Posted on: September 4th, 2009 by Famous Phil

I have been around long enough to safely say that I have been through many lectures, speeches, and conversations.  Besides being a part of these communications, I have witnessed many more conversations while I have been alive.  A few years ago, I began to notice a few key words that we as a human race use to fill in conversation gaps while our brains generate enough content to continue the conversation.  These words include, but are not limited to: 1. umm, 2. ok, 3. ehh, and the most annoying 4. you know.

I am guilty of using “umm” all the time provided I don’t completely lose it and end up reading directly off from my notes.  Besides “umm”, about 3 months ago, I noticed that I tend to use “you know” every so often.  I find that I use it when I feel that the person or group I’m talking to might have a slight clue to what I’m talking about but doesn’t really know.  This really bothered me because usually, the person I am talking to has no clue what I’m talking about, so they really don’t know!

Since noticing this the first time about 3 months ago, I began noticing heavily when others use you know as a filler and I also monitor how often I use it.  I used it quite often and have trained myself to revert back to “umm” although the best way to fill up voids in conversion is by saying nothing at all.  Unfortunately, now when I hear others use this, it drives me nuts.  For example, the other day, a professor walked in and began lecturing on advanced computer networking.  I will admit that I knew about 80% of the material but I counted at least 40 “you know” statements in that 50 minute lecture.

If you lecture at all, hopefully this will wake you up to this filler.  I know for a fact that it drives me nuts and I’m sure it drives many other people nuts too.  So next time you are trying to fill in your lecture’s silence, try “umm” instead

Tags: lecture, public speaking, You Know
Posted in Student Life
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