Avoiding Filler Words

The excessive use of filler words is a trap that many novice debaters fall into. However, as long as you are conscious of the use of filler words, you can take steps to remove them from your speech.

Drill

• This is a two-person drill. Have one person deliver a fairly short impromptu speech on a topic. Identify three of the speaker’s worst problems with filler/inefficient words (“like,” “is going to,” “um,” etc.). The speaker then delivers the speech again, starting over every time they make one of the three mistakes. The partner helps identify the mistakes.
• Also, check out the “Like So” app.