Sunday, March 8, 1998 at 16:40:05

You know, there is little reason to make all this fuss about, you know, the way, you know, we normal people talk, you know.

- TB

Filled pauses in speech are indeed normal (and researchers even call it "normal non-fluency"), but they are not always welcome.  While they are usually forgiveable in informal conversation there are all too many situations when they are treated as unacceptable (I doubt if business executives show much patience with a disfluent presenter at a meeting).  I hope the FPRC will help those who have well-developed speaking skills understand those who do not, and also help those who are not satisfied with their speaking skills to consider how to improve them (by knowing why they occur in the first place).  As for me, I fall in the latter category, don't you know...

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