“I sound ridiculous.”
“I wish I hesitated less when I speak English.”
“How do I sound more fluent?”
If you participate in discussions that last more than 30 seconds, you’ve probably felt these frustrations.
It can seem so hard to stop saying “ummm…” and “euhhhh…” when you speak English. You’d like to stop hesitating so much and speak more fluently.
Even Americans have problems with this!
Native speakers, including myself, struggle (lutter) to reduce the amount of filler noises (bruits d’hésitation) like “uhhhh…” when they speak. Want proof?
Read this article from Harvard Business Review: Tips on Public Speaking: Eliminating the Dreaded “Um”
Or, this article from Business Insider: “Here’s the Trick to Removing ‘like’ and ‘um’ from Your Vocabulary”
Or even this article from LifeHacker.com: “How Can I Avoid Filler Words Like ‘Um” When I Talk?” (and be sure to read the comment by TopJimmy, about pausing and talking in chunks—-groups of words. Its the 3rd comment)
…including me
Even when I have to give presentations or react quickly in a conversation and I’m not so confident, I know I use a lot of these filler noises too. I too have to make an effort to do it less!
If you feel like too many “ummm”s and “euhhhh”s are stopping you from sounding as fluent as you want, today’s Speak Better, Feel Great Episode is for you.
You’ll get 3 techniques that will help you feel more confident about speaking in English, including a powerful technique called “chunking.”
What about you?
Once you’ve watched this episode, let me know your answer to this question:
What do you do to reduce the filler noises—the “umm”s and “euhhh”s—when you speak?
If you’ve ever tried a specific technique, I’d love to hear about it, whether it worked or not.
Tell me about how you cope with this problem. I’m sure you’ve got something useful to share!
Remember that thousands of other French-speaking professionals come to SBFG to boost their English and boost their career. Your contribution may be exactly what someone else needs to build their confidence, speak better English, and feel great about themselves.
If you found this episode helpful, please pass it along to your closest colleagues, clients and friends — anyone you think could use some support in English.
Thanks so much for making this one of the best places for French professionals to boost their English and boost their career.
Have a fantastic week in English,
Christina
I give this sound structured advice to my students! Thank you again!
That’s perfect, Evelyne. Thank you so much. Sharing my videos with your students, colleagues, anyone is the best way to say “Thanks”! Have a great end of the week!
nice tips and tricks ! the next one could be about people like me addding french words during english speaks : like donc or voilà for instance 🙂
Thanks so much Marc for the compliment! And that’s a great idea for a subject. Maybe pointing out the little French words that French people use during their English conversations (like “voilà” and “donc”, as you suggested), and what English expressions you can use to replace them. That’s a fantastic idea, thank you so much!!
And of course, if you have any other suggestions, feel free to post them! I love getting ideas from the SBFG Community!