The Lost ShangriLa - Le ciel bleu profond - Keep Walking, Traveler25

From an early age, most kids are taught to avoid saying "uh" or "um" when they're thinking of what to say next.

It's considered bad speaking manners, making the speaker appear unprepared, unconfident and anxious.

But such pauses between actual words filled with such sounds exist in langauges all over the world.

French speakers might make a similar sound such as "euh", and German speakers may fill pauses with the sounds "a" or "aim".

Meanwhile, Japanese speakers might say "eto" or "ano" while thinking of the next thing they want to say.

In Taiwan, you may hear Mandarin speakers make similar sounds ... or say actual words, such as "ne ge ..." or "zhe ge ..." but they are filler sounds nonetheless.

So if such sounded out pauses exist in so many languages, why are they considered such bad form?

According to Slate writer Michael Erard, contrary to popular opinion, they may actually be helpful in acquiring a listener's attention.

Erard cites a University of Michigan survey that shows the most successful phone interviewers -- who kept their respondents on the line to answer questions -- were the ones who spoke moderately fast and paused occasionally, using the filler sounds of "uh" or "um."

In fact, it was the interviewers who didn't pause at all, and made no filler sounds, that had trouble getting people to stay on the line.

Researchers figure it might be because those interviewers sounded too scripted, and it made them lose their audience.

If this is true, maybe public speakers should take note, relax, and um ... let a few filler sounds slide the next time they're making a speech.

For Perspective, I'm Liz Tsai.