How to get rid of parasitic words in speech: 10 effective tips

Article:

Beautiful speech free from parasitic words is easy and pleasant to listen to.
Unfortunately, many people, both speakers and ordinary interlocutors, suffer from this speech “disease”. In this article we will tell you what you can do to make your speech clearer. Examples of filler words are known to everyone one way or another. Here is a list of the most popular words:

Briefly speaking,
Well,
exactly this,
All in all,
so to speak,
as if,
In fact,
Just,
like,
Means,
actually,
Here,
that is,
fashionable vocabulary: damn, kapets, wow, etc.

The so-called parasitic sounds (vocalized pauses) are also very common: “uh”, “mmm”, “aaa”, etc.

Arguments AGAINST parasitic words:

• Looks insecure and careless. Parasitic words prevent you from speaking clearly and meaningfully; they are clear signs of insecurity and turn speech into a stream of water. • Speech with filler words becomes uninteresting, and sometimes simply has a negative impact (for example, on business partners or on members of the opposite sex). During close communication, parasitic words begin to irritate very quickly, and this irritation is transferred to the one who sprinkles them. • Doesn't make the right impression. The more important the conversation, the greater the amount of garbage in the speech. A good career, an impressive public speech, the right contacts... or filler words? • The speaker confuses himself. Speech and thinking are connected. The more parasitic words there are in the language, the more there are in the head. When speech is cleared, thoughts become clear. • Doesn't make sense. Superfluous, unnecessary. Brevity is the sister of talent, and parasitic words are the companions of ignorant people. How much time do you spend every day saying parasite words? What if we used it more wisely? • Make it difficult to communicate and understand the meaning of your words. Why create obstacles for yourself? • They distort speech and simplify it. • They give away your secrets. There is a theory that a parasitic word living in a person’s vocabulary can tell about his nature, the essence of thinking and seeing the world. Why blurt out more about yourself than you want to make public? The theory is interesting, and as an example below you can read the note “Parasite words give away our secrets” (The note was replicated so many times on the Internet without indicating the source that we were unable to establish the true authorship. Therefore, we apologize to the real authors and we will be ready post the link as soon as they announce themselves).

PARASITE WORDS GIVE OUT OUR SECRETS!

Many of us sin with parasitic words, which, as it turns out, also have their own meaning. They not only pollute our speech, but also reveal what is often kept silent.

What is hidden behind the harmless parasites?

“This is the very thing” - this phrase is often repeated by lazy people who, at the first opportunity, will dump their responsibilities on someone else. In difficult situations, such people often avoid punishment by shifting responsibility to someone else.

“By the way” is a favorite parasite of people who feel awkward in company and who are trying to draw attention to themselves and their speech.

“Actually” is a word, again, of the unsure. The peculiarity of these people is the ability to throw a scandal for any reason.

“In short” is the lot of nervous people who are always in a hurry. Most often, “in short” is found in the speech of hot-tempered choleric people.

“In fact,” say the interlocutors who put their opinion first, self-confident, boring. They are ready to prove that they are right until they foam at the mouth. They love to read notations and consider their inner world to be bright and unique.

“So”, “like” are used by people prone to aggression, as well as conservatives.

“Simple” is often found in the conversation of a person dependent on the opinions of others. Such people like to look for problems out of nowhere, are afraid of responsibility, and often make excuses.

“As if” is a word used by teenagers and overly “creative individuals” who unconsciously emphasize the uncertainty of life.

