This new software automatically removes “ums” and “ahs” from speech

One of the toughest abilities to acquire as a presenter (radio, TV, public speaking, podcasters, etc.) is to remove the verbal ticks of “um” and “ah” when talking. Do it too much and it not only becomes distracting but annoying.

Yes, you can fix it in post, but that requires loading the audio into some editing program and painstakingly removing all the “ums” and “ahs.” That can take forever.

But what if there was a way to accomplish this automatically? Adobe’s new Soundseek program does just that.

Cool, right? Yet there’s something about this that doesn’t sit right with me.

Isn’t this akin to using Auto Tune to correcting the flaws in a singer’s performance? And can’t Auto Tune be used to make up for a lack of innate talent? How is the final result Soundseek any different from that, albeit used just for speech?