How do I avoid filler words like “um”?

The most effective step is deliberately allowing the short thinking pause in which the “um” would arise to be a silent pause. Slow your pace, speak in short sentences with clear full stops and breathe calmly at the sentence end – then the gap doesn't even arise. And record yourself: only once you hear your own filler words can you drop them.

Why do I say “um” so often?

Filler words are usually voiced thinking pauses: the brain searches for the next word, and the mouth bridges the silence with a sound. This is amplified by too high a pace and by uncertainty about the content. It is therefore rarely a speech fault, but a symptom – which you get under control with pauses, pace and good preparation.

Is it better to speak more slowly?

In the vast majority of cases, yes. A calm pace gives your head time to form the next thought before the mouth needs it – so fewer filler words and stumbles arise. What matters is not slowness in itself, but the interplay of calm speaking and deliberate pauses.

How do I come across as more confident when speaking?

Confidence comes above all from holding pauses instead of voicing them. Speak in short, clear sentences, stress the key words and allow yourself a calm breath at the sentence end. This calm signals security – far more strongly than fast, gapless talking.

Can you practise fluent speaking?

Yes, very much so. Fluent speaking is not a talent but a matter of practice: deliberate pauses, a calm pace, clear structure and honest feedback from recordings. Whoever speaks freely regularly and listens to themselves reduces filler words and stumbles step by step.

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Speak more fluently: avoiding filler words and “um” – 7 exercises

“Um”, “like”, “you know” – filler words creep into almost every spontaneous talk. The good news: speaking fluently doesn't mean talking faster, but confidently placing pauses. With these seven exercises you replace the filler-word stumbling step by step with calm, clear speech.

Reviewed byMarkus KästleSpeaker & speech trainer7 min read

What does speaking fluently mean?

Speaking fluently doesn't mean talking as fast as possible without full stops. On the contrary: rushing only produces more slips, stumbles and “um”. A talk only sounds fluent when it flows calmly and evenly – with clear thoughts, clean transitions and pauses that give listeners time to follow. The tool for this is not pace, but the pause.

Filler words like “um”, “like”, “you know” or “sort of” are usually nothing but voiced thinking pauses: the brain searches for the next word, and so that no silence arises in the meantime, the mouth fills the gap with a sound. The key to fluent speaking therefore lies in deliberately allowing these short thinking pauses to be real, silent pauses – instead of voicing them. Speaking fluently doesn't mean talking faster, but holding the pause.

Speaking fluently doesn't mean talking faster, but holding the pause.

Why we say “um”

Filler words almost always arise for the same reason: we don't want to let the flow break off. As soon as a tiny thinking pause looms, many people experience the silence as unpleasant or as a sign of insecurity – and bridge it reflexively with a sound. On top of that comes an overly high speaking pace: speak faster than you think and you constantly have to plug the emerging gap with “um”.

A second driver is uncertainty about the content. If you don't know your thread securely, you search mid-sentence for the next point – and it is exactly in that searching movement that the filler words sit. Tellingly: in familiar surroundings, telling a well-known story, the same people barely say “um” at all. Filler words are therefore rarely a speech fault, but a symptom of pace and insecurity – and that is exactly where the exercises come in.

Common mistakes with speech flow

The most common mistake is trying to escape the filler word with even more pace. Speak faster just to avoid any pause and you amplify the problem: the head can't keep up, and the “ums” pile up. The second mistake is the tense ban – “I mustn't say ‘um’ now” directs attention onto the filler words all the more, instead of making them disappear.

It helps just as little to lay out a text word for word and memorise it; at the smallest slip the construction collapses, and the search for the exact word produces new filler words. What really helps is a change of perspective: the pause is not a hole to be plugged, but a means of expression. Calm pauses come across as composed, give you time to think and your listeners time to understand. The following exercises teach you to use them deliberately.

Train fluent, clear speaking – in the Besser Sprechen app.

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7 exercises for fluent speaking

Combine the exercises as needed: some train your long-term attitude towards the pause and your structure, others are concrete tools for the next situation in which you speak freely.

1
Exercise 1
Deliberately hold the pause
Resolve to fall silent briefly at the end of each thought instead of saying “um”. Count one second internally – to you it feels endless, to your listeners it comes across as composed and gives them time. This one habit replaces more filler words than any other exercise, because it acts exactly where the “um” would arise.
2
Exercise 2
Deliberately slow the pace
Speak deliberately slower than feels right at first. A calm pace gives your head time to form the next thought before the mouth needs it – so the gap that would otherwise be filled with “um” doesn't even arise. As a rule of thumb: better clear and with pauses than fast and stumbling.
3
Exercise 3
Record and count filler words
Record yourself on your phone speaking freely for two or three minutes – for example on what you did at the weekend. Listen back and count your filler words. This honest feedback is the most important step: only once you consciously hear your own “ums” can you notice and drop them while speaking.
4
Exercise 4
Think in short sentences
Deliberately phrase things in short, complete sentences and place a real full stop at the end of each – an audible pause. Whoever thinks in long nested sentences with “and then er … and because …” automatically produces filler words at the seams. Short sentences with clear stops give your talk structure and give you breathing pauses.
5
Exercise 5
The breath anchor at the sentence end
At the end of a thought, deliberately breathe out calmly and in again instead of voicing the gap. The breath is the most natural pause of all and fills the thinking pause without any sound being needed. Calm belly breathing at the same time slows your pace and keeps you composed – two birds with one stone.
6
Exercise 6
Stress and melody instead of monotony
Speak with life, with deliberate stresses and a natural speech melody. Monotone rattling tempts you to raise the pace and sprinkle in filler words; stress your key words and pause briefly in between, and you automatically sound more fluent and more alert. To practise, read a text aloud and mark beforehand the words you want to stress.
7
Exercise 7
Prepare the structure – the thread
Before a conversation or talk, lay out only the structure: three or four bullet points, no fully written-out text. If you know where you're going, you don't have to search mid-sentence for the next thought – and that search is the source of most “ums”. A secure thread makes you freer and more fluent than any memorised script.

How the Besser Sprechen app leads to fluent speaking

You only learn to speak fluently by speaking – regularly and with honest feedback. The Besser Sprechen app gives you both: a protected space in which you practise freely aloud without anyone listening in, and a built-in recorder that makes your filler words and your pace audible. This conscious listening is exactly the lever with which you reduce “um” and stumbles step by step.

You'll also find guided speaking and breathing exercises in the app that help you slow your pace and place pauses deliberately. You train on real texts – from a casual story to professional presenting – and, if you like, get personal feedback from real professional speakers who have to stay fluent in front of microphone and camera themselves. So your flow grows with every exercise, free to start and without expensive coaching.

A protected space to practise freely – no listeners, no pressure
Recorder – makes filler words and speaking pace audible
Guided speaking and breathing exercises for a calm pace and deliberate pauses
Pro feedback from real speakers

Reviewed by real professional speakers

These exercises come from people who have to stay fluent in front of microphone, camera and audience themselves. Reviewed by Markus Kästle – speaker and speech trainer – and joined by Dietmar Wunder (the German voice of Daniel Craig as James Bond), Irina von Bentheim, Silke Haas and Ulrike Völger.

Dietmar Wunder

Dt. Stimme von Daniel Craig (James Bond)

Irina von Bentheim

Synchronsprecherin & Schauspielerin

Silke Haas

Sprecherin & Stimmtrainerin

Markus Kästle

Sprecher & Sprechtrainer

Ulrike Völger

Sprecherin & Coach