Last week, in the spirit of always getting better, I asked Twitter how
to practice saying "um" less while speaking. Here's what I learned.
Most people suggested to practice intentionally inserting pauses instead
of saying "um". Various strategies include voice acting classes, having
a friend aid with a buzzer (presumably to help you notice), and to
record practice sessions as well as the real deal.
Nagle suggested that meditation helped
him, which makes sense to me as I've experienced meditation helping me
be more mindful in many different areas of my life, including mundane
things like noticing that I've touched something that's probably not
that clean and remembering not to touch my face until I wash them.
Wilfully directing mindfulness toward noticing how I speak is something
I'm really stoked about, though it's easy to get swept away in a default
"performance mode" in front of a crowd.
Hendrick pointed out that
Cognitive
Behavioural
Therapy is
the principle behind changing speech behaviour and is a great starting
point for more research.
This is going to be really useful next time I'm practicing for a talk!
Thanks
@zmagg,
@hendricklee,
@bcrypt,
@ebroder,
@mscain,
and
@nagle5000 for playing.
(original Twitter
thread)