Knowing How to Sound Your Very Best - Every Time

So you’ve initiated the call you’re on the call.

How do you really come across your best.

I gave you a few tips earlier and I want to reinforce those now.

For starters have a pleasant tone of voice.

No one wants to talk to a grumpy person actually smart.

I know it sounds ridiculous and cheesy but actually smiling When you’re talking on the phone will help.

You’ll have a more pleasant tone and don’t ask me why.

But somehow it works.

And if you even look at a mirror of yourself smiling you’ll have a more pleasant tone standing you’ll sound better you’ll be able to breathe more fully.

You’ll be able to gesture more you’ll be able to resonate more so standing when you talk can actually help.

It’s not essential but if you want to give yourself that final 1 percent extra it can be incredibly helpful when you’re talking to a client customer prospect don’t ever make them feel rushed.

I understand there may be times when you are rushed.

You can always apologize and in a non Rush way say I apologize I have to leave now to catch a plane to come see you for the meeting tomorrow give a reason but otherwise let them talk.

Don’t rush also don’t hop right in.

If you’re talking to someone who is an existing client customer prospect or boss and you already know them it can be seen as too rude too abrupt.

Have a little small talk.

Ask how they’re doing.

If it’s a beautiful day where you are say how beautiful it is and ask how their day is.

Now if you sense they’re incredibly rushed or they’re one of these people who always wants to get in and out and off the phone as quickly as possible.

You can dispense with the small talk but if you’re not certain it’s better to just spend 30 seconds 60 seconds on some pleasantries before hopping into the main purpose of your call.

It’s got to be proportional.

If it’s really just one quick question from a colleague in the Cleveland office.

Sure.

Call up ask get it and get on.

But if it is a client a colleague someone else you report to and you know you’re you have to talk to them for 10 minutes and you haven’t talked in a few days well 30 seconds 60 seconds.

It’s proportionate it’s only one tenth of the 10 minute phone call.

So try to have some small talk.

Next how are you coming across.

And by that I mean that you’re using a lot of fillers when you’re uncomfortable.

This comes out when you’re talking to clients prospects bosses.

When people are uncomfortable they’re thinking what do I say.

And that’s when the fillers the the the ERs the no’s the CEOs come out again and again and again my recommendation record yourself and listen to it.

That’s the homework assignment.

I’ve been very light on homework in this course so don’t complain about the level of homework.

But this is not the sort of class where it really helps to just do multiple choice test and write a bunch of sentences you need to hear yourself speaking on the phone.

So the homework is I need you to call somebody.

Have a conversation get a second cell phone or use your laptop or iPad to record just your part of the conversation.

Doesn’t matter what the other person does.

And I need you to really count your as your ers your nose and see are you coming across well beyond that.

Do you come across as somewhat interesting.

Do you like the quality of your voice.

Do you sound fully conversational or do you sound like you’re reading a script.

Nobody wants to sound like a script creator and nobody wants to listen to someone who sounds like they’re reading a script.

How many of us get phone calls sometimes daily from some sort of tell a telemarketer and you can tell it takes less than a second to tell when someone’s reading we all have built into us this instinctive ability to detect when someone’s reading to us on the phone.

You don’t want to sound like you’re reading.

And by the way this applies to conference calls and mechanical.

I do not recommend you ever read on the phone to someone they can figure it out they can hear it.

Of course there are exceptions.

If you are doing a quarterly conference call and you are the CFO for a publicly traded company and you have to read legal boilerplate or your lawyers say you’re going to prison by all means read but realize at that moment you’re not trying to really communicate you’re just checking a box for any other time when you’re talking to someone and you’ve initiated the call especially you want to just talk.

You want to be conversational so I need you to record yourself having a conversation.

Ideally work related with another colleague perhaps a friend a buddy up here an equal and just talk to them as if you were talking to a client.

Record it listen to it.

Figure out what you like what you don’t like.

That’s the homework.

Do it right now.