"Let me, like, call you back" is the response I received from an interview source today. I'm not judging—heaven knows I use "like," "um," and "you know" more than I should. It just struck me as funny. The "like" was so pronounced, even Valley Girl-ish.

As a professional communicator, you'd think I'd be able to vanquish speech disfluencies such as these. I have good days and bad days, though. Over dinner with a friend and fellow writer last week, we both laughed as we tried to have one meal without these slip-ups. It's as if to use certain words in the English language, we also must use the fillers that are attached.

I occasionally tape interviews, especially when I'm interviewing someone for a personality profile. Recording the conversation helps me keep facts straight and get solid quotes. I hate transcribing the interviews, though. One reason is, it's just tedious and I'd rather be spending that time writing. Another reason is that I hate to hear myself stutter, slur, and otherwise sound silly. I just transcribed an interview today in which every question I asked was preceded by "Uhhhhh." What's that?

It's amazing that in casual speaking, I use these extra words and sounds like they're going out of style, yet when I'm mindful of my surroundings, such as when I'm delivering a presentation or talking with a client, I believe I am more well-behaved. And, certainly in my writing, when I include a superfluous phrase or sound, it's done for effect, not as a reflex.

Perhaps recording and playing back my own speech patterns will help keep my vocal tendencies under control. If only I worked in an office with other offenders who could contribute $0.25 to a fund for every disfluency. Oh, the charity donations we could be making! If I run into you on the street and I have a recorder going, don't, like, question it.