{"id":188622,"date":"2025-01-14T08:52:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T14:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=188622"},"modified":"2026-09-06T19:42:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T00:42:37","slug":"stop-saying-um-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/social\/social-skills\/stop-saying-um-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Think about a time you&#8217;ve had to speak in front of others \u2014 maybe during a work presentation, a wedding toast, or even on a first date. Did you struggle with using too many filler words, such as &#8220;um&#8221; and &#8220;like,&#8221; talk too fast, or awkwardly ramble?<\/p>\n<p>Most of us try to fix these saboteurs of speech by giving ourselves mental mantras: &#8220;Slow down&#8221;; &#8220;Think about what you want to say.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But my guest would say that becoming a more engaging and effective speaker comes down to realizing that it&#8217;s a very physical act that requires getting out of your head and into your body.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Chad Hoeppner, a communication coach who has worked with everyone from presidential candidates to business executives, is the author of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3C1QpVA\"><em>Don&#8217;t Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life<\/em>.<\/a> Today on the show, Michael explains why you need to treat speaking as a sport and shares embodied drills and exercises \u2014 from playing with Legos to talking with a wine cork in your mouth to throwing a ball against a wall \u2014 that will fix common delivery problems, including eliminating ums, enhancing vocal variety, and managing your gestures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think about a time you&#8217;ve had to speak in front of others \u2014 maybe during a work presentation, a wedding toast, or even on a first date. Did you struggle with using too many filler words, such as &#8220;um&#8221; and &#8220;like,&#8221; talk too fast, or awkwardly ramble? Most of us try to fix these saboteurs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,42379,42293],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","category-social","category-social-skills"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking) | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/social\/social-skills\/stop-saying-um-podcast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking) | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Think about a time you&#8217;ve had to speak in front of others \u2014 maybe during a work presentation, a wedding toast, or even on a first date. Did you struggle with using too many filler words, such as &#8220;um&#8221; and &#8220;like,&#8221; talk too fast, or awkwardly ramble? Most of us try to fix these saboteurs [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/social\/social-skills\/stop-saying-um-podcast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-14T14:52:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T00:42:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1052.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-14T14:52:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T00:42:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":212,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/1052.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Podcast\",\"Social\",\"Social Skills\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking) | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/1052.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-14T14:52:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T00:42:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/1052.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/1052.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/social\\\/social-skills\\\/stop-saying-um-podcast\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #1,052: Stop Saying Um (And Fix the Other Vocal Tics That Are Sabotaging Your Speaking)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\",\"name\":\"Brett &amp; 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