Filler Phrases That Give You Time

Posted by: Josef Essberger
The fact of the matter is that sometimes you need time to think.

First 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 πŸ™‚

And by the way, you can leave your comments below.

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

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