Crutch words and where to find them

Crutch words, filler words, and verbal fillers are a few names for sounds, words, or phrases that don’t mean anything in the context of what someone is saying. As all the names imply, they are used to fill space or as an aid to break silence. Common ones that you have heard of are, uh, um, ya know, or my personal least favorite, right? 😬

I remember sitting on my couch 🛋️ with a trainer buddy of mine, watching Bill Burr. It was his 2010 special on Netflix, Let it Go. It got to the point where my buddy started counting the number of times Bill Burr said, “Ya know.” The count, if you are interested, is one-hundred fifty-six times. To put that into perspective, that’s an average of every twenty seconds ⏲️. Bill Burr is obviously wildly successful, but you’ll notice he no longer says “ya know” every twenty-two seconds in his specials.

Do you know what really grinds my gears? When I am listening to a presentation or in a meeting, and someone says “right” at least once in every sentence as though it’s a comma. Joking aside 😂, the overuse of crutch words will have a negative impact on your ability to communicate effectively. Identifying your filler words and actively reducing the number of times you use them will improve your communication by making it clearer and concise, as well as make you sound more confident and professional. These, of course, are things that every corporate trainer should strive for every day. 📈

While verbal fillers may not make or break your career, they could prove to be career-limiting in certain circumstances 🚫. So, let’s explore them a little deeper. In this post, I’ll walk you through some best practices for:

1. Identifying what your crutch words are.

2. Determining whether your use of crutch words is problematic.

3. How to address problematic use of verbal fillers.

1. Identifying your crutch words 🧐

Many trainers I have worked with picked up the use of filler words as part of meeting culture. It wasn’t from observing one another in the classroom, hearing the overuse of these fillers, and then saying to themselves, “I know what will improve my presentations, saying “right” every twenty-two seconds!” More likely, they were in a series of meetings with a more senior professional who had a bad habit, and that bad habit was copied, maybe unconsciously, as a way of fitting in. Whatever the reason, here are a few ways to identify your crutch words:

• Record yourself and listen to the record 📱. You should be doing this anyway, but if you need another reason to, there you go!
• Transcribe your audio recordings. In truth, I did not sit and count the number of times that Bill Burr said “ya know” in his special by hand. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that high anyway. I used a transcription tool, copy-pasted the script into a document editor, and used a command to find the number of times it showed up 📜. Analyzing longer recordings may be helpful.
• Ask for feedback 💬. Get colleagues or leaders to sit in on your presentations and tell you what they hear.
• Being mindful while you speak 🗣️. By being present and intentional about hearing the words you are saying, it should help you identify if you are using any fillers.

2. Determining if there is a problem 🤔

Not all use of crutch words is innately bad. Moreover, we all use them from time to time, and it’s okay. No humans or animals were harmed while making your presentation 😅. There are also no real stats to base whether you have a problem. The question I would encourage you to ask yourself is, “Does the use of these fillers add to my presentation?” If the answer is no, you have a problem to address. Some might have bigger problems to address than others, but either way, you have a little issue to tackle. Here are a few ideas that might help you get a better sense of the problem:

• Understand the frequency 📊. Using recording and listening tools can help you get a sense of how often these words are creeping in. Knowing how often they creep in will give you a better sense of how diligent you need to be about correcting the issue.
• Understand the impact. It will be difficult to get a completely accurate measurement of the impact, but there are some things you can keep an eye out for 👀. If people ask you to repeat yourself often, it may be because they can’t easily follow your point due to constant interruptions in your speaking. If people seem distracted or unfocused while you speak, it may again be the same problem.

Once you have a sense of the frequency and the impact, you may want to compare some of what you have identified with people that you feel are effective communicators. How do you stack up against the Simon Sineks or Brene Browns of the world?

3. Addressing the problem 🛠️

Now, you have identified there is a bit of an issue here, and you have also gotten a decent sense of how big the problem is. There are a number of ways to start chipping away at a solution. The most effective solution will probably be a combination of a few of the following:

• Get real-time feedback. We used to have a colleague sit in the back of the room during a presentation and raise a red card during training when a crutch word was used by the trainer 🚩. We mostly did this in practice presentations, but every once in a while, we would do it live. It’s just tricky not to be distracting to learners when doing this live, so it takes the right mindset of the presenter.
• Be present and aware. We all go on tangents sometimes. We get tantalized by a particularly juicy question that we are all too eager to answer and end up going down some rabbit hole 🐇. Being present and aware of what we are saying so you can catch and replace crutch words before they happen is another great practice to get into. They can be replaced with a pause ⏸️, or they can just be removed and you continue to move forward. Either approach is better than the filler word itself.
• Set goals 🎯. Once you know there is an issue and get a sense of how frequently it is an issue, set a goal to address it. Make sure you are clear on how and when you will measure your progress. It might be something like recording a ten-minute presentation once a month and listening back to it to count the number of verbal fillers. Track it in a spreadsheet and aim to lower the frequency by seventy-five percent in six months 📉. Having a goal with a tracking mechanism in place will help you see your progress and build momentum.

So there you have it. Um, a few ideas on how to, uh, address your usage of crutch words! Pretty cool, right? Basically, you can, literally, get out there and improve your communication. Do you know what I mean? 😜

I genuinely hope that you find this information helpful and inspiring 🌟. If you have any questions or comments, drop them below or drop me a line.

Now get out there and turn on some lightbulbs 💡.

Jordon

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