A well-quoted UCLA study, conducted by Professor Albert Mehrabian, indicates that body language constitutes about 55% of what we effectively communicate, while words only account for 7%. So learning how to communicate with hand gestures and body movements is important. But what happens when you are on the telephone and nobody can see what you are doing? What happens when you want to pitch a product or tell a story over the phone? It’s time to learn what accounts for 38% of effective communications. It’s not the words you say, but how you say them.
Listen to an untrained publicist or salesperson. They concentrate on the words they are saying, rather than the way they are saying them. Their voice sounds uninteresting, as if they are reading off of a script. Now, listen to a newscaster reading the news. Notice how their voice goes up and down very deliberately, emphasizing key points, and keeping your attention on what could be a very dry part of the news.
On the telephone, there is nothing worse than being caught in a conversation with someone who speaks in a monotone. None of us think we do it. But once that plastic touches our earlobe we all fall into the trap of just speaking words rather than orating. Why? Because there is no one in front of us that allows us to use a bit of our natural theater. When we speak with someone face to face, we use our body language and change our voice according to their response and their level of interest.
So what can you do? Be aware of your voice. Use a recorder, tape or on your computer, and see how you speak. Then learn to use some of the following. Most important, exaggerate you voice.
Modulate Your Voice – Modulating your voice means moving the pitch up and down. A change in pitch and in the tone of your voice gives the listener a signal that something is happening. Modulation can be used to enhance emphasis with key words or prolong the level of interest with the listener. To successfully communicate on the phone, you should change the pitch of your sentence up and down several times as key words are emphasized. Remember, modulation makes meaning.
Lower Pitch For Authority – A downwards pitch, or lower voice, adds authority to a sentence. It makes someone lean in to hear more. When you’re dining in a restaurant and want to communicate confidential information, your voice deepens. Try to speak the following sentence, dropping your pitch on the italized words and notice the difference in how it sounds. The emphasized, low-pitched words stand out and combine together to form the key message that you want to get across:
Our service will not only build your brand, but drives your sales as well.
Higher Pitch For Engagement – An upwards pitch, or higher voice, mimics the rise in voice we usually associate with a question and generates interest for a listener. It provokes engagement and creates a need to respond. Modulating your voice upward, creates excitement. Try to speak the following sentence, raising your pitch on the italized words and notice the difference in how it sounds. The emphasized, high-pitched words stand out and combine together to generate interest and a response:
I think it’s a fantastic idea. If you would like, I would be glad to send you more information on this story.
Repeat Ideas, Not Words
In advertising, we say you need to touch a person three times with a message before they will remember it. This could not be more important when on the telephone. When combined with voice modulation, you can not only emphasize a point, you can literally pound it home in a nice way. By repeating ideas, rather than just words, you can drive a point home without sounding like you’re a recording. And that keeps you in the mind of your listener longer.
We can generate more awareness, we can drive more sales, and we can help you build your business.
Make it Relevant
Whether pitching a story or selling a product, the worst thing you can do is read off of a script. Do a bit of research, Google the reporter or prospect you are speaking with. Give them one item that lets the person on the other end of the phone know you have some idea of who they are or what they are about. If it is a reporter, read a recent article they wrote. If it is a sales prospect, have an idea of what their business has done recently, who their clients are, or what they want to achieve. If you need to keep notes on what to say, keep them on the ideas you want to put across, rather than word-by-word scripts. It will enable you to keep the conversation natural and in your own words – which is what they want to hear.
Engage in a Conversation
How many times have you received a cold call from someone reading off of a script, or talking through their pitch without pause? How many times have you found yourself, sixty seconds into a call, just looking for a semi-polite way to hang up? Unless you engage the person on the other end of the phone in an actual conversation, rather than a question and answer session, you will not only lose them, you will lose the ability to engage them in subsequent calls. Make sure your initial pitch is less than :60 seconds. Then, make sure you give them an open-ended question that starts a conversation. After all, a conversation is the reason there is both a mouth-piece and an ear-piece on the phones.
