Filler words are the most common delivery problem in interviews and one of the most fixable, provided you measure them before you try to stop them. Most people have no idea how often they say um, uh, like, you know or so, and the attempt to stop by willpower alone usually produces a worse problem: a frozen, hesitant delivery full of awkward silences. This page gives a way to count your fillers from a transcript, an explanation of why they happen, the pause technique that replaces them without making you sound robotic, and a two-week routine that most people finish with their count cut by more than half. It makes no clinical claims; this is about habit, not speech pathology, and if filler words are part of a condition that affects your speech, a speech-language professional is the right person to talk to.
Count first
Record yourself answering five interview questions, or take the transcript of a practice session, and count every filler: um, uh, like (when not meaning similar to), you know, so (at the start of a sentence), right, basically, actually, kind of, sort of, I mean. Divide by minutes spoken to get a rate. Most people are surprised by the number and more surprised by which word it is; the um people usually know, the like and so people rarely do. Write the rate down, because the whole routine below is about moving it, and a number you can see falls faster than a habit you can only feel. The transcript-review routine in how to review your own interview includes this count as one of its standing items.
Why filler happens
- Holding the floor: a filler says I am not finished, do not interrupt. In interviews nobody is going to interrupt, so the signal is unnecessary.
- Searching for the next word: the mouth moves faster than the plan. Structure fixes this; a known next point means no search.
- Discomfort with silence: a half-second pause feels like an eternity from the inside and like thoughtfulness from the outside.
- Softening: like, kind of and sort of hedge a claim you are not sure of. Say the claim or do not.
- Transition habit: so and basically at the start of every answer are a warm-up noise. Start with the first real word.
- Nerves and speed: fillers rise with pace. Slowing down by ten percent removes a third of them for most people.
- Second language: fillers often come from the first language and sound more jarring in the second; the drill in practising English interview answers out loud targets this directly.
The pause technique
- Replace, do not remove. Every filler becomes a silent pause of the same length. The pause is what thoughtful speakers do; the filler is the same pause with a noise in it.
- Close your mouth at the end of each sentence. A closed mouth cannot say um, and the half-second it takes to open it is the pause.
- Breathe where the filler was. Most fillers sit where a breath belongs.
- Plan the first word of each answer before you open your mouth, so there is no warm-up so.
- Use structure as the next-word supply: headline, context, action, result means you always know what comes next.
- Slow down ten percent. Count it with a metronome app in practice if you have to.
- When you catch a filler mid-answer, do nothing. Do not apologise, restart or flinch; just pause at the next sentence end.
- Record and count again. The rate, not the feeling, tells you whether it worked.
A two-week routine
| Days | Drill | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Record five answers; count and list your top three fillers | Baseline rate per minute |
| 3–5 | Five answers a day with the closed-mouth pause; one-sentence answers first, then full ones | Rate on day 5 |
| 6–7 | Read a paragraph aloud with a deliberate pause at every full stop; then five answers | Longest pause you were comfortable with |
| 8–10 | Five answers at ten percent slower, planning the first word of each | Rate on day 10 |
| 11–12 | A full mock interview; count the transcript | Rate in a real-length session |
| 13–14 | Five hard questions you have not prepared, with the pause technique only | Rate under pressure |
Most people halve their rate by day ten and keep most of the gain if they do one counted session a week afterwards. The goal is not zero, which sounds unnatural; it is a rate low enough that the listener stops noticing, which for most voices is around two or three per minute. Avoid the trap described in how to not sound rehearsed in an interview: a delivery scrubbed of every filler and every pause sounds read, and the pause technique keeps it human. The companion problem, answers that run long, is addressed in how to keep interview answers under 90 seconds, and the two drills reinforce each other.
Where CoPilot Interview fits
CoPilot Interview is an AI interview assistant whose free AI mock interview produces exactly the material this routine needs: questions read aloud, your spoken answers scored out of ten, and a transcript in which fillers are countable with a search, so the baseline and every measurement afterwards take a minute each. The free plan gives 15 minutes a day of live help in sessions of up to 15 minutes, with AI mock interviews included. Filler words are a practice problem and no live tool fixes them in the room; if you ever use live help in an interview for other reasons, follow your employer's rules and the instructions in the invitation.
Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop saying um in interviews?
Count your fillers from a recording first, then replace each with a silent pause: close your mouth at sentence ends, breathe where the filler was, plan the first word, slow down ten percent and recount after a week.
How many filler words per minute is acceptable?
Around two or three per minute goes unnoticed by most listeners. Zero sounds unnatural; the goal is a rate the interviewer stops hearing.
Why do I say um more in interviews?
Nerves raise your pace, the search for the next word gets harder under pressure, and silence feels longer from the inside. Structure and a deliberate pause address all three.
Can an AI interview assistant help with filler words?
In practice, yes: a mock interview gives you a transcript to count from and a baseline to beat. No live tool removes fillers in the room.
Is this speech therapy?
No. It is a habit routine. If filler words are part of a condition affecting your speech, a speech-language professional is the right person to see.
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