Non-corporate mind-control

[kangeiko]

I've just completed an intensive course in assertive presentations at Greenpeace. It was disconcerting to discovered that my default utterance - accounting for perhaps 30% of everything I say during a difficult presentation - is 'um'.

It was also disconcerting to discover that this course may have managed to cure me of using it in just two short days. Seriously. Day one, am: a million 'um's. Day two, pm: not a single 'um'. I have the video evidence to prove it.

The loud buzzer they used any time anyone um-ed and er-ed (and the points they deducted from the person's team) may have had something to do with this. Now attach that to some jump leads, and I may divest myself of 'basically', 'actually', and 'as you can see'.

Comments

[hadeschild.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's fascinating! And fantastic! I would love to have that kind of conditioning. I say 'like' like a valley girl.

[kangeiko]

My main filler is 'um', but I also use 'basically' and 'actually'. also, the thing that pisses me off most of all when other people do it - and i do it occasionally myself - is when they use 'literally' as a filler. "and she was so mad her head exploded, literally." "and i was, um, ah, er, literally purple with rage." etc.