A person doesn’t develop the annoying habit of going “um” overnight; it most likely evolves while they’re still under their parents’ roof.
This annoying habit is common, and I just can’t figure out how the men and women, who can’t speak for longer than 10 seconds without saying “um,” don’t realize how this sounds.
Many of these clowns have college degrees and professional positions. I hear them on talk shows and radio shows.
I hear them explaining things at press conferences on TV news shows. They may be political figures, doctors giving a press conference, police chiefs — anyone who gives a press conference.
There is NO excuse for injecting “um” after every other sentence! It’s a stupid and useless habit!
Stop it!
Here’s what gets me: Friends and family of these bozos don’t say anything about it. If they did, the “umming” would surely stop. A habit is easy to break when enough people point it out to you.
If you know someone who always goes “um,” next time they’re telling you a story or explaining something, go “BEEP BEEP!” every time they go “um.” See what happens.
Or, audio-record them, without their knowledge, then give them the tape.
But the biggest thing here is why do the parents of these people allow this stupid habit to develop in the first place?
An adult who always goes “um” did not suddenly develop this habit when they moved out of their parents’ house.
Who develops this kind of habit after age 18?
Maybe a few, but this stupid habit is present in almost every one of them before they leave their parents’ house. It’s the parents’ responsibility to teach intelligent sounding speech habits in their children.
Nobody becomes an “ummer” overnight. When parents first become aware of this stupid habit, that’s when they should correct it.
I’m not suggesting that a parent humiliate the child or denigrate their child.
But a simple correction will do, just like they’d correct foul language, thumb-sucking, nose-picking or chewing with the mouth open.
Simply make the correction. If this is done early on, the child will not grow up into one of these dang-annoying adults who can’t speak without saying “um” every 10, 20 or 30 seconds.