TJ WALKER - THE HABIT INFLUENCER - Personal Development | LIVE STREAM

31 Mar 2018 · 1 min

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1:06

A short live-stream segment in which TJ Walker advises listeners on reducing verbal tics ("ums," "uhs," "ers") by shifting focus away from avoiding fillers and toward communicating interesting, useful ideas for the audience. He uses a golf analogy to illustrate that focusing on the positive target (helpful content) reduces mistakes more effectively than fixating on avoidance.

Chapters

If you really want to reduce the ums, uhs, ers, and other verbal tics, you're going to have to do something that seems contradictory. I need you to stop focusing on not saying uhs and ums. I need you to focus on actually communicating ideas of interest to the person or people you're speaking to. Think of it this way. Now, I'm not a golfer, but my golfing friends tell me if you go out on the golf course and you just focus on not hitting in the sand trap, you're much more likely to hit the sand trap than if you focus on pin hitting the ball into the hole. It's exactly the same way when it comes to public speaking, giving presentations, talking to people in uncomfortable situations, or even leaving voicemails. You need to focus on helping the person you're speaking to focus on giving them ideas that are interesting and useful. Don't focus on oh, I hope I don't say um. I hope I don't say um. Um. Focus on the ideas for your audience.