Arguments IN DEFENSE of parasitic words:

Here we are talking mainly about the multifunctionality of parasitic words (they do not always indicate “lack of culture”). • Accelerate enumeration Parasitic words help to express in two or three words what can be listed for a long time and tediously, for example: “Let's go to the city: we'll take a walk in the center, we'll go shopping, we'll go to the cinema...” and then list the little things that you can have time to do while in the city. Or you can: “Let’s go to the city, go to the cinema, go to the shops, tyry-pyry/this-that.” After all, it’s convenient and fast, you don’t have to frantically list everything you want to say, you can just replace it with the words “hoba-hoba” ( there is such a thing!), “trawl-vali”, “tyry-pyry”, “this and that”. • To stall for time Some people deliberately use parasites in their speech. The role of parasitic words in this case is tactical. If a person does not want to answer an “inconvenient” question, but still needs to answer, he tries to stall for time. While a person chants his “you see”, “you understand what’s the matter”, “how can I tell you”, etc., he is feverishly thinking about what and how to answer. • Acting (depicting ignorant people with low culture). • Filler words allow you to artistically (and not so artistically) express the emotions that you experience at the moment of dialogue. For example, a meaningfully pronounced “gesture” will convey your incredible impression, and an approving word “topic” will tell your interlocutor that you are interested in something. • A reason to joke and laugh Taken from the memories of the discussion participants https://www.lovehate.ru/opinions/8755: “Just think how boring life would be without them! Every time I hear something new, I slowly get excited. One comrade got carried away by the word “type”. Smart comrades immediately began to call him: “like Gen.” And one day I was asked to bring “this very thing.” I brought a piece of paper on which I wrote: “this is the same.” Everyone laughed." • Nothing appears in a language in vain, and “filler words” have their own useful function. Without them, conversational communication is simply impossible, and speech will be dried out and lifeless, like a mummy. And even in the English language exam at the university, one of the requirements for speaking was the presence of so-called discourse markers, i.e. parasites and interjections that make speech natural. • Speech completely without filler words, if there are no markers that a person is thinking, that he is generating a thought, if he speaks like a machine, is sometimes difficult to perceive and seems artificial and insincere. Counterarguments: liveliness, emotionality, and naturalness of speech can be ensured by other means, without resorting to filler words at all. There are intonations, there are discursive words (for example: after all, well), there are techniques for dialogizing speech.

Problem from psychology

Parasitic words entail a number of negative consequences:

hinder personal development;
are the cause of complexes and low self-esteem;
contribute to the emergence of prejudices on the part of interlocutors;
interfere with the correct construction of speech;
create fear and panic during public speaking.

There are many reasons for the appearance of filler words. The most common ones are:

A small vocabulary. Its insufficiency is compensated by the use of filler words to link words when expressing your thoughts.
Low speed of transformation of thoughts into words. In this case, pauses in statements are filled with trashy words and sounds, such as “well...”, “mmm...”, “uh...”, “however...”.
Banal laziness and illiteracy.
Excessive emotionality.
Conscious use of filler words.

The ability to speak correctly is the result of hard work. Communication skills open up many perspectives in a person’s life: it helps to realize one’s self, increases confidence, and expands the circle of acquaintances and friends.

Self-confidence plays an important role. It helps get rid of fears and worries, anxiety and indecision. People who master the culture of speech and avoid using parasitic words achieve great results in business, achieve their goals, and gain the trust of others.

CONCLUSIONS:

Indeed, colloquial speech, completely devoid of parasitic words, seems artificial, “sterile-clean.” However, it is difficult to recognize this as a disadvantage. And when there are too many filler words, they make it difficult to understand and spoil the overall impression of a person’s speech. Everything is good in moderation. There are literary characters whose speech consists entirely of filler words. Remember Anfisa Tikhonovna, the character of A.N. Ostrovsky in “Wolves and Sheep” and her lines? Alas, such characters are found not only in works of fiction. In addition, it is important that the speaker's entire speech makes sense. And you even need to know how to use parasites. We do not divide words into good and bad. The word itself is not a parasite, but from excessive and inappropriate use it can turn into a parasite (more on this later).

You won’t believe it, but some OK participants turned out to be supporters of the position “My parasitic words are part of me. And I won't give them to anyone. I’m already a confident person and I don’t need to bother getting rid of parasitic words.” If you suddenly recognize yourself, I suggest you think about the following: • When you speak in public (and always), it doesn’t occur to you not to brush your teeth or wash your clothes, because you are a person. Why should speech be unkempt and littered? Every word is a parasite - a coffee stain on the white shirt of your narrative. • For everyone for whom individualism, personal style, personal brand matters: Clear speech in our time, unfortunately, is a rare phenomenon - your interlocutors will definitely distinguish you from many others, and if you are different, they will remember you.

