.

·         What is it that you like or dislike about him most?

“Actually”– this has become a new filler word and is about to top “um” and “like” in its over-use.  Actually should generally be used as a point of fact —used to suggest something unexpected.  Each time you use the word, ask yourself if you are talking about something unexpected or not.

·         Where are you from?  I actually am from central Kansas.

·         What are you doing this weekend?  I actually need to go to the store and actually get groceries.

Neither of these statements indicates something unexpected, so you can leave actually out.

Next, here are a few filler phrases that have crept into our vocabulary:

“You Know”– even though this filler phrase has been around for decades, it’s still mighty popular, but it accomplishes about as much as “um” does.  To help you get this phrase out of your vocabulary, ask yourself if the person you are speaking to is able to understand you and comprehend what you’re saying.

“Kind of”- this filler phrase is gaining in popularity.  What “kind of” means is “to a moderate degree or somewhat” (e.g. it's kind of late to begin).  A tip to removing this from your vocabulary is to ask yourself if you mean what you’re saying or if you feel moderately or only somewhat about the topic.

“Stuff like that (or things like that)”– Oh, the rancor I have for the speaker who ends every sentence with this phrase (there are a couple other sentence endings that leave me feeling much the same:  (“okay?”, “right?”).  It is absolutely unnecessary in any way, shape or form to end sentences with these words or phrases.

“Does that make sense?”-   This one is relatively new.  It seems to have popped up only within the last couple of years.  Has it occurred to you when you end every other sentence with this phrase you’re, basically, suggesting your listener isn’t bright enough to comprehend what you just said?  Please, please remove this one from your vocabulary because I doubt this is a message you wish to convey.

So, why is this blog on a career website?  We don’t teach English, but yet we are attempting to give advice about the use of English? 

When you interview for a job, internship or work-study position it is important you put your best foot forward.  Being able to articulate who you are and what you have to offer is essential!  Saturating your language with filler phrases and words will only make you look unprepared and/or unsure (at best) and juvenile (at worst).  When I interview someone and they have filler words or phrases throughout the entire conversation, I stop listening.  Those fillers become the only thing I can hear and I will start counting how many times the speaker uses them (one time I listened to a presenter who said, “Was that helpful?” at the end of nearly every sentence.  I started tallying and at the end of the presentation the count was 250 times!).  You may not be able to hear these fillers in your language or the language of others, but I guarantee you there are plenty of people who do hear them and make a judgment about the person speaking, just like a first impression.

If you are unable to break the filler word/phrase habit, get someone you trust to help you.  Ask them to tell you every time you use one of the above offenders (or you may have an offender of your own we didn’t discuss).  Ask someone to keep a tally, then to tell you later how many times you used a particular word or phrase.  These are just a couple of ideas for breaking the filler word/phrase habit, but there are many ways to break this bad habit.  Find what works for you.   It will serve you well through the job search process, your career and life.