Thinking time and paraphrasing

Keep talking while you think, and explain a word you have forgotten. Lesson 34 of 58: Fluency, CEFR B2.

Buying time without “um”

Fluent speakers pause and think too: they just fill the gap with phrases that sound deliberate. “That’s a good question.” “Let me think about that for a second.” “How can I put this?” “It depends, really.” “Off the top of my head,…” (a quick, unchecked answer).
That’s a really interesting question. Let me think.
Off the top of my head, I’d say about fifty.
How can I put this… (Before something delicate)

Never stop because you have forgotten a word: describe it. “It’s a kind of…”, “It’s the thing you use to…”, “It’s like a…, but…”, “It’s the opposite of…”, “What’s the word… it’s when you…”. Listeners usually supply the word, and the conversation never breaks.
It’s the thing you use to open a bottle. (A bottle opener)
It’s a kind of fruit, like a small orange. (A tangerine)
What’s the word… when a company buys another one? (An acquisition)
Tip: Practise describing objects around you without naming them. It is the single best exercise for fluency.

Fluency is also recovering smoothly: “What I mean is…”, “Let me rephrase that.”, “Sorry, I meant Thursday, not Tuesday.”, “In other words,…”
What I mean is, we need more time.
Sorry, let me rephrase that.

Describe five objects in your room without naming them, as if to somebody guessing. Then answer a hard question (“What would you change about your job?”) using a time-buying phrase instead of “um”.
I described each object by its use or what it is like
I never stopped to search for a word
I used a time-buying phrase instead of a filler

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