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May
16, 2003:
Telephone Etiquette
Interview
with Susan Berkeley author of Speak
To Influence
Mike
Carruthers:
We use the telephone now more than ever. So we might as well use
it to our advantage.
Susan
Berkeley:
Very often people will cradle the telephone receiver between
their ear and their shoulder. And what that does is it gives
your voice that muffled, I'm-calling-for-the-ransom-money sound
that is not the best way to win friends and influence people.
Susan Berkeley
author of the book Speak
To Influence.
I suggest
people get a telephone headset that allows them to be hands
free. What that does is it allows you to put your entire body
into the way that you speak. Because if you're slouched over
in your chair, that's going to come through in the sound of
your voice. Make sure the expression on your face is a pleasant
one. A smile on your face puts a smile in your voice.
Susan says
everyone's voice has a lot of potential if you know how to use
it.
Number
one, what you visualize is one of the fastest ways to change
your tone of voice. So if I want to sound warmer, I might visualize
that I'm actually sitting across the table with that person
at an intimate, candlelit dinner. And I'll put body language
into it. I'll change my body language. I'll lean across my desk.
Imagine that I'm actually very close in physical proximity to
that person. What that's going to tend to do then is cause me
to lower my voice tonality, make myself more warm. If I want
to sound more serious, then I adopt a more authoritative body
language, a more authoritative posture. Your body language,
your mental visualization is what changes and adapts your tone
of voice.
For transcripts,
visit our web site somethingyoushouldknow.net.
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's "Something You Should Know."
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