Are there any positive aspects?

It is impossible to speak about the words parasites only in a negative way. They allow you to speed up the presentation and give it an emotional coloring. This is especially true for the acting profession, when you need to characterize the type and appearance of your hero through dialogue or monologue. This may be of benefit to them.

An example in some cases are professional speakers. They may also use speech "garbage". Using such techniques allows you to defuse an overly tense atmosphere or add a touch of humor to a serious, boring report. But this is done skillfully and to a specific place. And there is no question what language they communicate in.

Find filler words in my speech

To neutralize it, you must first find it. How to find? — Turn on the recorder or camera and retell the content of your favorite movie or book, and then listen to the recording. — Ask your loved ones or friends to listen to you and report the results — You can come to our Oratory Club and ask for feedback.

If you recognize parasitic words as your zone of development and really consider it important to eliminate them, then this already indicates that you are a competent person who is not indifferent to your speech. Anyone who does not know how and does not want to speak correctly usually does not care what impression he makes in the process of speaking. Parasitic words are a common occurrence among narrow-minded people who have nothing special to communicate to others and engage in empty, meaningless conversations.

What to look for? What are filler words?

a) Words and groups of words that can be safely deleted from speech without loss of meaning a.1) Primitive words. Examples of these words are illustrated by a cheerful poem by E. Moshkovskaya: Once upon a time there lived this one, what’s his name, Well, that means that one too, This same one lived With his mother. There was another eccentric - This, in general, means so, And his beloved son-in-law. My son-in-law's name was so to speak. And the wife’s name was well... And the neighbor’s name was this... And his parents - You see And you see... And also some uh Lived on the top floor... And they were all friends... Well, that means, in general.

Another example: A high-quality note about the “hot ten” parasitic words was published here - https://mozg.by/content/ostorozhno-parazity-chast-pervaya.

_______________________________________________________________________ Here is the text of this note:

https://mozg.by/content/ostorozhno-parazity-chast-pervaya The book “War and Peace”, after removing from it all the hard signs at the end of the words, “lost weight” by more than 50 pages. I wonder how much faster and more clearly we would speak if we removed the so-called “substitute words” or “extra words” from our speech? Yes, yes, we are talking about filler words: they do not carry any information or additional emotional connotation, but, nevertheless, they are used by everyone, even prominent public figures. So, first, record any of your dialogue or monologue on a voice recorder. Ten to fifteen minutes will be enough. Then listen - do all your words convey information or at least emotion? Is it interesting to listen to you? Surely, you will definitely notice something from the “hot ten” parasitic words.

1. EEE... MMM... This is not even a word, but a parasitic sound, a kind of mooing, familiar to absolutely everyone: “The Council decided uh... to adopt mmm... an amendment to the law”, “We are starting ahh... our conference”, “Can we uh -uh, should I change anything?” It is clear that such sounds appear in our speech at the moment of thinking about a phrase; as they say, the brain cannot keep up with the language. Frequent use of such sounds as pauses to think about further words makes your entire speech less confident and convincing. With each mmm... or ahh... the audience's interest decreases, and the feeling of your unpreparedness increases. Try not to utter any words or sounds at all while thinking about the next phrase. At first, of course, it will be difficult, but when you get used to it, you will spend much less time on such silence for the sake of thinking than on an extended uh, and your interlocutors will perceive a pause in the middle of a sentence not as an inevitable evil, but as a necessary stop before important information . 2. AS WOULD. The use of this filler word is a direct signal that the speaker is not entirely sure of the correctness of his words. Be sure - consciously or not, but your interlocutors will definitely notice this. Do you need this? “It’s like I did my homework,” “It’s like the Earth revolves around the Sun,” “We’re all kind of responsible for our actions.” Agree, these phrases look extremely ridiculous. If you want your interlocutor to doubt that you are right, here is the simplest and most banal way to achieve this - you just need to pronounce this particle in every phrase and the effect will not take long to appear.

