Mr. Marketing: You really need to watch those ‘uhhhs’

By Rob Weinberg

My April 8 column continues to draw response.

Rob Weinberg

At the time I wrote about people whose every third word was “Like.” I mentioned how I wouldn’t hire people who spoke so carelessly, since this wasn’t the image I wanted to project for my business.

Many readers apparently found this verbal tic equally annoying. Reports have come in of parents sending my thoughts to their offspring, hoping the lesson might help improve job prospects.

So you can imagine my delight when I heard retired Navy Commander Michael Moffat speak last week at the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club breakfast about what he called “The ‘UHHH’ Factor.”

“I listen to 9-12 meeting speakers monthly,” he reported, “and I sometimes have trouble concentrating on the subject matter in the speeches.

“The key seems to be the ‘UHHH’ Factor, where the amount of information retained by the listener is inversely related to the number of times per minute that the speaker inserts an out-of-context ‘uhhh.’”

Commander Moffat reports:

0-4 UHHHs per minute are usually unnoticeable,

4-8 are distracting,

8-12 have audiences paying more attention to the “UHHHS” than the message,

12-plus make people leave the room early.

As a frequent public speaker, I understand the need to sometimes pause and collect one’s thoughts. Yet I can’t count how often I’ve been turned off by a speaker’s inability to deliver a concise message.

I’m obviously not alone.

My public speaking career has taught me the tremendous value of appearing before an audience as an expert. My message goes to dozens in the same time I might have previously reached one or two, and countless business opportunities have appeared before me this way.

Part of my success has been because I watch my use of “Uhhh,” “Um,” “Er” and “Like.”

Still, Commander Moffat provides hope; “Once an individual is made aware of their ‘UHHH’ Factor, it will drop dramatically in their subsequent presentations.”

Helping yourself, then, becomes as easy as recording your next public presentation. Count your verbal hiccups, and see if you’re offending the ears of your listeners. You might be surprised by what you discover.

Moffat agrees. “Listen to yourself, and you will be much easier to listen to,” he urges.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Put Mr. Marketing’s language skills to work for you. Contact him at www.askmrmarketing.com.

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Posted by Elizabeth Marie Himchak on Aug 10 2011. Filed under Mr. Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry