Fillers words such as um or uh are words, sounds, or phrases people use to “fill in” empty spaces in communication, often used to fill up the silence. More often than not, they’re unintentional; we use them subconsciously to fill the space or time while we prepare our main message. However, these are also disruptions in what would otherwise be fluid conversation.

My goal was to track those discourse markers in speech—mine included—for a week, analyzing how usage of filler words change in different contexts and when speaking in other languages. This data is then consolidated into a visualization that explores representing more nuanced visualizations of information, illuminating the small, often ignored details of our everyday lives.