3. PRACTICALLY, ACTUALLY. These words are a kind of alternative to “mooing to think about it.” There is no need to fill the spaces between phrases and sentences with any words or sounds. It is much better to remain silent and think about the next phrase. Remember that the basis of the fight against parasitic words is increased attentiveness. Always listen to your speech, make every effort to get rid of unnecessary and unnecessary words.

4. HERE. This word is a real secret spy. It has become so firmly entrenched in our vocabulary, crept into our brain activity, that its use is gradually beginning to be perceived as the norm. Is this justified? “We’ll go visit tomorrow,” “I really liked this book,” “Our group will follow this path.” What information does the particle “here” carry? What does it bring to the message? Is it really possible to emphasize a thought or establish a trusting relationship with the audience with the help of this particle? In general, the advice is to fight, cross out. After all, every word that does not carry a semantic load reduces the impression of speech and its perception as a whole.

5. WELL. Oh, how annoying it is, especially if you start listening! Friends, colleagues, bosses, teachers... For what? For what purpose? The Internet offers one interesting option to get rid of unnecessary words in speech. Try to imagine the spoken words written on paper. And it’s better not written, but printed. Imagine: a noble thick tome, embossed letters on the cover, you reverently open the book, and then: “Well, colleagues, let's start our meeting! Well, Ivan Ivanovich, I appoint you honorary secretary. I ask you to announce, well, the main issues of the meeting.” Funny? The author of the book does not speak Russian? Do you own it?

6. IN SHORT. The real word is a paradox: the more often you use “shorter,” the longer the speech as a whole becomes. And it’s already difficult to stop, the habit of using parasitic words is as harmful as cigarettes or booze. By inhaling the “health stick”, we harm our physical condition, by uttering “extra words”, we harm the brain: both our own and those around us. And the term immediately suggests itself: “passive unnecessary words.” It is interesting that this parasitic word, along with “well,” is used by almost everyone, both in colloquial speech and at official events.

7. THAT IS. Probably the most dangerous parasitic word. It disguises itself as a typical linking word, but as soon as you succumb a little to its influence, it begins to clutter up your speech and interfere with the holistic perception and understanding of the phrase: “Our museum is switching to self-financing, that is, we will no longer need material support from the state. That is, we will make a profit by selling more tickets. “We will make tickets of better quality, that is, in full compliance with all the rules for attracting customers.” If in the first case the use of “that is” as a connective is justified, then the further, the more loaded our speech sounds and the more difficult it is to understand.

8. IN GENERAL, IN GENERAL The excessive use of these words is a serious indicator of the speaker’s insecurity. There is a desire to leave a loophole, a secret escape route: “Yes, the company suffered huge losses, but I said that increasing the production of dumplings would be beneficial in general, I did not mean our city specifically.” Try to speak in sentences that do not allow double interpretation, do not try to relieve yourself of responsibility with the help of these parasitic words - and you will be known as a very rational and wise person.

9. NEW FRANCHED WORDS. A very broad category of words; their sudden appearances are akin to a guerrilla attack. Once upon a time, no one knew who “tryndets” was, the question “why is it mine?” they didn’t ask, “pancake” was used only in the sense of “a product made of flour,” and when exclaiming “opera theater,” the thought cautiously crept in: “what does this have to do with the Opera and Ballet Theater, strictly speaking?” Sometimes I hear complaints from completely grown-up and independent people: they say, no one listens to my ideas, they don’t understand me, my thoughts are ignored. After just a couple of minutes of communicating with such “complainers,” everything becomes clear: the reason is that the speech is filled with these newfangled words, which is perceived as a sign of the immature mind of a teenager, a dependent person. I can agree: their appearance is due to the desire to emphasize a completely relaxed style of communication, the emotional significance of this or that fact, but their unlimited use leads, first of all, to a decrease in your social status...

