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The only people this matters to is people who count how many times the speaker says "um". Toastmasters types. The rest of us can see the forest for the trees.

by funkah 15y ago

sachingulaya 15y ago
It was very distracting. It takes quite a bit of training to eliminate pauses from speech but it takes significantly less effort to replace 'um' with a pause.
- prophetjohn 15y ago
  Pauses aren't even bad. Pauses give your audience an opportunity to process what you're saying. I've had pauses encouraged to me.
  - ttype 15y ago
    Pauses are widely viewed as the ideal replacement to umm/uhh. I took public speaking in college, attended Toastmasters for a while, and also attended an in-office public speaking class when was working in a corporate setting. All of these groups offered the advice to remove umm/err/uhh from your vocabulary. They're noises that make the speaker seem less comfortable and competent, and that don't add value. As a startup CEO, I routinely visit clients and potential clients, and often find myself facing a room with 10 or 20 people. I find that I perform much better than my CTO, in large part because my speaking skills give me a higher level of initial perceived credibility, allowing the rest of my words to be viewed through a more positive lens.
gfodor 15y ago
The problem is, like the FedEx arrow, once you see (hear) it, you can't avoid doing so in the future.
true_religion 15y ago
I think that many people don't consciously note a thing, but it still has an effect upon them. This does not apply to PG, but sometimes I find myself disliking a speaker but not quite realizing why until hours after the discussion when I can freely introspect and disentangle my emotions. Simply understanding your own biases, and emotional peeves doesn't make you elitist which is what you seem to be implying by mentioning the "Toastmaster types".
brlewis 15y ago
It is an error to assume people who pay attention to trees don't understand forests.
ttype 15y ago
So like it doesn't matter if your writing or speaking skills aren't so great because content matters more than having really polished structure and delivery people can see the forest for the trees. Personally I don't understand y some peopl get all uppity if there's an occasional spelling error or grammatical problem, I mean, they know what I want to say, so that's all that matters am i right? I think those "toastmasters types" who spend a little time practicing their techniques are just the equivalent of grammarnazis and they're just idiots who can't see the forest for the trees. If I'm sayingsmart things it doesn't matter how I say them.
rimantas 15y ago
It distracts, no matter if you count or not. And really, if you do a lot of public speaking and respect your audience—do a favor to your audience and try to improve. Sure, audience will bear with almost anything and more so if what you say is interesting—but why make them suffer?

The only people this matters to is people who count how many times the speaker says "um". Toastmasters types. The rest of us can see the forest for the trees.

by funkah 15y ago

The only people this matters to is people who count how many times the speaker says "um". Toastmasters types. The rest of us can see the forest for the trees.

sachingulaya 15y ago

It was very distracting. It takes quite a bit of training to eliminate pauses from speech but it takes significantly less effort to replace 'um' with a pause.

prophetjohn 15y ago
Pauses aren't even bad. Pauses give your audience an opportunity to process what you're saying. I've had pauses encouraged to me.
- ttype 15y ago
  Pauses are widely viewed as the ideal replacement to umm/uhh. I took public speaking in college, attended Toastmasters for a while, and also attended an in-office public speaking class when was working in a corporate setting. All of these groups offered the advice to remove umm/err/uhh from your vocabulary. They're noises that make the speaker seem less comfortable and competent, and that don't add value. As a startup CEO, I routinely visit clients and potential clients, and often find myself facing a room with 10 or 20 people. I find that I perform much better than my CTO, in large part because my speaking skills give me a higher level of initial perceived credibility, allowing the rest of my words to be viewed through a more positive lens.

gfodor 15y ago

The problem is, like the FedEx arrow, once you see (hear) it, you can't avoid doing so in the future.

true_religion 15y ago

I think that many people don't consciously note a thing, but it still has an effect upon them. This does not apply to PG, but sometimes I find myself disliking a speaker but not quite realizing why until hours after the discussion when I can freely introspect and disentangle my emotions. Simply understanding your own biases, and emotional peeves doesn't make you elitist which is what you seem to be implying by mentioning the "Toastmaster types".

brlewis 15y ago

It is an error to assume people who pay attention to trees don't understand forests.

ttype 15y ago

So like it doesn't matter if your writing or speaking skills aren't so great because content matters more than having really polished structure and delivery people can see the forest for the trees. Personally I don't understand y some peopl get all uppity if there's an occasional spelling error or grammatical problem, I mean, they know what I want to say, so that's all that matters am i right? I think those "toastmasters types" who spend a little time practicing their techniques are just the equivalent of grammarnazis and they're just idiots who can't see the forest for the trees. If I'm sayingsmart things it doesn't matter how I say them.

rimantas 15y ago

It distracts, no matter if you count or not. And really, if you do a lot of public speaking and respect your audience—do a favor to your audience and try to improve. Sure, audience will bear with almost anything and more so if what you say is interesting—but why make them suffer?