Monthly Archives: February 2017

Feb 23 2017
Presentations, Professionalism

Will the callers please identify themselves?

This day and age, when so much business communication is conducted by web-meeting and conference call, it can be difficult to know who is speaking.

No, the initial round of introductions on a call, typically performed by all on the customer side as quickly as possible so as to obscure themselves* and by all on the selling side as to impress and overwhelm the customer,** does not suffice.  A flight through fifteen names does not make anyone stand out.

Here’s a tip:

Throughout the call, when you feel compelled to speak, begin your portion with a simple “this is FirstName,” and then carry on with your question or comment.  It only takes a second, and now everyone on the call will know who is speaking.  After you’ve contributed two or three times the audience will know who you are and recognize your voice.  The other three or four active contributors to the call (the rest are happy to put themselves on mute and get some email done) will pick up on this trick. As a result, the key players will know who is speaking and some work will get done.

* “Otto Manfredjensenjen, IT Analyst.”
** “Hi, My name is Archie Leach, and I’m your Account Executive focused on our overlay solutions in the customer relationship space.  I’ve been working with BigVendorCo since 2004 and have covered many business disciplines and lines of business and am intrigued to learn more about yours.  Throughout the call today I’ll be making liberal use of the mute button, but forgetting whether it is toggled on or off, so if you hear me pouring coffee, playing with my dog in my home office, or sighing throughout the call.  Thanks!”
Tagged ,
Feb 18 2017
Presentations, Professionalism

Don’t Slow Down

Just pause.

When you listen to someone with a very thick accent, it can be difficult to understand what they’re saying.  But if you give your brain a second or two, it processes their meaning and feeds it to you.

Being a fast talker is like having a thick accent.

Whether you’re nervous, new, or just from a fast-paced region like New York, if you’re a fast-talker, you’ll risk losing your audience.  Eventually, you’ll be given well-intentioned advice to slow down.

Don’t slow down.  It’s unnatural for you and, frankly, really difficult to do for more than a sentence or two.  Then you’ll find yourself back to a hundred words a minute.

Just pause.

Present your ideas at your normal speaking pace, but pause between sentences to give your words time to sink in; time to let your audience’s brains process what you’re saying and catch up with you.

Then carry on.

Tagged
Feb 17 2017
Humor

Overheard

We heard the following phrases in about a three minute span on a customer call this morning, as our Canadian customer described her business processes*

  • “Clickety-click, and Bob’s your uncle”
  • “So the girls downstairs can process the order”
  • Keying a test transaction into the system, she gave it the description POPOP, saying as she typed, “piece of piece of poo.”

You don’t find that kind of spunk too often!

*That’s a PROcess, not a PRAWcess