Filler Phrases that Give You Time
Posted by: Josef EssbergerFirst of all, At the end of the day, The fact of the matter is…
Politicians need time to think when they are asked questions, for example in debates. You may need time too. You need time to think about your answer. But you don’t want to just say nothing while you think. That’s where meaningless “filler phrases” come in. Politicians use a lot of them. You can too, for example:
- First of all
- I want to say
- The fact of the matter is
- Let me tell you why
- By the way
- At the end of the day
- Here’s the deal
- The fact is
- Let’s be clear
- Let me be very clear
Filler phrases are also known as “hesitation devices”. Watch the video above for some great examples in use. It has subtitles.
Now you can sound like a politician 🙂
And by the way, you can leave your comments below.
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Based on an article from The Wall Street Journal
Posted by Josef Essberger November 2019
Josef founded EnglishClub for learners and teachers of English in 1997
4 comments
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Hayder says:
Thanks, you are good in art of surveillance.
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Editor says:
hahaha @Sibbovarg. Yes indeed – light travels (quite a lot) faster than sound. And empty vessels make the most noise too!^^
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Macmilan says:
Thank you for your valuable service. Excellent
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Sibbovarg says:
I wish your recommendation “You can too” (use filler phrases a lot) were a joke, but I’m afraid it was not meant to be. If you need time to think, better stop for a while, if you don’t insist to sound like a politician. We all know that light travels faster than sound, and this is the very reason why politicians may appear bright until they speak. — Now it’s up to you if you want to sound like a politician.