Filler Words in an Interview: How to Stop Saying Um and Sound Prepared
The interviewer asks a simple question, like "Tell me about a time you handled a difficult situation," and you hear yourself start: "So, um, there was this one time, uh, at my last job, like..." You know the answer. It just isn't coming out the way it sounded in your head.
That's normal, and it's very fixable. Filler words in an interview usually come from pressure and unplanned starts, not from a lack of skill. This guide covers why they happen, whether they actually hurt you, what to say instead of um, and a short practice routine you can start the week before your interview.
Why do people use filler words in interviews?
Filler words show up whenever your mouth is ready to talk before your brain has finished planning. Psychologists Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree described this in their 2002 paper Using uh and um in spontaneous speaking: speakers use "uh" and "um" to signal that a delay is coming while they work out what to say next.
An interview stacks the deck in favor of that delay. You're answering questions you haven't seen, you feel judged on every word, and silence feels risky. So you get more of the moments that cause fillers:
Open-ended questions. "Tell me about yourself" has no obvious first sentence, so you fill the space while you pick one.
Fear of silence. A two-second pause feels like a failure, so you say "um" to show you're still in the game.
Speaking faster than usual. Nerves speed most people up, and when words outrun ideas, fillers fill the gap.
Over-explaining. Long, chained answers ("and so, and then, and um") create more transitions, and transitions are where fillers cluster.
None of these are about intelligence. They're about timing and pressure, which means practice can change them.
Is saying um in an interview bad?
A few filler words won't cost you a job. Interviewers talk to nervous people all day, and they expect some ums. Nobody speaks with zero, and trying to hit zero usually makes you sound stiff and rehearsed.
The trouble starts with frequency. When fillers come every few seconds, the interviewer starts hearing them instead of your experience. Your answer can sound less certain than it really is, and a strong example can get lost in the noise. A useful goal is simple: few enough fillers that the interviewer remembers your answer, not how you said it.
It also helps to know which words you lean on. Many people only watch for um and miss "like," "you know," "basically," or "so" at the start of every answer. If you're not sure which ones are yours, our list of filler words with examples is a good place to check.
What to say instead of um in an interview
The best replacement for um is a pause. Silence sounds calm and deliberate to the person listening, even when it feels long to you. But a pause isn't the only option. When you need a few seconds to think, these are honest ways to take them:
"That's a good question. Let me think for a second." It tells the interviewer you're taking the question seriously, and it buys real thinking time.
Repeat or rephrase the question. "So you're asking how I handled a deadline that slipped." It confirms you understood and gives you a moment to plan.
Name the shape of your answer. "There are two parts to that." Even before you know the details, you've given yourself a structure to follow.
Start with your conclusion. "Yes, I've managed a team, and the biggest lesson was about delegation." Then explain. Leading with the point removes the hunt for a first sentence.
These are sometimes called "good filler words for an interview," but they aren't really fillers. They carry meaning. The difference is that they help the listener follow you, while um just holds your place.
How to avoid filler words in an interview, step 1: record a baseline
The five steps below work best if you start a few days before the interview, but even one practice session the night before helps. Most people have no idea how many fillers they use until they hear themselves. Pick a common interview question, set a timer for 60 seconds, and record your answer out loud on your phone. Then listen back and count every um, uh, like, and you know.
Write the number down. It's your starting point, and it tells you whether the next steps are working. If hearing your own voice is uncomfortable, that's common; we cover how to get past it in how to record, review, and improve your speaking skills using your phone.
Step 2: Prepare your first sentence for common questions
Fillers pile up at the start of an answer, when you're figuring out how to begin. You can remove most of that by deciding your opening line in advance for the questions you're almost certain to get:
"Tell me about yourself." One sentence on what you do now and what you're looking for.
"Why do you want this job?" One sentence connecting something specific about the role to something you've done.
"What's your biggest weakness?" One sentence naming it plainly, then what you're doing about it.
"Tell me about a time you..." One sentence setting the scene: where you were and what the problem was.
Don't memorize whole answers. Memorized answers sound flat, and if you lose your place you'll fill the gap with ums. Know the first sentence and the main points, and let the rest be natural.
