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IMPAC T
Communications, Inc. Customized Training Solutions
for Selling Your Ideas and Responding to Your Clients
February 2003 Phone Com m unication Skills N ew sletter
www.impactcommunicationsinc.com Telephone: 847-438-4480 E-mail: info@impactcommunicationsinc.com
How to Improve Your
Telephone Voice
By Judith FilekPresident,
Impact Communications, Inc.
M any people think they have a bad telephone
voice. W hile its true that not every ones voice
sounds like a radio announcers voice, very few
people have a terrible voice. W hat they have is a
badly produced voice. To sound confident and be
perceived in a professional m anner on the
telephone,one m ust pause and breathe and follow
som e sim ple m aintenance tips.
A good voice requires lots of pow er or air. The w ay
to get that pow er is by breathing from the dia-
phragm . U nfortunately, m any people breathe shal-
low ly. They fill their lungs only to ten percent of
their capacity. A voice that is starving for air be-
com es a m onotone or sounds tinny and unfriendly.
Also, the ends of statem ents fade, and there are lots
of um sand ahsas the person drags in a quick
breath of air.
To check w hether you are breathing from the dia-
phragm , place one hand on your upper chest and
one hand on your diaphragm . Take in a deep
breath and notice w here you feel the breath first.
U nless you feel your diaphragm m oving, you are
breathing shallow ly. To heighten your aw areness of
how diaphragm atic breathing feels, raise your arm s
above your head or lie prone on a bed. The only
w ay you w ill be able to breathe in these positions
is from the diaphragm . To rem ind yourself to
breathe from the diaphragm w hen calling a client
or a custom er, place your hand on your diaphragm .
Your diaphragm should m ove like bellow s w hile
you are talking.
To keep a voice sounding terrific for the entire
conversation, take frequent pauses to breathe. It
w ill im prove your voice dram atically. Suddenly, it
w ill sound rich and resonant. A one or tw o-second
pause at the end of a statem ent or at the end of a
thought is am ple. The additional benefit of pausing
is that your articulation w ill be clearer since you
w ill have tim e to enunciate every syllable in the
w ord. Pausing w ill also elim inate non-w ords, like
ah,or um that m ake a person sound unsure.
M ost im portantly, it w ill give you tim e to form ulate
your thoughts and m ake com pelling statem ents.
Besides pausing and breathing, it is im portant to
pay attention to posture. The lungs are the largest
organ in your body, and they cant m ove properly
if they are restricted. W hen talking to a custom er,
m ake sure your feet are flat on the floor under your
chair and that your arm s are on the desk rather
than crossed on your chest. If you are nervous,
consider standing up and w alking around. It w ill
help you to release energy and to breathe.
Also, try gesturing. It w ill bring m ore air into the
lungs, and the voice w ill sound m ore enthusiastic.
The client never w ants to feel you dont care. If
you are tired, gesturing is a great w ay to get your
ow n energy level up and to get you back into the
conversation.
People w ant you to sound like you like your job so
m ake sure you are sm iling and that you keep a
m irror by your phone. Sm iling w ill cause the tone
of your voice to sound w arm er. As you look in
them irror, notice how far you open your m outh
w hen you talk and w hether you use both your
upper and low er lips. Lazy lips and a m outh that
hardly opens create a badly produced voice.
Lastly, drink lots of w ater. Avoid caffeinated drinks
that pull m oisture from the vocal cords. Avoid hav-
ing m ilk in your coffee or eating cream cheese on
your bagels right before you start your calls. D airy
product cause m ucus, and you w ill constantly be
clearing your voice.
Those w ho are radio announcers have learned the
im portance of pausing and breathing. They have
also m astered how to m aintain their voice all day
long. M any of your custom ers only know you
through your voice. M ake sure it creates the im age
that you w ant.
Continued on page 2
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IMPAC T
Communications, Inc. Customized Training Solutions
for Selling Your Ideas and Responding to Your Clients
February 2003 Phone Com m unication Skills N ew sletter
www.impactcommunicationsinc.com Telephone: 847-438-4480 E-mail: info@impactcommunicationsinc.com
Copyright 2003
Im pact Com m unications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Impact Communications, Inc. consults with in-
dividuals and businesses to improve their face-
to-face and over the phone communi cati on
skills. It is not what you know but how you com-
municate it that makes a difference. To reach
us, phone (847) 438-4480 or contact our web site,
www.ImpactCommunicationsInc.com.