5 powerful tips for Singaporeans to stop 'verbal blunders'

The audience is settling down, getting ready to sit through an hour-long presentation. The commotion in the room fades as you walk onto the stage. You smile and try not to focus on everyone’s attention on your movements, especially your trembling hands.

Clearing your throat, you open your mouth and say, “Um. Hi everyone. Err.. Thank you for ah, coming to this presentation today. Um, so what I’m going to um talk about today is, um, the global economic crisis that is like um, affecting the whole world now.”

Oh no! The “ums”, “ahs”, “so”, “like” and “right” are out in full swing. And what’s worse is you don’t even realise it.

Verbal blunders or fillers, as they’re normally called are essentially ‘empty’ words and phrases that do not change or add meaning to the sentence. They disrupt the flow of your speech, are distracting, and significantly decreasing your credibility. They are garbage and should be thrown out! Immediately!

The good news is that it’s possible to eradicate fillers to sound smoother and more appealing to an audience. Here’s 5 tips on how.

Tip #1: Be aware of your use & frequency of “garbage”
To solve a problem is to recognise it exists. Get help from a close friend who will be honest with you, or a public speaking expert. Record yourself and make a note of the frequency of your verbal blunders and which are your favorite “blunder word” e.g. actually, um, like, you know. Hearing the blunders, acknowledges that you have a problem in public speaking.

I once worked with a senior manager who was clueless to his problem. When we recorded & reviewed his speech, he was shocked & disappointed by the number of times he was guilty of “verbal garbage”. He could hear the extent to which it was affecting his credibility & grateful that it was brought to his attention.

After recording for a week, the key is to listen attentively or listen consciously until you hear your “garbage” as they occur, not after the fact. While focusing on content, very few people are aware of how incoherent they actually sound. With each focused effort to pick out the “ums”, “ahs” and so on, we will soon be able to minimize the frequency.

Tip #2: Know, prepare & rehearse your presentation
If you have no expertise or sufficient knowledge in what you are presenting, you will obviously feel nervous and start to make mistakes. So, first & foremost, be an expert, not a jack of all trades.

You need to know your audience & your material, rehearse out loud, take deep breaths and trust in your rigorous preparation.

Stop clouding your mind with what the audience is thinking about you, and focus on sharing useful knowledge that can benefit others. We have been conditioned to answer questions immediately from an early age. We answer our parents right away—either out of respect or because we were afraid of what would happen if we didn’t.

Thus people who use a lot of fillers are afraid that if they don’t keep speaking, there will be consequences. On the contrary, an effectively placed moment of silence is often appreciated by the audience as they don’t feel overwhelmed by too much information.

Tip #3: Just replace it!
Instead of suppressing unnecessary “ums” and “ahs”, increase your vocabulary of strategic words that can naturally replace the fillers. These include words such as “so”, “therefore” “by the way” or “actually”. Be cautious because if repeated too frequently, these ‘new fillers’ will become equally distracting to the listener and take away the eloquence of your speech.

Tip #4: The Strategic use of Silence
You can also learn to start making good use of silence. Plan pauses effectively to improve your impact. Pauses only work when your intonation moves downwards to make a strong point or a statement & upwards when you want people to see the irony, when asking rhetorical questions or even when leaving them with “food for thought”! Don’t be nervous about silence; powerful speakers use, not fear them.

For example just before starting your speech, pause and look up at the audience with a smile. Pause when you move from one main point to another to highlight transitions. Albeit the adrenaline rush, use pauses to recollect your thoughts, look more confident and in control, and let the audience digest your words.

Tip #5: Keep your sentences succinct and content significant
The lengthier your sentences, the more likely you are going to end up filling the “dead air” with an insignificant sound. Shorter sentences make you sound confident, certain and focused. In your preparation, narrow down your points and stay on track throughout. When you do talk about your personal experiences or relate a story, you connect with your audience better and will tend to blunder less.

Lastly, always prepare your content well until it’s worth every second of your audiences’ precious time! Focus on the significance of your content and its impact on others. You will start to minimize the fillers, eventually, presentation by presentation. You will be pleasantly surprised by how much this small change will significantly transform you into a much-improved, impressive speaker.