Uh's and Um's
In the pursuit of becoming a better
man, becoming well-spoken is a task that should not be overlooked. How you
speak is a huge component of the impression you make on others, and thus your
potential influence on them. People will form judgments about your education,
intelligence, background, and personality simply based on the sound of your
voice and the language you use to express yourself.
Being well-spoken encompasses a lot
of traits:
- Creating well-formed sentences
- Being articulate
- Having a large and diverse vocabulary
- Speaking clearly (not mumbling)
- Having a good pace, tone, and intonation (not too loud, fast, or monotone)
- Being fluent – words come easily to you
- Being able to explain things easily
- Being straightforward and meaning what you say
- Being thoughtful and courteous to the needs of the listener
- Using little filler and empty language
We hope to cover all of these traits
eventually, but today we’re going to concentrate on the last item on the list:
removing the filler — particularly the um’s and uh’s — from your speech.
Ummmm…
What is filler? Filler consists of
empty, extraneous language that pads your sentences without adding any
additional meaning. It’s like empty calories – it’s there, but it
doesn’t nourish. Examples of fillers include words and phrases such as “I
mean,” “sort of,” “ya know?” “well,” and of course, “like.”
But the most famous fillers of all —
the type that comes in for the most attention and disdain – are “uh” and “um.”
To many, um’s and uh’s are tantamount to “verbal viruses” that clog up the
language of the uncivilized and uneducated. Many public speaking experts
recommend attempting to scrub your speech clean of this pesky padding.
The truth is that almost everyone
uses these “filled pauses” in their speech; if you don’t think you do,
it’s because speakers (and listeners in many cases as well), are very bad at
hearing them. But if you were recorded throughout the day, you’d notice how
much you sprinkle um’s and uh’s into your conversations. They are a very
natural part of human speech and have likely been around since the beginning
(although they vary according to language – such as “eh” in Spanish). In
friendly conversation, as long as your fillers aren’t excessive or clustered
together, people tend to filter them out and hardly notice them, if at all.
Also, contrary to popular belief, fillers do not impede the listener’s
comprehension; in fact, they can aid comprehension, signaling to the listener
that you misspoke and are about to edit something you just said or to pay
attention to what you say next.
This is not to say that you can’t
control your um’s and uh’s or should use them indiscriminately. Rather, that
the issue is simply not an all or nothing affair. The appropriateness of um’s
and uh’s varies on a sliding scale, depending on your audience and your
purpose. Researchers have found that a listener’s sensitivity to a speaker’s
um’s and uh’s depends on the speaker’s social role. People expect those who are
giving prepared remarks, on television, or in a position of authority to use
little if any filler. For example, you would quickly notice if the play-by-play
announcer for a basketball game said “um” before each sentence. “Um, Harden
gets the ball. Um, he shoots and scores another three pointer. Um, his beard is
awesome.” (Go Thunder!) This is also why President Obama gets lampooned on late
night shows for his tendency to pepper his extemporaneous remarks with a bunch
of uhhh’s and ummm’s.
Using uh and um too often takes away
from the forcefulness and eloquence of your remarks. So while it’s not as big
of a deal when used in conversations with friends, when meeting people for the
first time and during job interviews, business presentations, formal speeches,
and the like, you want to minimize your use of fillers as much as possible. If
curbing your ummm-ing is something you struggle with, read on to learn why we
all “um” and “uh” and what we can do to curb this tendency and become better
spoken gentlemen.
Why
Do We Say Um?
While it is popularly believed that
um’s and uh’s arise because of anxiety, studies have not found a strict
correlation between this type of filler and that emotional state (other
“disfluencies,” however, like repeated words, the repeating of a single
syllable or sound, omitting a word or part of a word, or a slip of the tongue
are correlated with a speaker’s anxiety-level). For example, you are not more
likely to use fillers when talking to a stranger than you are when talking to
your spouse.
The reasons behind our uh’s and um’s
are in fact a lot more nuanced (not to mention interesting). Here are some of
the research-based theories that have been advanced:
Um’s and uh’s indicate that the
speaker is “in trouble.” The
primary view on the purpose of filler is that it is either an involuntary
symptom or a purposeful signal (here linguists do not agree) that the speaker
gives to indicate to his listeners that he is “in trouble” – he needs a moment
to plan what to say next or to hunt for something in his memory. It tells the
audience that there is about to be a delay. “Uh’s” signal a shorter delay,
while “um’s” tell the audience the delay will be longer.
Basically, um’s and uh’s happen when
you’re trying to think and speak at the same time. This is why they occur more
frequently during transitions to a new topic or at the beginning of a sentence
rather than at the end or in the middle of one; your brain is idling at the
juncture between planning and executing what to say next.
Um’s and uh’s act as placeholders to
let people know you’re going to continue speaking. When you can’t think of what to say next, you’re in a bit of
a pickle; you need a moment to think about it, but social mores dictate that a
pause can make you seem lost, or, provide a opportunity for someone else to
jump in and start talking. So you may say “um” to tell your listeners: “I’m
still in control – don’t interrupt me.”
This is one theory as to why men use
more fillers like um and uh than women do: they are more assertive about
holding the floor.
Uh’s can be a cry for help. Um’s and uh’s are not identical. In addition to the former
signaling a longer delay in a person’s speech, uh’s are used more often to
solicit help from others. They let listeners know they can jump in and provide
the answer.
Harry: Jack was supposed to email,
uh, uh…
Mike: Steven. He was supposed to
email Steven.
Harry: Thanks
Um’s and uh’s indicate that we’re
not as confident about what we’re about to say. When asked a question, people use more filler before
responding when they’re less sure they have the right answer (and are in fact
more likely to get the answer wrong). Conversely, people use less filler before
giving an answer they’re sure is right (and one that is indeed more likely to
be correct).
People also use more fillers before
a non-answer like “I don’t know,” when they actually do know the answer,
but simply can’t summon it to the fronts of their brains and the tips of their
tongues.
Um’s and uh’s indicate that you’re
searching for the right word.
The more concerned someone is with choosing the right way to say something, the
more they tend to ummm, which is why, while too much ummm-ing has been
associated with a lack of intelligence, it’s actually correlated with having a
large vocabulary. The intelligent person has many words to choose from, and so
sometimes gets caught up in taking pains to pick just the right one to express
himself; “um” is the sound of his decision-making process.
Um’s and uh’s are more common when
you’re speaking about an abstract topic.
Although they use filler at the same rate outside the classroom, during
lectures, humanities professors say “uh” more than professors of hard sciences
(4.76 times per hundred words compared to 1.47 times per hundred). Researchers
posit that this disparity is due to the fact that professors of the humanities
have a broader, more abstract subject matter to cover, and thus more options to
think over on how to express themselves; there are more ways to describe
Rembrandt’s artwork than a physics formula. Whenever you’re contemplating
complex options on how to articulate your thoughts, your ummm-ing will go up.
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