Um, uh, uh

Today in class we did our first presentations.  A lot of people's mistakes, were little things that can be fixed easily.  For example, where to stand, not to look at the screen, and not talking loud enough.  Things like fidgeting will come as we get more comfortable and with more practice. 

BUT... the thing that is hardest to stop and the most irritating and distracting thing is everyone's filler words.  We all have one.  Some of us say um or uh or like.  Whatever it is, we need to work on not saying it.  Especially when presenting.  I think this is the hardest thing for me.  It is hard to pick up on it, when I am doing it. Which makes it hard to stop when you don't know that you are doing it.  One thing that I do that helps is to practice what you are going to say beforehand.  The more prepared you are, the less likely you will need filler words because you know what you want to say.  It doesn't need to be memorized because then you will sound like a robot, but you need to know your outline well.  We all need to find out what our word is and try to stop it.  I am an UMer, and need help.