Hesitation fillers

Noises

 em…
 er…
 mm…

Filler phrases

 …you know…
 …I mean…
 …you see…
 Well,
 The thing is…
 It’s like this, you see…

Stalling for time

 Let’s see (now)…

 Now let me think…
 Now, just a minute…
 Hang on…

Stalling for time when answering a question

 That’s a good question…

 That’s an interesting question…
 Gosh, that’s a hard one…
 I’ll have to think about that…

When you can’t find the exact word to describe something

 …sort of…
 …like…
 …kind of…

Introducing ideas that bring contrast, surprise or something

unwelcome

 Actually,…
  As a matter of fact,…
 To be honest/frank,…
 In fact, …
 The fact is…

Searching for a way to express something

 How shall I put it?

 What’s the word I’m looking for?
 How do you say that?
 How can I explain this?
 What is that word?

Showing you are reluctant to speak for fear of the effect

 What’s the best way to put this?

 How shall I put this?
 What I’m trying to say is…
 Let’s put it this way…
 Where should I start?

Framing words

These words open a kind of frame in the conversation which the speaker controls, at
least for a short time. They are quite strong words that make it a little more difficult
for other people to interrupt.

 Now…
 Right (then)…
 OK…