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David C Morris's avatar

Identification is good. I had a leader early in my career that would tug his ear to let me know when I was doing it. Other than to stop talking, do you have any recommendations to do once you’ve identified the tic?

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Admired Leadership's avatar

That remedy feels more like keep talking than stop talking.

Getting more and more clean reps while you’re aware is the fastest route. All additional remedies including recording yourself and listening back is just another version of increasing reps.

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David C Morris's avatar

I like the aspect of getting more reps. My ‘stop talking’ comment came from somewhere I read that we tend to use fill-ins at or near natural breaks in the conversation/sentence structure. Just stop there, take a breath, gather your thoughts, and begin again. No need to fill in the empty space with ‘you knows’.

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Admired Leadership's avatar

It is the verbal version of not knowing what to do with your hands. Very true.

That is a separate idea to also get reps in... becoming comfortable with that silence. You're right, we rush to fill it in. That is likely where most verbal ticks originate... inside the need to fill the awkward silence with something.

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