How the counter decides what’s a filler
It sorts what it finds into three groups, because not every “like” is a filler.
- Hesitations (orange): um, uh, er, erm, ah, hmm, mm. These are always fillers, so they’re the number to watch.
- Maybe fillers (underlined): like, you know, I mean, basically, actually, literally, sort of, kind of, right, just, honestly, obviously. Sometimes they carry meaning (“it looks like rain”), so read the highlights before you cut. Obvious verb uses such as “would like”, “feels like” and “looks like” are skipped.
- Repeats (blue): the same word twice in a row, like “the the” or “I I”. These are usually stumbles you can cut.
Fillers a minute uses the length you type in. Open an .srt or .vtt and it’s filled in from the last caption. With no length, it estimates one at 150 words a minute, which Voices.com gives as the average rate of conversational speech in the US, citing the National Center for Voice and Speech.
Where to get a transcript
- YouTube: on your video’s page, open the description and choose Show transcript, then copy the text. In YouTube Studio you can download the captions as an .srt.
- Zoom or Microsoft Teams: recordings with transcription switched on give you a transcript you can download as a .vtt file. Open it here directly.
- Any recording on a Mac: OpenAI’s free Whisper makes an .srt from a video file. Our guide to adding captions on a Mac has the exact command.
How to say fewer fillers
- Pause instead. Most fillers fill a gap while you think. A silent half-second sounds more confident than “um”, and it’s easy to tighten later.
- Know your first sentence. Fillers cluster at the start of a take and at the start of each new point. Write down the opening line of each section.
- Record, count, repeat. Paste the transcript of each practice run here. Watching one number go down works better than trying not to think about “um”.
- Or cut them afterwards. In a video editor that works from the transcript, removing every um is one step. See how to remove filler words from a video.
FAQ
What counts as a filler word?
Hesitation sounds (um, uh, er, erm, ah, hmm) are always fillers. Words like “like”, “you know”, “basically”, “actually” and “sort of” are fillers only when they add nothing, so this tool counts them separately as maybe fillers and highlights them for you to check.
How many filler words is too many?
There’s no official limit. Track your own fillers per minute across practice runs and aim for the number to fall. Hesitations matter most, because listeners notice them more than the occasional “so”.
Can I check a video, not a transcript?
Not directly: this page counts words in text. Get a transcript first (YouTube, Zoom and Teams make one, or use Whisper on a Mac), then open the .srt or .vtt file here.
Is my transcript stored or uploaded?
No. The counting happens in this page in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent anywhere.