These tips will help you become more aware of your speaking manner:

1. Before you begin to speak, think about the words you want to use.
2. Think about what you want to say before you open your mouth.
3. When you find yourself saying uhs and ums (verbal clutter), stop yourself and repeat the sentence, this time replacing the ahs and uhms with silence.
4. Use the pause as an effective technique. Work hard at replacing this verbal clutter with a simple pause, and during these short pauses allow your mind to catch up and think about what you want to say next.

Practice some of these quick tricks in everyday speaking situations such as making a phone call or running into someone at a bank or store, but this time focus on replacing your verbal clutter with silence.

Lenny Laskowski is an international professional speaker and the author of the book, 10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking and several other publications. Lenny's products can be purchased "on-line" from this website at: http://www.ljlseminars.com/catalog.htm . Lenny is also available for hire to speak to your organization, college or association. Lenny also provides in-house seminars and workshops. Why not contact Lenny today for your next function or event. You can reach Lenny at 1-800-606-4855 or E-mail him at: Sales@LJLSeminars.com. You can also write to us at: 430 Freeman Avenue, Stratford, CT. 06614-4026, USA.