I often cringe when I hear someone use throwaway words like “um, ah, like, ok” in their conversation? And I have to admit that the overuse of those words lowers my opinion of them. To be perceived as a true professional, work towards eliminating throwaway words from your speaking. 

Here are five ways to do that:

5 Ways to Eliminate Throwaways from your Speech 

1. Pay attention to how many times others say “ah, ” “like,” etc. in a conversation.
   
   
2. Determine which throwaway words you use on a regular basis. Focus in on one of them.
   
   
3. Ask someone to count how many times you use this word in a single conversation, say a dinner or a business meeting.
   
   
4. Once you are aware of your overuse that word, make a commitment to not using it for 21 days. If you use the word, go back and restate the sentence eliminating that word. 
   
   
5. Every time you start to use the word, pause. Rather than using that word, just breathe. Then finish your statement without it.