SpeakHQ Blog

Why you say "ummmm" when you speak and how to fix it

By Berkun | May 19, 2009

One of the most annoying bad habits some people have when they give a presentation is the use of “ummmm” to fill the space between words. Why do people do this? There are four reasons: It’s a habit in normal speech.  People don’t just do it on stage, they do it in real conversations all…

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The paradoxes of lectures

By Berkun | May 13, 2009

One of the themes I explored in Confessions of A Public Speaker are paradoxes around lectures. Here’s my list of strange observations: Many people hate lectures but attend anyway.  The word ‘lecture’ is often used as a criticism, as in ‘don’t lecture me’.  Communication that only flows in one direction has never been much fun (and…

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