How to stop saying “um” and “basically” when you speak

“Basically, um, what I wanted to say is, like, actually the project was, uh, basically about…”

Most of us don’t notice our filler words until we hear a recording of ourselves. Then it’s hard to un-hear. In Indian English, “basically” and “actually” are especially common, often several times a sentence, alongside the universal “um”, “uh” and “like”.

A few fillers are normal and nobody minds. But when they pile up, they make you sound unsure, they hide your point, and in interviews they can make a good answer sound unprepared.

This guide explains why fillers happen and how to reduce them. Not to zero, but to the point where people hear your ideas instead.

Why we use filler words

Filler words are not a vocabulary problem. People with excellent English use them constantly. They come from three things:

1. Fear of silence. When we pause to think, we feel the silence is awkward, so we fill it with a sound. “Umm” is the sound of your brain saying “I’m still here, don’t interrupt.”
2. Thinking while talking. If you start speaking before you know where the sentence is going, fillers appear wherever you have to decide what comes next.
3. Habit. Words like “basically” and “actually” often start as meaningful and slowly become a tic. You might say “basically” twenty times in a conversation without ever meaning “in essence”.

Knowing which one is driving yours helps you pick the right fix.

Step 1: Measure it

You can’t fix what you can’t hear. Start by measuring.

Record yourself answering one question for 60 seconds. Something easy, like “What are your hobbies?”. Then listen back and count every filler word. Write the number down.

Do this for three different questions. Most people are surprised: 10 to 20 fillers in a minute is common when you are nervous.

You will also notice your personal favourites. Most people have one or two that do most of the damage. That is good news, because it means you only need to work on those.

Step 2: Replace the filler with a pause

The single most effective technique is simple and uncomfortable: when you feel a filler coming, close your mouth and pause instead.

A pause of one or two seconds feels enormous to you. To a listener, it sounds thoughtful and calm. In fact, confident speakers pause far more than nervous ones. They just pause silently.

Practise it deliberately:

• Answer a question out loud.
• Every time you notice a filler about to come out, stop. Breathe. Continue.
• It will feel slow and awkward for the first few days. That is the point.

Step 3: Know your first sentence

Fillers cluster at the start of answers, when you are deciding how to begin. “So, um, basically…” is the classic opening.

Fix the start and you remove a large share of fillers. Before you speak, decide on your first sentence, and make it the answer:

• Instead of “So basically, my project was, um…”, try: “My project predicts which patients will miss clinic appointments.”
• Instead of “Actually, I think, like, my strength is…”, try: “My biggest strength is persistence.”

Once the first sentence is out cleanly, the rest flows more easily.

Step 4: Shorten your sentences

Long sentences need more decisions mid-way, and every decision is a chance for a filler. Short sentences are easier to say cleanly.

Compare:

“So the main thing which, um, I worked on in the internship, which was at a logistics company, basically was an API that, like, the drivers could use to…”

“At my internship, I built an API for delivery drivers. They used it to update delivery status from their phones.”

Same information. Half the fillers. More confident.

Step 5: Banned-word practice

Pick your single worst filler word. For a week, ban it.

Practise speaking for one minute on a random topic without using that word. Ask a friend to clap or tap the table every time it slips out. It is surprisingly hard, and surprisingly effective. Once you notice the word in real time, you start catching it before it comes out.

When you can do a minute without it, move to the next word.

Step 6: Practise under pressure

Fillers get worse under pressure. You might be clean at home and still say “basically” fifteen times in an interview. That is why practising alone only gets you part of the way.

Practise in situations that feel a little bit stressful: in front of a friend, on a video call, in a group. The aim is to make the pressure feel familiar, so your fillers stop spiking when it matters.

A two-week plan

• Days 1–2: Record three 60-second answers. Count your fillers and find your top two.
• Days 3–7: Every day, answer two questions out loud, replacing every filler with a silent pause. Re-record one and count again.
• Days 8–10: Banned-word practice with your worst filler, one minute at a time.
• Days 11–14: Practise in front of people at least twice. Count again at the end.

If you practise daily, you should hear a clear difference in your recordings by the end of the two weeks. Not because you learned new words, but because you learned to be comfortable with a second of silence.

What not to do

• Don’t try to remove every filler. A few are natural. You are aiming for “not noticeable”, not robotic.
• Don’t replace one filler with another. Swapping “um” for “so” or “right?” doesn’t help. The replacement is silence.
• Don’t speed up. Rushing makes fillers worse. If anything, slow down slightly.
• Don’t script everything. Scripted answers remove fillers until someone interrupts you, and then they all come back at once. Practise structures, not scripts.

Fillers are a habit, and habits change with repetition. A few minutes of out-loud practice a day does more than any amount of reading about it.