Filler Words Examples: What to Cut and What to Keep

You probably notice filler words right after you say them.

"Um."

"Like."

"You know."

Then the annoying part happens: you start listening for them while you are still trying to speak. Now half your brain is answering the question, and the other half is running an internal scoreboard.

That is a terrible way to practice.

Filler words are not a character flaw. They are usually a sign that your mouth kept moving while your brain was still choosing the next idea. The fix is not to shame yourself into sounding polished. The fix is to know which fillers you use, where they show up, and what to do instead.

TL;DR

• Filler words are sounds or phrases that fill thinking space, like "um," "uh," "like," "so," "you know," and "basically."
• Not every filler word is a problem. A few can make speech sound natural. Repeated nervous fillers are what make a speaker sound less clear.
• The most common filler-word spots are the start of an answer and the gap between ideas.
• The best replacement is usually a silent pause, not a faster sentence.
• Record one-minute answers, count your fillers, then repeat the same prompt with one specific rule.

What are filler words?

Filler words are words, sounds, or short phrases that sit between your actual ideas.

They usually appear when you are thinking, buying time, softening a statement, or trying not to lose your turn. In linguistics, they are often discussed as disfluencies: hesitations, repeats, or expressions like "um," "ah," or "you know" (Toastmasters).

In everyday conversation, this is normal. People do not speak like edited essays.

In public speaking, interviews, presentations, and recorded videos, repeated fillers become more obvious because the listener has less context and more reason to judge clarity. A 2022 article in Advances in Physiology Education describes common fillers as "um," "ah," "like," "so," and "you know," and notes that excessive use can reduce speaker credibility and make the message harder to follow (PubMed).

The key word is excessive.

You do not need to become a robot. You need to stop letting filler words carry the structure of your answer.

Common filler words examples

Here are the ones to listen for first.

The goal is not to ban every word in this table.

"Actually" is useful when you are correcting something. "I mean" can be natural when you are clarifying. "Like" can serve a social or contextual function in casual speech. Stanford's Think Fast, Talk Smart has a good conversation with linguist Valerie Fridland on why these words can carry social meaning instead of being pure verbal junk (Stanford GSB).

But if the same phrase appears every few seconds, it stops adding nuance. It becomes noise.

The two places filler words show up most

Harvard Extension School points out two common filler-word hot spots: the beginning of a statement and the space between ideas (Harvard Extension School).

That matches what you hear when you record yourself.

1. The first second of an answer

Someone asks a question. You feel pressure to respond immediately. So you start with:

"Um, yeah, so I think..."

Most of that is not meaning. It is a runway.

Try this instead:

"I think the real issue is..."

Or:

"My short answer is no, but there is one exception."

The cleaner version gives your brain a job. It does not need a perfect full answer yet. It just needs a first move.

2. The gap between ideas

This is where people say:

"And then, um, another thing is..."

That filler is doing paragraph spacing. It tells the listener you are not done, but it also makes the transition feel weaker.

Use a simple transition instead:

• "The second reason is..."
• "A better example is..."
• "The part people miss is..."
• "Here is where it gets practical..."

If you do not know the next idea yet, pause. A silent pause sounds more controlled than a verbal search.

When filler words are fine

This is where most advice gets too aggressive.

A few filler words can make you sound human. They can signal that you are thinking, soften a delicate point, or keep a casual conversation from sounding over-rehearsed. Even the Stanford GSB discussion argues that words like "um," "so," and "you know" can have real communicative function in the right context.

The problem is not the existence of filler words.

The problem is dependence.

If you cannot start an answer without "so," or you cannot move between ideas without "um," the filler word is no longer a natural speech marker. It is your default structure.

That is what you want to train.

The one-minute filler-word audit

Do this before trying to fix anything.

1. Open Yapper's random topic generator.
2. Take the first understandable prompt.
3. Record yourself speaking for 60 seconds.
4. Listen once and count every filler.
5. Write the number down.
6. Listen again and note where they appeared: start, middle, transition, or ending.

Do not judge the recording. Do not rewrite the whole answer. Just count.

This works because filler words are often invisible while you are speaking. A Reddit user asking how to stop saying "like," "um," and "basically" got the blunt advice that recording is step one because most people do not know how many fillers they use until they hear the count back (Reddit).

That is the right instinct. Awareness beats vague self-criticism.

The pause replacement drill

Once you know your baseline, run the same prompt again.

This time, use one rule:

When you feel a filler word coming, close your mouth and pause for one beat.

It will feel too slow.

Good.

Most people overestimate how awkward a pause sounds. To the speaker, one second feels like a dropped call. To the listener, it often sounds like control.

The PubMed-indexed review on fillers recommends self-awareness, reinforcing feedback, and active intervention to make pauses silent instead of verbal, including chunking content and slowing the pace (PubMed). That is exactly what this drill trains.

Do three rounds:

You are not trying to sound perfect. You are teaching your mouth to wait for your brain.

A better practice script

Use this format for your next one-minute rep:

"My answer is [clear point]."

"The reason is [one reason]."

"For example, [specific example]."

"So the takeaway is [final sentence]."

That structure reduces filler words because you always know what kind of sentence comes next.

Here is an example prompt:

Should people practice public speaking alone?

Weak version:

"Um, yeah, I think, like, people should practice alone because, you know, it helps you get better and basically you can record yourself and stuff..."

Cleaner version:

"Yes. Practicing alone is useful because it removes the pressure of an audience while still forcing you to speak out loud. For example, record a one-minute answer, listen for filler words, then repeat the same answer with pauses instead. The point is not to avoid people forever. It is to build enough control that the next real conversation feels less chaotic."

Same idea. Less fog.

What to track each week

Track only one number at first: fillers per minute.

Do not track ten things. That turns practice into admin.

If you want a simple daily setup, use Yapper's random topic generator with a timer, record one 60-second answer, and keep a tiny note: prompt, filler count, one fix.

That is enough.

The mistake that makes filler words worse

Trying to speak faster.

People hear filler words and think the fix is smoother delivery. So they rush. The rushing creates more pressure, which creates more fillers, which creates more rushing.

Break the loop the other way.

Slow down. Chunk the answer. Let silence do some of the work.

Toastmasters even has an Ah-Counter role in meetings to note overused words and filler sounds used as a crutch, including words like "and," "well," "but," "so," and "you know," plus sounds like "ah," "um," and "er" (Toastmasters). The point is not humiliation. It is feedback.

Feedback gives you something concrete to improve.

A 7-day filler-word plan

If you want the simplest path, do this for one week.

Day 1: Baseline

Record three 60-second answers. Count fillers per minute. No fixing.

Day 2: First sentence only

Your only job is to start without "um," "so," or "yeah." Use: "My answer is..."

Day 3: Pause replacement

Replace every filler urge with a silent pause.

Day 4: Transitions

Use clear transitions between ideas: "The second reason is..." or "A better example is..."

Day 5: Repeat the same prompt

Answer once, listen, then answer the same prompt again. The second rep should be cleaner.

Day 6: Add pressure

Use a 30-second timer instead of 60. Shorter time forces cleaner structure.

Day 7: Compare

Record one final 60-second answer and compare it with Day 1. Count fillers again.

You will probably still say "um" sometimes.

Fine.

The win is not zero. The win is control.

Practice with random prompts

If you always practice on a topic you prepared, you will hide the exact habit you are trying to fix.

Use random prompts because they create the right amount of friction. You have to think, but not for long. You have to speak, but not forever.

Start with Yapper's random topic generator, set a one-minute timer, and record yourself once.

Count the fillers.

Repeat the same topic.

That second attempt is where the rep becomes useful.