[bluehex]

I find over use of "filled pauses" to be incredibly distracting. I'm always fighting for my focus with an internal dialog that's saying "just say it, or pause if you need a chance to think but stop saying um!". I should probably work on my patience and focus. But I always hope that people that overuse those filler words are conscious of it and putting effort into breaking the habit.

[tempestn]

Our technical writing prof in school made it his personal mission to wipe those filler pauses from our lexicon. It was remarkably difficult to adjust at first - you don't realize how much you do it until someone calls you on it every time - but I definitely found presentations and such came across much more clearly without all the uh, er, and ums. It feels very uncomfortable as a speaker to simply pause silently, at least at first; to the listener though (unless you're unusually awkward about it) it seems natural, and can single-handedly make you come across as more thoughtful and compelling.

[IvyMike]

The filled pause is actually sending you information; specifically, "this thought is not complete, but I'm putting a lot of thought into choosing the right word". It's a verbal "hourglass" icon.

I agree overuse can be distracting. But I try to think of it as flattering that they respect me enough to take the effort to carefully vocalize their thoughts rather than blurting out the first thing that occurs to them.

This doesn't always hold, but a trend I've noticed at work that someone talking up the chain of command is more likely to use filler words than when that same person is talking down the chain of command.