Step 3: Use a simple structure for behavioral questions
Behavioral questions ("Tell me about a time...") are where answers wander most. A structure like the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) keeps you moving forward, because you always know what comes next. When you know the next step, you don't need a filler to stall.
Prepare three or four stories from your experience that you can adapt to different questions: a conflict, a mistake, a success, and a time you led something. Practice telling each one in about a minute.
Step 4: Slow down and pause instead of saying um
Nerves make most people talk faster, and speed is one of the biggest drivers of filler words. Slowing down gives your brain time to plan the next phrase before you need it.
You don't need to speak slowly, just a little slower than your nervous default. Aim for the pace you'd use explaining something important to a friend across a table. If you want a sense of what a comfortable pace sounds like, see our guide to normal speaking pace and words per minute.
Then replace the um with a pause. This is the change that matters most. Every um is standing in for a pause, so swap one for the other. When you feel an um coming, close your mouth, breathe, and then continue. You can't say um with your lips together.
It will feel strange at first. A one-second pause feels much longer to you than it does to the interviewer, who usually reads it as thoughtfulness. For a deeper look at this habit, read how to stop saying um and uh.
Step 5: Land your answer and stop
Fillers also cluster at the end of answers, when you're not sure how to finish: "so, yeah, um, that's kind of it." Decide how you'll close before you start. A short summary line works well: "So that's how I learned to flag problems early."
Then stop talking. Silence after a finished answer is fine. It hands the conversation back to the interviewer and makes your answer sound complete.
How to stop saying um when nervous
You can't remove interview nerves completely, but you can stop them from speeding you up.
Breathe out before you answer. A slow exhale before your first word lowers your starting speed and gives you a beat to plan.
Hold a pen or rest your hands. Keeping your body still helps many people keep their speech steady.
Expect the first answer to be the hardest. Most people settle down after a question or two. Prepare your "tell me about yourself" opening extra well so the first minute goes smoothly.
Forgive the slip and keep going. If an um comes out, ignore it. Stopping to correct yourself draws more attention than the filler did.
Filler words in phone and video interviews
Remote interviews remove a lot of the visual cues that make pauses feel natural. On the phone, the interviewer can't see you thinking, so silence feels more awkward and fillers creep in to fill it.
Say that you're thinking. On a call, "Let me think about that for a moment" is more useful than in person, because it explains the silence.
Keep notes visible, but short. A few keywords for each story help. Full sentences tempt you to read, and reading then improvising is where fillers sneak back in.
Look at the camera when you pause. On video, looking away while you think can read as lost. Looking at the lens reads as calm.
Do a test call. Audio lag can make you start talking over the interviewer, then back up with "uh, sorry, um." Check your setup first.
How to improve interview speaking skills: a 5-day practice plan
A few minutes a day is enough to see a real difference before your interview.
Day 1: Baseline. Record 60-second answers to three common questions. Count your fillers and note which words you use most.
Day 2: Openings. Write the first sentence for each question. Record the answers again, focusing only on starting cleanly.
Day 3: Stories. Practice your three or four STAR stories out loud, one minute each. Pause for a full second between parts.
Day 4: Surprise questions. Ask a friend to pick questions you haven't prepared, or pull random ones from a list. This trains you to pause instead of filling when you're caught off guard.
Day 5: Full run. Do a mock interview of five or six questions. Record it, compare your filler count to Day 1, and notice what improved.
If you'd like help with the counting, Articulate records answers of up to 60 seconds on your iPhone, counts filler words like um, uh, like, and you know, and highlights them in your transcript so you can see exactly where they cluster. It also scores your pace and clarity, which makes it easy to compare one day's practice to the next.
The short version
Fillers in interviews come from pressure, speed, and unplanned starts, not from a lack of ability.
A few ums are fine. Aim for few enough that the interviewer remembers your answer.
Replace um with a pause, or with honest phrases like "let me think for a second."
Prepare first sentences and short stories, slow down, and plan how each answer ends.
Record practice answers, count your fillers, and track the number over a few days.
You already know your experience. With a little practice, the way you say it can sound as prepared as you are.