Uh … Ah … Um … Do … Uh … They … Matter?
There have been a couple of conversations going on in the Presentation Blogsphere regarding non-words. Or as Lisa Marshall calls them disfluencies. Hey, she isn’t just making that up. It’s a real word. Some have the opinion that it isn’t a big problem.
Here’s Lisa’s take on it: “Like, Eliminate Ums and Ahs, Right?” Does she think that they are important? “It can make a big difference in how you’re perceived.” I think that she believes they are worth dealing with.
“The 10 Biggest Mistakes New Sales Reps Make And How To Avoid Making Them” by Jim Meisenheimer. #5 – Doing “Seal talk” and “Sales Babble.” Nothing spells AMATEUR more than the language you use. He says that “Ums” and “Ahs” sounds like seal talk… Funny! We will put Jim in the Against column.
Jason Kottke may have written the shortest post on this. He recommends videotaping yourself and practicing. Good advice. I am not sure how actionable it is. He doesn’t come right out and say it’s a problem but he did write a blog post on it. Another Against vote.
According to Steve Pavlina, Dr Wayne Dyer could use some help. Steve talks about fixing the problem. Another Against vote.
Wow, here is one from Marty Nemko that says that a sudden increase in “ums” and “ahs” is a sign of lying. Take a look at item 3. I am not sure that I buy into that but we will put Marty in the Against column.
I think that there is a certain point at which disfluencies become a big problem. One or two: Not a big problem. 20 or so per minute: A huge problem. It’s best to get rid of them. I have noticed that people who maintain good eye contact don’t seem to have as much of a problem with them. If you do Web casts then you should pay close attention to this issue: The threshold is much lower on a Web cast.
Bert Decker, in his great book “You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard,” recommends substituting pauses in place of filler words. You can’t ignore Bert. If he says it, believe it.
You can find out if you have a problem with disfluencies by using a voice recorder of video taping yourself.
Get rid of them — all. Um. Ah. So. And. You know. Basically. I mean. But. Everyone of them. Might overlook them, but have no reason to use them.
Bert is right, the pause rules. We think in a pause. When we think, we have something worth saying. It’s more than just how we sound.
But even if the words weren’t more articulate, we sound more professional, more confident, and have a greater impact and efficiency for our time.
And without a video/audio recording, we have little to know idea how bad it is. A few weeks back a student caught himself with a non-word and said, “Oops, there was an um!” It was actually his 13th um. In a minute.