Filler words, and how to hear your own

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a filler as "a word or short phrase such as 'er' or 'well', used when a person pauses to think about what to say next" (Cambridge Dictionary). Everyone uses them. The trouble is that you rarely hear your own.

Two kinds of filler words

Researchers who studied five common fillers in everyday conversations found they fall into two groups: filled pauses, "uh" and "um", and discourse markers, "I mean", "you know" and "like" (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, 2014).
The study analyzed 263 transcripts of natural conversations, recorded over several days with a device that sampled what people said (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, 2014).

Why we say "uh" and "um"

Clark and Fox Tree proposed that speakers use "uh" to announce a minor delay and "um" a major one (Clark and Fox Tree, 2002).
With them, a speaker can signal that they are searching for a word, deciding what to say next, want to keep the floor or want to give it up (Clark and Fox Tree, 2002).
In a study of task-oriented conversations, disfluencies were more frequent when the task was harder to plan: when speakers were giving directions and when they talked about abstract figures (Bortfeld and colleagues, 2001).

Who uses which

Filled pauses ("uh", "um") were used at comparable rates across genders and ages (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, 2014).
Discourse markers ("I mean", "you know", "like") were more common among women, younger people and more conscientious people (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, 2014).
Older speakers produced only slightly more disfluencies than young and middle-aged speakers (Bortfeld and colleagues, 2001).

What helped people say fewer

In a study with 6 college students, habit reversal training, awareness training plus a competing response, reduced filled pauses for all six right after training (Mancuso and Miltenberger, 2016).
A 2022 review of 7 studies with 44 college students concluded that habit reversal reduces filled pauses in public speaking (Luiselli, 2022).
In the 2016 study, filled pauses fell from an average of 7.4 per minute before training to 1.4 per minute during training, as the review reports (Luiselli, 2022).
The first step in all of them is awareness: noticing each filler as it happens (Mancuso and Miltenberger, 2016; Luiselli, 2022).

Hearing them while you talk

Lira's live advice board updates during the conversation, with nothing for you to touch.
Crystal palace is one of its six cues: it flags filler words and phrases that blur your point.
An example: "You said "maybe" 4 times. Commit."
An importance slider turns down the minor cues; works on Mac, iPhone and the web.
After the conversation, the transcript has an Original toggle with the word-by-word version.

Questions

What are filler words?

Words or short phrases such as "er" or "well" used when a person pauses to think about what to say next (Cambridge Dictionary). Researchers split them into filled pauses ("uh", "um") and discourse markers ("I mean", "you know", "like") (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, 2014).

Why do people say "um"?

One well-cited explanation is that "uh" and "um" announce a short or a longer pause while the speaker plans what to say (Clark and Fox Tree, 2002).

How can I stop using filler words?

In studies with college students, awareness training, noticing each filler as it happens, combined with a competing response reduced filled pauses (Mancuso and Miltenberger, 2016; Luiselli, 2022). Lira's Crystal palace cue points them out while you talk.

Start 3-day free trial See pricing

Sources

Checked 9 October 2026.