Author: Jacob Ahmadzai

Helping businesses improve performance with proven learning and development solutions. London based with a global reach.

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Hints & Tips Sales & Customer Service Soft Skills Technology

Telephone Techniques – How to use your voice effectively

The words we say make up only 30% of our communication. So we need to think about how we say them. To ensure that we are communicating effectively on the telephone, therefore, we must make the most of the 30% we have. Read on for four areas to focus on to improve your telephone technique.

Paralangue

This is the way that we use expression in our voice to convey a message. It covers all areas of non-verbal communication, and the four key areas below will help you to ensure that you are getting your message across as intended.

Tone

We express our emotions through our tone of voice. For example, if you think of times where you express happiness, excitement, frustration, confusion, or anger. On the telephone we need to be careful to tone down the negative emotions while exaggerating the positive ones. Even though the listener can’t see your face, your facial expressions will reflect in your voice. Try to remember, ‘smile when you dial,’ it really does work.

 

Pacing

Speed is extremely important if we want to be easily understood. Often the temptation is to speak quickly so that we can end the call. However, speaking slowly and clearly will ensure that the listener is able to really hear you and you won’t have to repeat yourself. When we communicate face to face, we focus on the other person. On the telephone, the listener will be easily distracted. Therefore, you should try to keep sentences short and to the point. If you waffle, you could easily lose the person on the other end of the phone.

Volume

We need to manage our volume carefully. If we speak to quietly, we won’t be heard. This is especially true if there is background noise. If we are too loud, we can sound aggressive. When we focus on speaking at a neutral volume, we can naturally remain calm. Even if the other person is raising their voice.

 

Energy

If you speak with high energy, you can create a sense of excitement, urgency, and positivity with your voice. By contrast, if you speak with low energy, you will come across as boring, dull, and uninterested. The message you are conveying becomes irrelevant. You can naturally increase the energy in your voice if you walk around whilst you talk. However, if you sit or even slouch at a desk, the opposite happens!

Conclusion

Think about your paralanguage next time you are making an important call and see how these tips can improve the outcome. You can be more effective in sales, customer service or many other areas!

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Professional & Management Professional Development Soft Skills

Speak in Public without the Nerves!

Speak in Public without the Nerves

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, is extremely common. Experts estimate 77% of the population have some level of anxiety when giving presentations or public speaking. There are many things you can do to feel more comfortable when presenting, but practice and preparation really are the key. Please keep reading to find out how to speak in public without the nerves.

Our fantastic Presentation skills course examines and more importantly, helps you master your next presentation. Here are ways to help manage your nerves and a way to structure your presentations.

Handling nerves

It is perfectly natural to feel a little nervous before a presentation. When confronted with a perceived threat, our bodies get ready for battle. This leads to the emotional experience of fear, which gets in the way with our ability to perform comfortably in front of others.  Another factor that causes our nervousness is our beliefs about public speaking and our own skills. When we overestimate the risks of communicating our ideas in front of others, it can feel like a threat to our credibility and image.

Here are a few tips to help:

  • Arrive early. Give yourself plenty of time, avoid looking at emails, making last minute calls before your presentation and ensure you have all the resources and equipment you need in advance.
  • Meet & greet. If possible, try to chat to some of the audience before the presentation. This makes you more likeable and approachable and helps you feel more at ease, whether face to face or virtually.
  • Turn nervous energy into enthusiasm. The energy you create when feeling nervous is very similar to the sensation of feeling excited. So, harness that energy and channel it is a positive direction!
  • Take deep breaths. When we’re nervous our muscles tighten, which can affect both our verbal and non-verbal communication styles. Take deep breaths to get oxygen to your brain and relax your whole body.
  • Smile! Even if you don’t feel like smiling, forcing yourself to smile increases endorphins and replaces anxiety with calm, positive feelings. It also demonstrates your confidence and professionalism to the audience.
 Structure

Having a well-structured presentation keeps your audience interested and improves their understanding and recollection.  A good structure is even more important for those who are not as familiar with your topic area as it provides context. A clear structure will also help with your nerves as you know where you’re going and so assists with helping you to remain calm and to stay on topic.

A classic and very effective structure is the newsreader method, it is a simple way of putting together an effective and engaging presentation and looks like this:

  1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them
    Tell your audience why they are there and what you are going to share with them and why it is important. Always include a WIIFT (What’s in it for them) moment.
  2. Tell them
    This is where you share the main content of your presentation, the knowledge, information, learning, and actions happen here. If you are covering more than one subject in your presentation, ensure there is a break between subjects, so the audience know you are moving on.
  3. Tell them what you told them
    This is where you remind the audience of the key points – what do you need them to think? Feel? Do? Make sure they have actions and tangible takeaways.
 Conclusion

Presentations need not be scary and certainly should never be boring! Try these tips to help you to be more productive and efficient. You too can speak in public without the nerves!