Many people have a favorite or pet word that they use and rely on all too often. There are popular pet words we hear often, such as "like" or "so", and there are popular non-words too, like "um" and "yeah." These words are often used to fill gaps of silence or as substitutes when a better word can't easily be found.

Sometimes these words are very obvious, being used constantly in everyday conversation. Sometimes they are more subtle, and really come out when the speaker is stressed or under pressure. One place these words are likely to come out is in a speech or presentation. These are also some of the worst possible times to use these words. As an audience member, these words can become annoying when used too often. Many audience members can't help but focus on these words, and end up keeping count of these words rather than listening to the speaker's message. In this case, a simple (yet annoying) word can impact the effectiveness of a presentation, no matter how compelling the message could be.

Many of us have heard some version of the saying, "if you sit down at a poker game and can't figure out who the mark is, it's probably you." If you readily notice other people's pet words, but assume you don't have any, that's a great time to review a videotaped presentation rehearsal or ask a friend or coworker to rehearse with you and give you feedback. These are great ways to find out if you have pet words, and with effort you can eliminate them from your speech.