How to Stop Using Conversation Fillers

Have you ever wondered why you keep saying umm?
What about like?

Conversation fillers are used when we can't think of what we should say next. Everyone does this at one point,, or another. Its just something that can't be avoided.

But....
If you find yourself using fillers “like” all the time, there are a few things you can do to break yourself of the habit.


A lot of people use fillers in the conversations. But it doesn't have to be that way. I too was like you. I abused the words umm and like on a minute to minute basis. And I'll be honest with you, I hated myself a tiny bit more everytime one of those fillers flew out of my mouth. It just made me sad.

I lived with this affliction every day for seventeen years until I took a communications class in college. The whole point of the class was to teach us how to speak in front of a large crowd. Well, I passed the class but I'm pretty sure that it failed in teaching me the fundamentals because I'm still terrified of standing in front of a small, medium, or large crowd and giving a speech.

On the bright side, the class taught me how to break my habit of using conversation fillers. Some of these tips are a little more practical than the others, but I've tried them all! The most important part is to continue on battling the fillers until you eradicate them completely from your life. And remember that even though you don't sound like Claire from Clueless anymore, you still have to work at it because these pesky conversation fillers can creep back up on you at any time.

Quit Using Conversation Fillers

1. Decide that you want to quit

The first step to quit anything is to want to quit. Make a conscious decision to quit using fillers in your conversations. Write in down in your journal, post in on your fridge, or write it on your hand. Just take that first step to quit this terrible habit.

2. Silence is golden

A lot of people just say whatever comes to their mind, I know that I'm guilty of this. What usually happens is that our brains forget a word or just stop working for a minute then we're left with nothing in the middle of our sentence. So, we fill those pauses with silence or fillers. We're left to fill that silence with fillers until we can process our thoughts. I'm here to say that its okay to have a bit of silence while you're trying to collect your thoughts.

3. Plan out what you're going to say

Instead of just blurting out whatever pops into your head try to plan out your responses. Taking a minute or two to sort through your thoughts can be a great way to get rid of all those pesky fillers.

4. Wear a rubber band and pop yourself when you use a filler

I've done this one so many times its ridiculous. Wear a rubber band and whenever you catch yourself using those irksome filler words give yourself a small pop. This tip works on cognitive behavioral therapy principles. Eventually your brain will associate the small pops with those filler words, and you won't want to use them anymore because they cause you a tiny bit of pain. Be careful not to pop yourself too hard. You don't want to leave bruises or marks. Just a light pop should do the trick.

Questions? Comments? Stories?

Do you have any questions, comments, or stories to share about your battle with conversation fillers? If so, please feel free to leave a comment below!

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