Sound more credible and confident in your presentations

There is one thing you can do in your presentations or any public speaking that you do, not only in English, but also in your own language, that makes you sound more confident and credible. What is it?

It’s eliminating fillers.

What do I mean by fillers?

Fillers include all of those extra sounds that we use to fill the silence - um, err… as well as words and phrases that don’t add any meaning to what you’re saying: so, you know what I mean, like, well, to be fair…

In our every day interactions, it’s really normal to add these words into our speaking (and apparently we shouldn’t worry about them, because research has shown that it makes us appear approachable and human!) However, when it comes to speaking in front of an audience - in a meeting, on a podcast, on a video - these words subtract from our message. There has been quite a bit of research on this:

Mortar Research carried out a study with 2000 people. The research participants listened to two speeches about Brexit: one speech had no fillers but was full of fake news and the other was factually accurate, but contained fillers.

57% of listeners thought the fake news speaker was well educated and was rated to have better people skills, more intelligence, and to be more attractive!. Only 36% thought the same of the speaker who used the fillers.

Why do we use fillers?

We are afraid of silence. People worry that if they leave a silent space between their words, it will sound like they don’t know what they’re saying. In fact the opposite is true. The other reason is that if you leave a space, the person you are talking to will think that you have finished and they will “steal” your speaking time! By filling up the silence, you are communicating “hey I’m still speaking, it’s not your turn yet.”

When you’re speaking a foreign language, you do spend more time searching for the next word, it’s normal. However, if you listen to someone who searches for the word in silence, compared to someone who looks for a word at the same time as saying “er”, guess which person sounds more confident? Yes, you’ve guessed it!

Silence bothers the speaker more than the listener.

What’s the filler I see most with my French clients speaking English?

It’s “er”. Somehow the way French-speakers pronounce their English, it’s easy to add in and “er” whenever they are thinking of the next word.

---

Would you like to stop being afraid of making mistakes, not finding your words or not being able to answer questions when you present in English? Join our Powerful Presentations course!

---

Are you using “er” as a filler?

Well first of all, you might not notice. I know it’s horrible, but the best way to find out if you are is to record yourself talking. Set yourself a task to explain something in English that you don’t usually talk about - your breakfast habits, how to get to your office or Christmas customs in your country for example - and record yourself on your phone. What do you notice? When you are looking for the next word, what are you doing?

How to improve

I’m sure you know the 4 stages of competence:

The first step is to move from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence. This means that you need to be aware of if you are using filler words and sounds, which ones and when.

The second step is to slow down when you speak. Especially when you are in a stressful situation, you will have a tendance to speak too fast. If you slow down, you give yourself time to look for the words you need without breaking your rhythm.

Next, if you are working by yourself, you need to have some kind of reminder, like a post-it that says “er” that you can put somewhere very visible. If you are working with friend or a language coach, they can make a sign every time you use your filler, or simply count how many they hear.

Using automatic transcription software like otter.ai can highlight the extra words and sounds you’re making in your speech. With my powerful presentations students, I’ve started to work with a new software that counts fillers as well as word speed and inclusive language. It’s a great way to quantify your speech and measure your improvement.

Thirdly be patient.

This kind of improvement doesn’t happen overnight. I know that I use the word “so” too much when I’m speaking in public and I am still consciously trying to erase it. After quite a lot of practice, I have been able to erase the “ums” and “ers” from my speaking.

It will take time to get into the fourth part of the learning cycle, but you will get there.