To walk the walk you've got to talk the talk

This is an introduction to communicating better when you speak to your potential customers

- to explain what you do, make a sales pitch, or simply to give a good impression that will pay off in the longer term

By Dr Simon Raybould

United Kingdom

. . . . or to put it another way, if you can't talk to people, how are you going to market yourself to them?

Let’s start by splitting the problem into two situations:

When you are on the phone and all you’ve got on your side is your voice and
When you are making a face-to-face pitch (or meeting) and you’ve got all your body language and so on to back it up.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of overlap between what you have to do in both situations and the latter builds on the former.

Starting with when you’re on the phone

Your phone makes particular demands on your voice. Usually it won’t transmit the full range of frequencies you produce when you’re talking and it can’t be sensitive to all the subtle variations in nuance that you’re no doubt putting into your voice.

I’m referring to things that ‘signal intent’. For example we turn a sentence into a question by putting an upward inflection at the end to signify the question mark. You don’t need to do much of that in ‘real life’ but on the phone things are probably different.

Does that mean you needn’t bother with all these subtle effects? Absolutely not!

Unlike adding things to your voice, it is not possible to take something away without doing it self-consciously. And the moment you start to be self-conscious about your voice, you will sound shifty and untrustworthy and your chances of closing the deal will plummet. You’re sunk!

If anything, you should exaggerate these features of your voice, for two reasons:

Phones suck energy out of your voice. Putting in extra effort at your end of the conversation will simply mean your voice sounds bright and cheerful at the far end.
If you work hard enough on them, at least some of the subtle effects should begin to carry through. Of course, it may feel exaggerated to you, but not to the person on the other end of the line.

Don’t worry about going over the top. It’s almost impossible to do that using a phone – at least with respect to your tone of voice, not what you say!

Stand up as you talk

Or at least sit upright, not slouching. It makes your voice brighter, it makes your breathing easier and more likely to be based upon your diaphragm (the sheath of muscle across your stomach) which in turn will make your voice sound more mature, richer and more trustworthy.

Phones make you sound tinny: if you’re breathing by moving your chest rather than by using your diaphragm, you will sound shriller still.

Drop your shoulders

Again, this will make your voice sound richer and more convincing.

Smile

And gesticulate with your hands too, if that is what you normally do. This is a great way of putting energy into your voice.

Warm up your face muscles before you make a call or answer one

All you have to do is yawn and waggle your jaw a little, but the effect will be to make your diction a lot clearer and easier to understand.

For important calls I recommend you go as far as actually rubbing your cheeks and lips for a couple of seconds to stimulate the muscles before you use the phone.

Quite apart from the obvious benefits of all this, if the person on the far end of the line isn’t having to spend ‘mental energy’ figuring out what you’re saying they will have more ‘mental capacity’ to actively listen to what you’re saying, which makes you more likely to be remembered. . . .

. . . . and if you’re in a direct head-to-head with a number of other potential suppliers this can only be a good thing!

When you are in a face-to-face meeting

The first thing to say is that you should continue to do what you do on the phone. On top of that you should take advantage of the extra information you can impart by having more direct voice connection with your ‘target’ or audience.

If you are standing, place your feet shoulder-width apart with your weight equally balanced between them. Not only does it look good (trustworthy, solid and not exhibiting irritating habits such as ‘wandering foot syndrome’) but it makes it easier to root your breathing in your diaphragm.

Lean ever so slightly forwards or at least make sure that you’re not ‘on the back foot’. You can’t talk properly with your weight on your heels. At least two thirds of your weight should be on the balls of your feet.

Make sure you use your diaphragm when you breathe. The way to test this is to rest your hand on the front of your stomach - you should feel your hand being moved out when you breathe in.

One last point

Your voice is wonderful – and unique. Use it and, above all else, enjoy it!

About the author

Dr Simon Raybould is a trainer and coach in voice and presentation techniques. He has worked as an actor and manager and now works with people in many types of organisation to help them to communicate effectively through speech and visual presentations.

You can read more about Simon and our other contributors here –
Contributors to topenterprise

Back to top of page

© 2004 Copyright Dr Simon Raybould and Curved Vision All rights reserved