The key to sounding credible when you present in English

There is one thing you can do in your presentations or any public speaking that you do, that makes you sound more confident and credible.

What is it?

It’s eliminating fillers.

What do I mean by that? Fillers include all of those extra sounds that we use to fill the silence - um, err… as well as words and phrases that don’t add any meaning to what you’re saying: so, you know what I mean, like, well, to be fair…

In our every day interactions, it’s normal to add these words into our speaking (and apparently we shouldn’t worry about them, because research has shown that it makes us appear approachable and human!) However, when it comes to speaking in front of an audience - in a meeting, on a podcast, on video - these words subtract from our message.

There has been quite a bit of research on this. For example, Mortar Research?carried out a study of 2000 people. The research participants listened to two speeches about Brexit: one speech had no fillers but was full of fake news and the other was factually accurate, but contained fillers.?

57%?of listeners thought the fake news speaker was well educated and was rated to have better people skills, more intelligence, and to be more attractive!. Only?36%?thought the same of the speaker who used the fillers.

Why do we use fillers?

We are afraid of silence. People worry that if they leave a silent space between their words, it will sound like they don’t know what they’re saying, when in fact the opposite is true. The other reason is that if you leave an empty silence while you are trying to find what you want to say, the person you are talking to will think that you have finished and they will “steal” your speaking time! By filling up the silence, you are communicating “hey I’m still speaking, it’s not your turn yet.”

When you’re speaking a foreign language, you do spend more time searching for the next word, it’s normal. However, if you listen to someone who searches for the word in silence, compared to someone who looks for a word at the same time as saying “er”, guess which person sounds more confident?

Silence bothers the speaker more than the listener.? Listen to any podcast and note that the speaker often leaves gaps in between words and phrases and it sounds perfectly fine. It would be weird if a podcast speaking kept saying "um" and "er".

What’s the filler I see most with my French clients speaking English?

It’s “er”. Somehow the way French-speakers pronounce their English makes it easy to add in “er” whenever they are thinking of the next word.?One of my clients, let's call him Philippe, has a very high-level job and speaks beautiful, eloquent English with a wide range of vocabulary. But....when he speaks, he says "er" in every single sentence! At least once, if not twice or three times. It's a shame, because in all other respects, his English is excellent.

Are you using “er” as a filler?

Well first of all, you might not notice. I know it’s horrible, but the best way to find out if you are is to record yourself talking. With my client Philippe, this was the first point we worked on. He had no idea he was using "er" so many times in his speaking, so bringing it his awareness to it was the first step. We did this by recording him so he could hear for himself. I also use a tool that counts how many fillers you use.

You can do this on your own by setting yourself a task to explain something in English that you don’t usually talk about - your breakfast habits, how to get to your office or Christmas customs in your country for example - and record yourself on your phone. What do you notice? When you are looking for the next word, what are you doing??

How to improve?

I’m sure you know the 4 stages of competence:

The first step is to move from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence. This means being aware of your filler words and sounds - which ones, how many and when.?

The second step is to slow down when you speak. Especially when you are in a stressful situation, you will have a tendency to speak too fast. If you slow down, you give yourself time to look for the words you need without breaking your rhythm.?

Next, if you are working by yourself, you need to have some kind of reminder, like a post-it that says “er” that you can put somewhere very visible. If you are working with friend or a language coach, they can make a sign every time you use your filler, or simply count how many they hear.?

Using automatic transcription software like otter.ai can highlight the extra words and sounds you’re making in your speech. With my powerful presentations students, I’ve started to work with a new software that counts fillers as well as word speed and inclusive language. It’s a great way to quantify your speech and measure your improvement.

Thirdly be patient. This kind of improvement doesn’t happen overnight. My client Philippe is still working on his fillers: he is definitely using "er" a lot less than when we started working together, but they are still there. It's a work in progress.

It will take time to get to unconscious competence, but you will get there. And Philippe is getting great feedback from his most recent presentations: with a little work, that could be you too.

I’m convinced that even if your English is not “perfect”, you can make great presentations.?

Remember, if you’d like to work on your public speaking, our 8-week course Powerful Presentations is starting in January. You can use your CPF to join - I’d love to see you there.?I also offer coaching and intra-entreprise workshops - make an appointment to discuss your needs.