10. ENGLISH TERMS This is the real problem of modern society. For some reason, Slavic peoples are much more active in accepting foreign words into their vocabulary. What is more familiar to the ear of a Russian-speaking person? Content or content, public relations or public relations, deterministic or determinate? Why are the Slavs so confident that other people's words and terms are better than their own? Of course, there are cases when a word from another language most accurately and aptly illustrates a phenomenon, but there are no analogues in Russian for this word - then borrowing is justified, but, as a rule, English-language terms are used for two reasons: Firstly, there is a lack of vocabulary. Many people simply have no idea what Russian equivalents can be used to replace English terms. Secondly, this is an attempt to create an impression of oneself as an intelligent and erudite person. It may be possible to create such an illusion, but certainly no one will understand you, and then all communication may stop altogether.

Time is one of the most valuable currencies in the world. So don’t let parasitic words steal it from you and those around you, make your speech easier, demonstrate a rich vocabulary - and you can turn any person into your ally. _____________________________________

a.2) Pseudo-smart words. (respectively, in fact, by the way) b) Frequently repeated words that can be replaced with synonyms - individual (mb obsessive, and mb a unique stylistic feature of a person) Try to analyze your most frequently used words. Do you need all of them?

- the same word for all occasions + fashionable words, slang During the OK meeting, we played a team game: who could come up with more synonyms for the word “cool”. Try it too, you won’t regret it!

We suggest replacing one of the most common phrases: “Wow!”, “I’m shocked”, depending on the situation, with “How great (wonderful, magical...)!” "That's so beautiful!" "Impressive!"

c) Undesirable words from the point of view of psycholinguistics Some principles of psycholinguistics: • Any great thing is made up of little things, at first glance imperceptible and unimportant. This “little thing” is attention to the words that we pronounce and which carry energy. • Every event is neutral, and we make it either bad or good by our choices. Roughly speaking, whatever words we use to describe the event, this is how it will be for our listeners. • "Never say never". Paratroopers do not use the word "last". • One of the biggest obstacles on the way from words to action is the parasitic words “I can’t”, “I don’t know where to start”, “I’ll do it later”. They don’t carry any meaning other than the fact that you don’t really want to change anything. • From the memories of one young lady: “I found a replacement for the word “damn.” Zelanda has read a lot about how to react to troubles, and now every time something annoying happens, instead of “damn,” I say “great!” Recently I broke a glass, I wanted to be upset, but I exclaimed “great” and immediately remembered that the dishes break fortunately!

Replacing words

When it is difficult to eradicate “garbage” from your speech, you can try to replace it with an appropriate, but literary analogue. You need to write down all the “unnecessary” words on paper and opposite each one indicate what it can mean, but in a more beautiful language.

New analogues used instead of familiar speech patterns will need to be learned. And then, every time you want to insert verbal “garbage” into the middle of a conversation, you will have to remember its replacement synonym. This technique really works. But what the subsequent result will be depends on your patience and desire.

Understand why filler words appeared in my speech and why I use them

There are many reasons for the appearance: - poor vocabulary, low culture, including speech, - a situation when a person does not want to speak (does not want to answer an uncomfortable question, needs to stall for time) - when a person is worried or in a hurry - the language runs ahead of thoughts (They say and people think at different speeds. Those whose process of preparing thoughts for presentation goes faster than the speech apparatus works, those often develop the so-called “machine gun speech” - when a person speaks too quickly, swallowing endings and often omitting half the words from the phrase that would not be disturbed. Words usually appear as parasites in those who, on the contrary, prepare a thought for pronunciation more slowly than they can express it. These are peculiar stops, islands of respite with which we can occupy the tongue and lips while we figure out how to finish this phrase .) Moreover, this does not depend on intelligence or education: there are a lot of professors who in public speeches use parasites no less than a Gopnik in the alley.

