How Do You Stop Saying “Um” in a Media Interview? Tips from PR Experts

Does practice make perfect? Does effective media training help spokespeople to ditch such distracting fillers? How can you tell if you are unconsciously using them? How many “ums” is too many?

Talking to the media can be intimidating, especially because your brand, reputation, and revenue are at stake. Even the best spokespeople, public relations professionals, and CEOs can really struggle to do effective media interviews. It can be difficult not to use verbal fillers such as “um,” “uh,” and “like” in our everyday language and public speaking, let alone when talking to the press. So, this week, crisis communication expert Gerard Braud asked social media, “How can you stop saying “um” in a media interview?”

Their tips are featured in this video and we would love to hear if you agree with them. Comment here and on our social media pages to join the discussion. Your answers may be featured in our follow-up video!

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

Step 3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the follow-up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.