Drill step 2
Open Speak. 60 seconds on “Describe what you do to someone who’s never heard of it”. Target: 140 to 160 wpm, three or fewer fillers. Your numbers are kept in Me for Day 7.
Glossary
Fillers
Sounds that fill a gap while you think: um, uh, like, you know. Try a short pause instead. Speak shows them as ums.
From the lesson
Drill step 3
Now record the same answer on your phone (the voice memo app is fine). Listen back and count fillers. Then record it once more, pausing deliberately before each new point.
The mission
Review days are where the gains stick. Redo the Day 5 prompt in Speak and compare pace and fillers with your Day 5 run (your history is in Me). Then answer three questions in today’s notes: what already feels more natural, what did you avoid this week, and which single habit will you carry into Week 2. Pick one. One habit carried beats five noted.
The mission
Redo the Day 9 prompt in Speak: “What I’m working on, and why it matters”. This time look at hedges as well as fillers; hedges are what make you sound unsure. Compare with your Day 9 run. Then answer in today’s notes: which brave action did you do and what happened, where did you hedge this week and with whom, and what is the one habit to carry into Week 3.
Where it is taught
- Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet: How to answer unexpected questions: what, so what, now what
Where it comes up
- Day 5 · The Voice People Lean Into: How to sound more confident when you speak: pace, pauses, and landing sentences
- Day 7 · Week 1 Review: Week 1 review: measure your speaking pace and fillers
- Day 14 · Week 2 Review: Week 2 review: hedges and fillers
- Day 21 · Week 3 Review: Week 3 review: record your best story
- Day 26 · Your Practice Plan: How to keep improving your speaking: a ten-minute weekly loop
- Day 28 · Compare the Tape: Day 28: compare your Day 1 and Day 28 recordings
In practice
Examples from the course that use it.
Sixty seconds, 140 to 160
Your first run comes back at 184 words a minute with five fillers. You thought you spoke slowly.
At your desk
You open Speak at your desk after everyone has gone. Sixty seconds on what you do. 171 words a minute, four fillers, two hedges. You save it. On Day 7 you will have something to compare.
In the car park
You do it in the car before going in, phone on the dashboard. 158 words a minute, three fillers. Slower than you expected, because nobody is watching. Something to notice.
Related terms
- HedgesSoftening words like “just”, “maybe”, “sort of”, “I think”. A few are fine; lots make you sound unsure of your own point.
- PaceHow fast you speak, in words per minute. Around 140 to 160 is easy to follow; slow down for the key points.
- Two sighsTwo physiological sighs: a big breath in through the nose, a short top-up sniff, then a long, slow breath out through the mouth. Do it twice. It can help you settle.
- PausesSilences of a second or more while you talk. Deliberate pauses sound composed; very long ones can sound like you have lost your place.
- Follow-up questionA question about what the person just told you. It proves you listened and keeps them talking.