How to Stop Saying Um When You Give a Presentation

You watch the recording of your last presentation and count 40 "ums" in eight minutes. Now you cannot unhear them, and the next time you stand up you are so busy policing your mouth that you lose your place. If you want to stop saying um, the fix is not willpower. It is understanding why the sound comes out and giving your brain something better to do in that half second.

I have coached speakers for about 15 years, from engineers giving their first sprint demo to executives on conference stages. Almost all of them arrive believing filler words make them sound stupid. Almost none of them leave with zero fillers. What they do leave with is a rate low enough that nobody in the audience notices, and that is the realistic target.

Why we say um in the first place

Filler words are not a character flaw. They are a turn-holding signal. In conversation, a pause tells the other person "your turn," so we fill gaps with "um," "uh," "like" or "so" to say "wait, I am not finished." That habit is useful at a dinner table. On a stage, nobody is going to interrupt you, but the habit fires anyway.

Fillers cluster in three predictable places:

• Transitions between points, when you are retrieving what comes next.
• The start of answers, especially to questions you did not expect.
• Unfamiliar words or numbers, where your mouth gets there before your memory does.

Once you know where yours cluster, you stop fighting every sentence and start fixing three or four specific moments.

Measure your filler rate before you change anything

Record a five minute run of a real talk on your phone. Not a script read, a real run, as you would deliver it. Then play it back and make a tally mark for every filler. Divide by the minutes.

As a rough guide from the speakers I work with:

Mark the timestamp of each filler too. If 70 percent of them land in the first two seconds after a slide change, you have found your problem, and it has nothing to do with your vocabulary.

Five techniques to stop saying um

1. Replace the sound with a silent pause

The single most effective change is swapping the "um" for nothing. When you feel the filler coming, close your lips. That physical cue stops the sound. A pause of one to two seconds feels endless to you and perfectly normal to the audience. In fact, listeners tend to read short pauses as confidence.

2. Script your transitions word for word

You do not need to memorize the talk. You do need to memorize the bridges between sections. Write one sentence that ends each point and one that opens the next, for example: "That is the cost side. Now let us look at what it saves." Rehearse only those lines until they come out automatically. Talks built around a clear spine have fewer gaps to fill, which is why building a talk around one idea, not ten often cuts fillers on its own.

3. Finish the sentence on a downward note

Many fillers come from sentences that trail upward and never land, so the next one starts with "um, and so." Practice ending each sentence with a falling tone and a full stop. Read a paragraph aloud and exaggerate the drop for two minutes a day for a week.

4. Slow the first 30 seconds

Fillers spike at the opening when adrenaline is highest. Aim for about 120 words per minute in your first half minute, compared with the 150 to 160 that most people hit when nervous. Slowing down gives your brain the retrieval time it was stealing with "um."

5. Buy time on questions out loud

When someone asks a hard question, say "Good question, let me think about that" or simply repeat the question back. Both are honest, both give you three seconds, and neither sounds like a filler.

A seven day practice plan

You will not fix a lifelong habit in one evening. Here is a short plan that fits around a normal work week, about 15 minutes a day:

1. Day 1: Record a five minute run and count fillers per minute.
2. Day 2: Mark where each filler occurs and find your top two clusters.
3. Day 3: Write and rehearse every transition sentence.
4. Day 4: Do the "closed lips" drill: talk for two minutes on any topic, pausing silently every time you feel a filler coming.
5. Day 5: Record again. Most people drop 30 to 50 percent by this point.
6. Day 6: Have a friend ask you three unexpected questions and practice the out loud time buyer.
7. Day 7: Full run, recorded. Compare with day one.

If you already follow a rehearsal schedule that actually calms nerves, fit these drills into it rather than adding a second routine.

Why chasing zero fillers backfires

Some coaches still use the clicker method: a friend presses a buzzer or claps every time you say um. It works in the sense that the count falls. It also makes most people stiff, slow and visibly anxious, because they are now monitoring every syllable instead of thinking about the audience.

Listeners forgive a few fillers. Research on conversational speech has long found that "um" and "uh" often signal a longer upcoming delay and can even help listeners pay attention. What audiences do not forgive is a speaker who sounds like a recording. A talk with two fillers a minute and real warmth beats a flawless, frozen one every time.

So treat this as reducing, not eliminating. Fix the clusters, keep the pauses, and then stop thinking about it. The moment fillers become the main thing on your mind during a talk, they have already cost you more than the sound ever did.

When it happens on video calls

Fillers sound worse on a call because the microphone sits closer than any audience member would, and compression flattens pauses into silence that feels awkward. Two quick fixes: keep a sticky note with your three transition sentences beside your camera, and mute between points if you are presenting a long section with no interaction. For more on keeping a remote room with you, see our virtual presentation tips that hold a remote audience.

Frequently asked questions

Is it bad to say um in a presentation?

Not in small amounts. Two or so fillers a minute is normal and most listeners will not notice. It becomes a problem when fillers cluster so heavily that the audience starts counting them instead of following your point.

How long does it take to stop saying um?

Most people cut their filler rate noticeably within one or two weeks of daily practice of about 15 minutes. Getting it to stay low under pressure usually takes a month or a few real talks. The habit fades faster when you fix the transitions that trigger it.

What can I say instead of um?

The best replacement is silence: a short pause of one or two seconds. If you need to buy time on a question, repeat the question back or say you need a moment to think. Avoid swapping "um" for another filler like "so" or "basically," which just moves the habit.