“Ah…uh … um … erm …” Tired of filler sounds? Try this!

Tired of filler sounds and words like: "like", "you know", "I mean", "okay", "so", "actually", "basically", and "right?" Try this technique and get rid of them within a week!

Select a (preferably) incoherent or weird response and use it as a ‘subtle’ reminder each time yourself or someone else engages in the unwanted behaviour. Examples include nose scrunching or other facial tics, yapping, flamenco dancing or any strange and irrelevant behaviour you can think of.

Beep!

One of my academic colleagues developed a cursing habit during his 18-month military service. I helped him get out of it by ... honking.

I ‘Beeped’ every time he used an abusive word. The heavier the swearing, the more ‘e’s I used: ‘Beeeep!’ At first, he was annoyed; then, he found it funny. After a short period, every time he uttered an insulting word he would smirk and honk on his own, interrupting his sentence in the middle.

The same technique worked very well in the case of young Emma, who started using filler words, you know, like the ones young people develop these days and use as ‘verbal crutches.’ To help her improve the way she communicates and presents herself, I beeped each time she used fillers such as ‘like’ and ‘you know.’?

The only problem was that, to get back at me, Emma started beeping each time I pronounced an English word in my heavy Greek accent ...

No honking at Greek accents after 8 pm!

Kids enjoy playing and using the drills above, against each other. I suggest you try it too. It works!?

Excerpt from "Prince to Frog ... and vice versa.: Applied psychological techniques to change yourself - or others."