Steve Adubato’s Lessons in Leadership: Cut the Qualifiers and Fillers

Strategic leaders and communicators are intentional with their words. Fillers, such as “um,” “ah,” and “you know,” and other sounds that are not actually words weaken a leader’s message. Qualifiers, such as “like,” “kind of,” “maybe,” and “sort of,” communicate a lack of confidence and clarity.

Fillers and qualifiers are not intentional words. Rather, they are used subconsciously as a stalling technique while thinking about what you want to say. Strategic communication is about pausing, thinking, and then saying exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Consider the following tips and tools to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the use of qualifiers and fillers in your communication:

–Slow down and breathe. When our nerves and anxiety kick in before a presentation or important meeting, it causes an adrenaline rush which increases our heart rate, breathing and ultimately the rate of our speech. If you feel this happening, take a slow, deep breath before even saying a word. Then, take a beat and consciously think to yourself, “slow down.” Once you are grounded, and only then, start speaking. If you feel your cadence speeding up within your remarks, take a deep breath, ground yourself again, and then pick it back up where you left off. 

–Replace qualifiers (like, you know) with silence. Yes, silence truly is golden. Many leaders underestimate the value of silence as a powerful communication technique. This involves strategic and intentional pausing when communicating. Pausing allows you to think about what you want to say before you say it, so the words you choose are actual words. These breaks in your communication also encourage your audience to lean in and listen more intently, waiting to hear what you are going to say next.

–Anchor your message. To do this, you first need to make sure you identify your message. How often have you been in a meeting or watched a presentation and you have no idea what the person is trying to share? They start with one point, then quickly move to another, and you still aren’t sure of the main message. Great leaders and communicators never begin a conversation or presentation without anchoring their message and then supporting that message with the words they intend to use.

–Be concise. When it comes to communication, less usually is more. Whether it is nerves or a belief that we have so much information to share, we often use way too many words, numbers, or statistics in our communication. While intentional and strategic anecdotes and examples can help paint a clearer picture of what you are trying to say, when you go on too long, with too many details, you will lose your audience. Practice being concise, clear, and to the point every time you communicate. This applies not only when presenting, but also in your day-to-day interactions with others.

–Land the plane. Imagine you are on an airplane, getting ready to land. However, the pilot keeps circling the airport for what feels like an eternity. In communication, the same thing is true when you are ending a presentation. We sometimes find ourselves circling and are not sure exactly what we want to say to conclude our remarks. When this happens, we lose our audience or worse, they walk away confused and unimpressed. Great presentations have a short, concise, and very specific call to action and end with expressions such as, “if we don’t do this…” or “so my point is” or “the next step is…” Know what your landing will look like before you even start your presentation.