I'm here today to discuss with you a very natural expression that all of us have. So

what’s natural? Yes, I'm going to talk about English fillers, fillers that all of us use

whilst we communicate and why is it natural? Yes, it is indeed natural for all of us to

use fillers and it's perfectly okay to use them. However, we must make attempts to eliminate

them, to minimize the usage of fillers and why should you and I minimize the usage of

fillers? We must minimize them because a filler is usually a meaningless word. The word has

no meaning and it expresses a pause. It indicates that the speaker wants to pause. So for example,

if I want to describe the heat outside, I may say it's very umm...you know, umm... you

know. I'm trying to present my thoughts and I want to articulate them but I'm not able

to because I'm hunting for words. So I want to indicate something to you but I'm not able

to because I'm buying time with the help of this filler whilst I look for the right word

to express myself. Hence fillers, as we know, are meaningless. They have no meaning. So

even if you eliminate fillers from a sentence, the meaning of the sentence will not change.

So let's look at some fillers that we very commonly use.

The one is okay. I'm sure all of us use that. The other one is right. We also say like,

I'm very fond of, like, umm... you know, I like, you know, umm... you know, like these

are all fillers. We also err... um... can you, you know, we use all of this very often.

Now how do you eliminate them? Can you completely eliminate them from your communication? You

perhaps can't but you definitely can minimize their usage. So how do you do so? So the first

step that you have which is going to help you to minimize them is identify how often

do you use fillers? Do you use fillers very, very often? Do you use fillers after every

sentence? Do you use fillers because you're very, very unconfident or do you use fillers

when you're nervous? So, first of all, identify the problem. The first step towards a solution

is the identification of the problem. So go ahead, watch yourself, check yourself to figure

out how often do you use fillers. So when I do listen to myself, I see that sometimes

I tend to use you know very often. So that's my identification.

The second one is, know the filler that you use. All of us have an inclination to use

one specific filler. So I have a friend who uses, you know very often. I have a lot of

people like to use like. You know like, you know the movie was like, a you know, can you

like do this for me like, quickly like because I have to present it. So people tend to have

the inclination to use one specific filler. So what I need you to do is, I need you to

know the filler that you specifically use very, very often and then, of course, slow

down.

We don't have to rush. Now, what happens when you slow down? Now we all know that usages

of fillers happen when we are trying to process our thoughts in our brain and we are hunting

for words and buying some time to articulate our thoughts in our communication. Now if

you do it very quickly if you want to talk about it very quickly, you know my name is

Alisha and I'm a trainer and I train in X Y Z. If I speak very fast, then I will end

up using a filler because my thoughts are not processing at that speed. It's going to

take some time for my brain to understand what's the next thing that I want to say and

then I will be able to articulate that with the right choice of words. So if you slow

down, it's going to aid your communication. It's going to help you to understand what

is it that you want to say, pick up the right word that you want to use to express yourself

and there you go you will not need to use fillers very often.

All right, practice, now why is practice important? Well we all know that practice will make you

more comfortable, will familiarize yourself with the content and with thorough and repeated

practice, you will end up memorizing a lot of content that you want to speak. So in the

end what happens is you know exactly what you want to say and hence you will not need

fillers because you will not need the time, you will not need the ability or you will

not have a need to buy time. So if you practice, so say, for example, I have to present something

in front of a crowd or I have to take a class with you. If I practice my lesson thoroughly

then I know what is it that I exactly want to say after a particular idea and if I practice

that very well, I will not have to buy time and hence if I'm not buying time, I will eliminate

naturally the use of fillers.

Okay, chunking, what is this concept? Chunking is a concept which is used very often by public

speakers. Chunking meaning a sudden outburst of words and then take a pause and then say

the next idea. So if I want to talk to you about say, clothing, oh I like various kind

of clothing and I think how you want to dress up is a very personal idea. So what did I

do? I gave you sudden outburst of an idea, I took a pause and then I went to the next

idea. So chunking is nothing but simply giving a sudden outburst of ideas or words taking

a pause and then presenting the next idea.

Focus, friends do not get distracted when you are presenting yourself, be it in your

office, be it in your college or in a debate or in a test that you have to give. Concentrate

on what you want to say because the moment you get distracted you are likely to forget

and there is going to be a breakage in your thoughts and you will begin to use fillers

because you will not be able to articulate what you want to think because your mind is

already distracted towards another direction and gesticulate. What do you mean by that?

This is what gesticulate means. Making gestures, when you gesticulate, it helps you to speak

what you want to speak and it also helps you to completely concentrate on the idea that

you want to express.

And last but not the least, relax. Relax because when you relax, it's a sense of peaceful.

It's a sense of being, it's a sense of well-being. You're at peace with yourself. You know what

you're going to say, is going to sound right. You know what you're going to say is going

to make a lot of sense and hence you need to relax. So if you relax, you are thinking

clearly, you're looking for the right words to express yourselves and whilst doing so,

you're most likely to not use fillers.

So I'm going to give you a quick recap. First of all, what I want you to do is identify

how often do you use those fillers. What is that one filler that you believe you use too

much and you want to get rid of it? Slow down when you speak, slow down, work on your rate

of speech. I'm working on mine. Practice, I always keep telling you, continue to practice

because that's gonna bring in two things into you, confidence and you will automatically

smile and know what you’re going to talk about. Chunking, say what you want to say,

take a pause and move to the next idea. Focus, focus on what you want to speak. Do not get

distracted by anyone standing up or anyone saying something, just concentrate on what

you want to say and present. Gesticulate, make gestures use the best use of your hands

they're going to help you present yourself in a better manner and of course relax because

I know you're gonna do very well and you should know you're gonna do very well. So there is

no need for you to be anxious. All right practice all of this and I'm sure

you will be able to eliminate the usage of fillers till the next lesson keep the practice

on goodbye.