How to stop saying “like” all the time.

By the Ace Coach team, built with the best speech coaches · Updated October 24, 2026

“Like” is a different kind of filler

Researchers who recorded everyday conversations found that fillers split into two groups. Filled pauses, “uh” and “um”, were used about equally by everyone. Discourse markers, “like”, “you know” and “I mean”, were more common in younger speakers, and the gender gap seen in teens and students disappeared from age 23 up (Laserna, Seih and Pennebaker, *Journal of Language and Social Psychology*, 2014).

That matters for the fix. An “um” fills a gap while you think, so the fix is to pause. A “like” usually softens what comes next: it hedges a number, introduces a quote, or makes a claim sound less sure. The fix is to commit to the sentence.

When it costs you

In casual talk, “like” is normal and nobody minds. It costs you when it lands on the words you most need people to believe:

• Before a number. “We grew, like, 40%” sounds like a guess. Say “We grew 40%” for a measured figure, or “about 40%” for an estimate.
• Before your main claim. “It was, like, the best decision” undercuts the decision.
• In a cluster. Three in one sentence and listeners start counting them instead of following you.

Drill 1: count it

Record yourself answering one question for a minute, such as “What's a decision you're proud of?” Paste the transcript into the filler word counter. It counts “like” separately from “um”, so you can see which habit you actually have and where it clusters.

Drill 2: say the number plain

Write five sentences that each contain a number or a strong claim. Read them out loud with no softener at all. Then answer a question from memory using the same facts. Every time you hear “like” before a number, stop and say the sentence again without it.

Drill 3: swap the quote

Many “like”s introduce a quote: “and she was like, we need this by Friday.” Swap it for “said” or “asked”. It sounds more precise and costs nothing. Practice retelling a short story about a conversation you had this week, using only “said”.

Make it stick

• Aim for fewer, not zero. A “like” in casual chat is fine. Target the ones before numbers and claims.
• Practice daily, briefly. Two minutes a day for two weeks changes the habit more than one long session.
• Track the count. Watching the number drop take after take is what keeps you going.

Ace Coach counts every “like”, “um” and hedge in your practice calls, shows where they cluster and gives you short drills for the exact habit you have.