How to Stop Saying Um, Like and Basically

"So, um, basically, what I did in my project was, like, basically…" Most of us have heard ourselves say something like this in an interview or a meeting and winced.

Filler words are normal. Everyone uses some, in every language, and a few are fine — they can even make speech sound natural. The problem is when they crowd out the content, or when one word ("basically", "actually", "matlab") turns up in every sentence. Then listeners start noticing the filler instead of the point.

The good news: fillers are a habit, and habits can be measured and changed. This guide shows you how.

What counts as a filler

Fillers come in a few kinds, and it helps to know which ones you use:

• Sound fillers: "um", "uh", "er", "hmm".
• Word fillers: "basically", "actually", "like", "so", "you know", "literally", "right?".
• Phrase fillers: "what I mean to say is", "to be honest", "kind of", "sort of".
• Hinglish and other mixed-language fillers: "matlab", "na", "toh", "yaani", "means". Many Indian English speakers drop these into English sentences without noticing — "matlab, the API was slow".

None of these is wrong on its own. "Actually" is a fine word when you are correcting something. It becomes a filler when it carries no meaning — when you could delete it and the sentence would say exactly the same thing.

Why we use them

Fillers do a job, which is why they're hard to drop:

• They hold your turn. A silence feels like an invitation for someone else to speak, so we fill it while we think.
• They buy thinking time. When you don't know your next sentence, a filler covers the search.
• Nerves. Under pressure — interviews, presentations — people speak faster and fill more.
• Translating in your head. If you think in one language and speak in another, the gap while you translate often gets filled with "basically" or "matlab".
• Habit. After years of saying "basically", it comes out on its own.

Notice that most of these are really about not knowing what to say next. That is why the most effective fixes are about structure and preparation, not willpower.

Hinglish fillers: "matlab", "na", "toh"

If you grew up switching between Hindi and English, some of your fillers may not be English words at all. "Matlab" (roughly "I mean"), "na" at the end of a sentence, "toh" at the start, or "means" used the way "matlab" is — these slip into English sentences when you are thinking in one language and speaking in the other.

Among friends who all speak Hinglish, this is completely normal, and nobody needs to change it. It matters in settings where the listener expects English throughout — a campus interview, a client call, a presentation — because each one is a small signal that you are translating as you go.

The fix is the same as for any filler, with one addition: prepare the English phrases you actually need. If "matlab" usually comes before a rephrase, use "in other words" — but only when you really are rephrasing. If "toh" starts your sentences, start with the point instead. And practise your most common answers in English until the first sentence of each comes out without searching for it.

Step 1: Find out which fillers you use

You can't fix what you haven't measured. Record yourself talking for two to three minutes on any topic — what you did last weekend, how something at work operates, a news story. Then go through it and count.

Two practical notes:

• Listen to the audio for sound fillers. Speech-to-text tools often leave out "um" and "uh", because they are built to produce readable text. A transcript can undercount them, so use your ears for these.
• Use a transcript for word fillers. Words like "basically", "actually" and "so" are real words, so they show up in a transcript, and seeing them in writing is often more striking than hearing them.

Most people find they have one or two "signature" fillers that account for most of the problem. Those are your targets.

Step 2: Replace the filler with a pause

The single most useful change is this: when you feel a filler coming, pause instead. Close your mouth, take a short breath, and continue.

A one-second pause feels very long to you. To a listener, it sounds like you are thinking — which is far better than sounding unsure. Pauses also give listeners time to absorb your last point.

Step 3: Know your next point

Since most fillers appear when you don't know what comes next, give yourself a next point. Before you speak — in an interview answer, a meeting update, a presentation — decide on a simple shape:

• One-line answer first. "The main reason the release slipped was the payment integration."
• Then two or three supporting points. "First… Second… Finally…"
• Then stop. Many fillers appear after you have finished, when you keep talking because you haven't decided to end.

Signposting ("first", "the second reason", "to sum up") gives your listener structure and gives you the next words to say.

Step 4: Slow down at the start of sentences

Fillers cluster at the beginning of sentences and at the start of a new point. Deliberately slowing your first few words — and taking a breath before a new point — removes many of them. You don't need to speak slowly throughout; just don't rush the starts.

Step 5: Practise with drills

Changing a habit needs repetitions. Short drills work well:

• The one-minute no-filler drill. Pick any topic and talk for one minute with zero fillers. When one slips out, start the minute again. It is frustrating at first and gets easier within a few days.
• The pause drill. Talk for two minutes and deliberately insert a full one-second pause between every sentence. It feels unnatural, which is the point — it teaches you that silence is allowed.
• Answer, then tighten. Answer a common interview question out loud ("Tell me about a project you worked on"). Listen back, then answer it again in fewer words.
• Prepare your repeated answers. Your self-introduction and your descriptions of your projects come up again and again. Practise them out loud until the first sentence of each is automatic — that is where nerves bring out fillers.
• The buzzer game. With a friend, take turns talking; the listener taps the table at every filler. It is surprisingly effective, and a bit funny.

Step 6: Track it weekly, not hourly

Re-record a short talk once a week and count again, using your fillers per minute as a baseline. Compare yourself with your own past numbers rather than an imagined "perfect" zero. A drop from frequent to occasional is a real improvement, and it is what listeners notice.

Don't overcorrect

Aiming for zero fillers can make you sound stiff, or make you so focused on avoiding words that you lose your train of thought. A few "so"s and the odd "um" are human. The goal is that fillers stop drawing attention — not that they disappear.

A daily routine that helps

The fastest progress comes from short, frequent practice: a few minutes of talking every day, with a way to check what you said. Our guide to a 10-minute daily speaking practice lays out a full routine, and if you freeze because you don't fully understand the topic, the Feynman technique helps you prepare.

Daily Talk makes this a daily habit: you get one topic a day, research it for up to an hour, then talk for 1 to 10 minutes and get a transcript showing what you said, its word count and your pace. Word fillers like "basically" and "actually" show up in the transcript; for "um" and "uh", listen back to a recording as described above. Transcription is English for now, so Hinglish words like "matlab" may not come out as you said them — a phone voice recording is the better check for those. Your audio is transcribed in your browser and never uploaded.

For interviews specifically, pair this with the speaking practice in our frontend interview preparation roadmap.

Frequently asked questions

Is it bad to use filler words at all?

No. Everyone uses some, and a few make speech sound natural. They become a problem when they are frequent enough that listeners notice them more than your point, or when one word repeats in nearly every sentence.

Why do I say "basically" so much?

Usually because it buys a moment to think, or because it has become a habit that signals "here comes the main point" — even when no summary follows. Try deleting it from a recorded answer and notice that the sentence means exactly the same.

How do I stop saying "matlab" when speaking English?

It usually appears when you are translating or restarting a sentence. Pause instead, then say the clearer version once. Practising the sentences you use most — your self-introduction, your project descriptions — in English until they come out automatically also helps a lot.

How long does it take to reduce filler words?

It varies from person to person, and there is no reliable number to promise. What helps most is frequency: a few minutes of recorded practice every day, with one filler targeted at a time, works better than an occasional long session.