How to measure filler words is one of the most searched topics among professionals who present, sell, or lead meetings. Poor speech habits form over years and are nearly impossible to notice in the moment — because you are focused on your content, not your delivery.
Knowing how to measure filler words is one thing — doing it consistently is another. Most professionals are aware of their weaknesses in general terms but cannot pinpoint the specific moments where filler words breaks down. Without objective analysis of actual conversations, improvement remains based on guesswork and memory, which are unreliable.
SpeakFlare addresses how to measure filler words by automatically analyzing every Zoom and Google Meet recording. The platform transcribes each word using AssemblyAI with word-level timestamps, identifies each speaker, and runs AI analysis across four categories: grammar errors, filler words, clarity issues, and presentation effectiveness. You receive a detailed report within minutes of your meeting ending.
The key differentiator is per-speaker analysis. In team meetings, SpeakFlare separates each participant's speech and provides individual reports. This means you can see exactly how each person communicates — which speakers use the most filler words, who makes the most grammar errors, and how each person's clarity compares. For teams, this creates accountability and shared improvement benchmarks.
How to measure filler words
The core metric is your filler word rate — the share of your spoken words that are fillers:
Worked example: a transcript of 1,420 words containing 34 fillers:
The second metric, fillers per minute, normalizes for how long you spoke:
What counts as high?
| Filler rate | Fillers / min | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1% | 0–1 | Polished, confident |
| 1–2% | 1–3 | Natural, professional |
| 2–4% | 3–6 | Noticeable to listeners |
| Over 4% | 6+ | Distracting, reads as uncertain |
Typical filler words
um · uh · like · you know · basically · literally · actually · right · so · well
To measure filler words effectively, track three consecutive meetings and focus on the pattern, not individual instances. SpeakFlare's trend view shows which specific aspects of filler words are improving and which need more attention.