“Um … aah” Sucks

“Aah, and here, as you can see, um… is the, aah, same diagram but with the, aah, added cost of, um, advertising. And, aah… if we continue to grow this group then, um, we, aah, need to control this expense.”

Put me down now! I can't take it. You are boring people to death at 60 aahs per minute. Wanna lose your audience's attention quickly and make sure your meetings suck even more? Then just, aah, keep aah, um, doing this, and you'll be guaranteed to succeed.

While a few of these aah and um speech habits are common and have meaning beyond revealing a speaker's discomfort, a multitude of them can drastically affect your ability to keep audiences engaged in your presentation.

What are they? Linguists call them neutral vowel sounds, and they're said to be the easiest sounds to make in the English language. Yup, that means other languages have different sayings: In other languages, you may hear “eh,” (Spanish) or “etto” (Japanese). You may also hear in English phrases such as “you know” or “like” inserted into speech.

People use um or aah in conversation when they anticipate a delay and want to avoid a silent gap in speech that could be confusing to a listener. Similarly, a presenter might emit a growl-like uh or aah sound to avoid that confusing moment of silence. The problem occurs when these stall tactics take on lives of their own and not one single sentence can be uttered without an um, uh, or aah. Attendees not only see you as continually searching for words, but you also risk losing your credibility as the expert on your topic. High stakes.

Many years ago, I was hired by a certain college to speak to high school seniors about the benefits of higher education in general and on that college in particular. Some weeks, I'd spend on as many as four days speaking, doing as many as eight 45-minute presentations a day!

During the training for that program, I'd listen to the other speakers and they'd listen to me rehearse our fully scripted presentation. More important, we were asked to note every um, uh, or aah.

From that day forward, I have frequently given a piece of scrap paper to a presenter at the end of a meeting with data like this:

I even include all the ticks and hash marks I made so the presenter can see how carefully I kept track of them.

I also tell the surprised speaker in a polite way that most people have no idea that they have these verbal habits; it's totally natural to them; I just want to help them for next time.

Do you instantly want to appear as a seasoned presenter? Fix this! You weren't born with this habit, you know. If you don't fix it, your attendees will be more distracted by the interruptions than drawn into the real content. That affects your credibility, and your effectiveness as a presenter drops through the floor.

Presenter SRDs

• Ask a trusted friend or adviser to count how many times you say umm, uh, or aah in an upcoming presentation. My bet? You'll be astonished by the high number.
• Realize that allowing a moment of silence is okay. While it feels unbelievably painful at first to be on stage and not say anything, consider it a powerful weapon. As a professional speaker and entertainer, I have learned that silence can add impact and humor while helping attendees focus on key message points. Use it wisely.
• Memorize your most important impact lines and points. Remember that you are the expert at this given moment; this is why you are presenting. Take a few minutes to rehearse your top three statements or points you want to make. Go ahead and watch in the mirror as you recite and memorize those points. A memorized line is much less likely to include an um or aah. Presenting an entire presentation that's obviously memorized can suck, but if you deliver your key points directly to your audience with emotion and conviction, you'll have a dramatically different result and be far more memorable and effective. When you do this, take notice of how your audience's engagement in your presentation changes—for the better—when you speak to them in this manner.
• Have a dire need to correct your actions quickly in a simple way? Trust me on this one suggestion. It works. Place a rubber band on either wrist and, for starters, keep it there for one week. Every time you say um or aah, in any dialogue, discreetly reach down and snap yourself with the rubber band. No need to draw blood here, folks, just do this as a reminder to show your subconscious mind how many times you actually use those words. You probably haven't even been aware how often you engage in this annoying habit. Doing this brings your subconscious habit to the front of your mind.

Taking a conscious approach to correcting these unconscious stalling techniques allows you to become more acutely aware of the extent of your problem. Fix it, and you'll take big steps toward driving the audience engagement you want.