Everyone knows it would be better to do without unnecessary words. But why is it difficult to find a person who does not at least occasionally use filler words? Here is how the writer Peter Weil answers this question: “Because it is difficult to speak clearly. Organizing your speech is just as difficult as writing talentedly. I know many wonderful people, including, for example, my late friend, the outstanding writer-stylist Sergei Dovlatov, who generally defined people by the way they express words. For him, even some scoundrel had a positive meaning if he expressed himself elegantly and exquisitely, and on the contrary, he did not consider him a decent person if he spoke sloppily.” It is difficult to speak purely, but there is nothing impossible about it.

3. Simple steps. Ways to get rid of parasitic words: • Recognize the absurdity Ideally, every word carries meaning. How to prove to yourself the absurdity of parasitic words? (even “in fact” and “accordingly”). Take a passage, maybe a verse, and compare the impression of pronouncing it in its normal form and with extra words. The Neva flows into the Gulf of Finland. The earth revolves around the sun. I love you. Bible, creation of the world: in the beginning was the word. And this was clearly a word with meaning, and not “like”, “as if” or “accordingly”).

• Eliminate the causes of their occurrence - unnecessary words will also go away. The presence of parasitic words is a signal of problems of various kinds. The universal solution is to eliminate the problems - and unnecessary words will go away. For example: - Insufficient vocabulary, speed of converting thoughts into words, speed of reaction. All this can be developed. - Excitement, haste, desire to fill the speech with at least something continuously, fear of pauses. Practice pauses. + identify and eliminate the causes of anxiety. Especially often, a person who has parasites in his active vocabulary begins to use them when he is worried or in a hurry to deliver his speech. In this case, the parasites talk about the psychological characteristics of a person - that he is nervous, restless, hasty.

• Prevention! Parasitic words can be likened to a disease that is transmitted by airborne droplets, since patients catch their disease, mainly after being in the circle of carriers of parasites. Therefore, if you have to spend an evening or a working day in a company where they use parasitic words, then prevention is necessary - the attitude not to adopt other people’s bad habits and subsequent control of your speech.

• Find a replacement (at least a temporary replacement until complete elimination) For primitive and boring parasitic words: How is a professor different from a gopnik and why does his speech seem “cultured”, and “Hey, you hear me, that means you’re the type, come here” "almost always indicates some lack of rhetorical education? The fact that professorial parasites, firstly, are purebred; secondly, varied and well disguised. Linguist Olga Severskaya in her book “Speaking Russian” recommends replacing your short, simple parasites with expanded introductory words. Instead of “well”, “here”, “like”, “uh”, “hear”, “so”, she recommends equipping your speech with phrases like “as expected”, “after which”, “therefore”, “further” , “you see”, “I believe”, “in my opinion”, “I think we can say with some confidence”, “meanwhile”. The phrase “Well, that means I come, damn it, and that’s what she tells me” in the new arrangement will sound like this: “Therefore, I come to her, and then she tells me.” There are cases when, over many years, some public people, including famous politicians, had parasitic words so ingrained in their speech (and these words were obscene) that it was almost impossible to remove them from everyday life. Therefore, in this case, the best option is to replace one word with another, more correct one. For example, the word “p...dets” is replaced by the word “scribe” or “end,” and the obscene and short “b...ya” is replaced by “yes.” The lesser of two evils... + Rules of euphemisms.

• If you have nothing to say, keep quiet. Parasitic words often appear when a person has nothing to say to his interlocutor. If this topic is not interesting to you or you are not knowledgeable enough about it, it is better not to take part in the discussion: filler words involuntarily appear when the speaker is careless and not focused on the subject of conversation.

• External control Find someone who will control you. He should try to “catch” you every time using another parasitic word.

