Erm... Hope for nervous speakers...

According to the Daily Mail, experts at Stirling and Edinburgh universities have proved that 'disinfluences' (um, er, erm, ah) actually help to make us better understood.

Volunteers were asked to listen to a series of sentences, including a number which had disinfluences. They then carried out a series of tests to measure how much the listeners could remember. Inserting the 'ers' had a significant effect on how well the subjects could recall what was said.

Neil Stevenson, deputy director of education and training at the Law Society of Scotland, said, "We're sure some of our members will be delighted that their ums are now seem as a sign of clear communication."

Erm... sounds good to me!