She started to talk but had to clear her throat and try again.
He started to speak but had to clear his throat.
Or maybe she was still trying to clear her throat.
She had to clear her throat in order to speak.
Chance started to call out, had to clear his throat.
She needed to clear her throat several times before it would work.
She had to clear her throat to get it out.
Every time he talked you wanted to clear your throat.
She went into the san for a drink of water to clear her throat.
The young woman had to clear her throat before speaking.