• System of fines, help from the team. At one of the radio stations, the presenter had the parasitic word “so” - there was no way he could do without “so”. That's not so bad! The worst thing is that he infected all his colleagues with his “so” attitude. Soon a poster appeared at the radio station with the inscription: “Comrade, know: the enemy does not sleep; Don’t say “so” in vain!” In addition to this reminder, a system of fines was also introduced: everyone who forgot and blurted out “so” had to put a ten in the piggy bank. After three weeks, this word was uttered much less often and not in vain. It helped them, and it will help you!

• Conclude an agreement on purity of speech (collectively or with oneself) Read a detailed story about personal experience here - https://basov.ligasporta.ru/content/offtopik-dogovor-o-chistote-rechi-kak-izbavitsya-ot-slov -parazitov-i-nauchitsya-myslit

• The “Crow” method In Russia there is a legend about one teacher with his special technique. When his students said filler words, he made them crow or meow. At first, everyone was bewildered by this, but then they got involved in the game and enjoyed using the method in communication outside the university. What is the point of this method? It increases the cost of error. Now it seems that one extra “well” or “uh” is worth nothing. This is wrong! They can cost you your career, friends, love... If you catch yourself using a filler word, add something ridiculous, for example, “meow”, “woof” or swearing. The method definitely increases the cost of a mistake, because no one wants to look stupid.

• “Knock on Keys” method Some people help to protect themselves from using parasitic words by imagining that they are currently knocking on the computer keys or gently pressing the phone keys while typing an SMS. It would be strange, when typing an SMS, to endlessly add empty words “here” or “this is the same.”

• Reading Read more from recognized masters of words. Reading develops speech very well, because it not only replenishes our vocabulary, but also deposits in our minds the structure of statements, which we, without noticing it, then use in our speech.

• Expressive reading aloud With its help you can expand your vocabulary, hone your diction and intonation, and improve your speech style. Just don't scare your neighbors by passionately reading the ingredients of an air freshener. Turn to fiction containing elegant phrases and sophisticated vocabulary. Read several books, choose your favorite and study only with that one. With regular reading aloud, angular speech, tongue-tiedness and clumsy expressions will disappear, speech style will improve and the speech itself will become more beautiful.

• Retelling Retell the text in detail. When doing this, use the words used in the original text. This way you activate your passive vocabulary. Many words and expressions are known to us, but are not used in speech. And since the passive vocabulary exceeds the active one, by regularly accessing it, we enrich our speech with new words. You can also retell films, jokes, stories, and make congratulatory speeches. You can do it on a recorder, or you can do it for a live audience.

• Personal dictionary of interesting words Periodically re-read the “dictionary” you have compiled of interesting phrases, witty expressions, non-standard combinations and individual words that you have encountered. Remember these words and use them more often when communicating with people.

• Selection of synonyms Select synonyms for words when reading the text. At the same time, try not to damage the meaning of the text.

• Repeat (method by contradiction) At home, in a calm environment, when no one disturbs or distracts, you need to repeat the parasitic word 200 times. The number of repetitions can be increased. The main task is to make the word so boring that the desire to use it disappears forever. (advice from a Ukrainian public speaking coach)

• Pauses Many people use interjections and filler words because they are afraid to remain silent. Feel free to pause - this adds weight to your speech. + Try to take a deep breath. As soon as you feel like you want to say something like “as if” or “in short,” take a deep breath. Yes, this will be a pause in the speech, but such a pause is better than “as if” and “in short.”

• Highlighting key points A very effective way to get rid of filler words is to highlight key points. When preparing your speech, be sure to highlight its key points - this will allow you to place the right emphasis in your speech.

• Brevity is the soul of wit. Less quantity, more quality. Most often, such words are used in large and voluminous speeches. Try not to pour water. The shorter your speech, the more informative and interesting it will be for your listeners.

• Posters Suitable for newfangled slang words Try pasting paper sheets around the room with “extra words” written large on them. After a few days of actively looking at them, you will quickly lose the desire not only to say this word, but even to think about it!

• A clean head - a clean language Parasitic words arise after the parasites of consciousness. If you free your head from viruses, then your language will become clean, beautiful and extremely accurate.