Yes, I know it is a meaningless filler phrase. I got tired of watching "American Chopper" partly because the son started every sentence with that phrase.
A colleague basically of mine basically interjected "basically" between basically every couple basically of words, basically. So I basically started basically writing basically a lot of "basically" interjections basically in my basically emails basically to basically him. Fortunately, he basically had basically a great basically sense of basically humor. Like, totally.
I will confess that what I say is usually entirely determined by what I have to say, without checking for my audience's reaction.
Writing can not be compared with speaking. Writing has the advantage of thinking over multiple times and editing before sending out the final draft.
When people in the military ask me how to improve their spoken word I tell them to focus only on rhythm and otherwise regard their content as sewage. Once the word is flushed from your mouth you cannot have it back. If the sewage (speech) stops flowing unintentionally the system backs up and cognitive problems take over, so keep pushing words out at a regular pace. That regular pace will eliminate the need for gap words like: uh, um, and ah. The content of the sewage is generally less important than the audience's reaction, so always be ready to pivot without causing a sewage backup.