Extraordinary service - with a smile

Have you ever had extraordinary service in a store that actually made you smile? What's the best way to reward the giver of that service?

Recently a store staff member advised me on a product that was not only safer and more effective, but also much less expensive that the two I had intended to purchase. She took the time and initiative to make this suggestion. The impact of this is that not only will I save money, but the store's credibility has been greatly increased, in my opinion. In other words, I will be a much more loyal customer.

I plan to research and write her company HR director about her efforts, and ask that she be rewarded in some way. I also plan to tell her store manager.

How do you commend people for extraordinary service? Please share your favorite techniques! If you are a human resources director, how do you prefer it to be handled at your company?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in many types of speaking skills, through coaching and e-books.
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Front line staff and your PR program

What are the first people prospective customers/clients/patients see doing to increase your organization's public relations?

In one healthcare organization I visited yesterday, the first employee I was directed to see appeared ironically to be very sick. When I asked her why she was at work, she told me that her department had let many employees go, and was very short-staffed. The next person I was sent to had her head down on the desk. When I expressed concern about her health, apparently conscious that everyone in a crowded waiting area could hear her, she self-consciously laughed and said she was mostly bored - despite the place being very busy. If this facility took such poor care of the front line employees, I wondered how they expected the employees to take exceptional care of their patients.

Regardless of your industry, how are you taking care of your front line employees? What are you doing to show them that you care about them? Are you teaching them the critical role they play in getting new customers or patients? Are you doing it with frequent spoken and written compliments, flowers, occasional free meals or gift cards, making sure they take time off when they need to, a career ladder to help them develop skills for other jobs, or some other method? Times are tough in many companies, but often without meaning to, front liners can derail your expensive public relations efforts.

Please let us know your company's efforts to make your front line team feel special!

Regional accents - and their impact

Many people report that having a strong regional accent, such as a strong New England, Midwestern, Southern or some other accent can impact their careers, even if they continue living in that part of the country. The reason is that they give presentations or make phone calls to people in other parts of the country, who may have trouble understanding them.

Have you had difficulty being understood or understanding someone else who has a strong regional accent? If so, what part of the country (and country) are you in? What did you have to do to communicate?

What kind of training would help in this case, if you were the speaker? Would you want regional accent modification alone, combined with customer service training or with public speaking training? Would you prefer it in person alone or in a group, in a webinar online (although you wouldn't get feedback), or in an e-book/mp3 file?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive individual and group training, and e-books, on many topics related to communication.

Speech improvement training for non-natives who already speak English

A big concern of many professionals who speak English as a second language is whether they are pronouncing it correctly. Many have learned it from teachers who speak British English.
Thus, they say "schedule" as "shedule" instead of "skedule", and other different patterns of pronunciation and sometimes grammar.

These professionals often worry about their pronunciation, as they may get many confused looks from some listeners, especially those who do not know them well.

Intensive training in American English pronunciation patterns can make speech considerably better in as little as 3 days. Business Speech Improvement offers a seminar on American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals. Individual coaching and e-books are also offered.

Are you ready for your PR opportunity?

A businessman sponsored a formal professional seminar. He provided refreshments and a room. He was invited to talk about his business before the audience, some of whom were in a position to hire his company. Although very friendly, he was dressed quite informally and rambled considerably during his presentation. He had not thought to bring any business cards, either. The overall result was that his verbal and visual image wasted his public relations investment in this opportunity.

Are you prepared for your next PR opportunity, even when you don't expect it? Are you dressed appropriately enough for your work? If a TV camera captured film of you representing your company or at work, would you cringe? If there is the possibility that you will be asked to "say a few words", would you sound poised and professional, with a concise and relevant speech? Be prepared!

If public speaking is not your specialty, the e-book Public Speaking: You Can Do It!
gives easy ways to start, continue and gracefully end a presentation.

Business Speech Improvement also provides intensive coaching in public speaking, accent modification, reducing speech rate, executive/managerial communication for leadership and more!

Are you worried about your speech skills for business?

Excellent communication skills are essential for business. Many companies put such skills in their list of required qualifications, and offer training (or send employees to classes elsewhere where they can get the needed skills).

Insufficient communication skills can cause lost career development or promotion opportunities, can result in lost clients, or at least can cause embarrassment or frustration. Is that how you are feeling?

Currently, Business Speech Improvement is evaluating what additional seminars, e-books, or individual coaching should be offered. Currently, training in foreign and regional accent modification, presentation skills, techniques to speak slower, general diction, improving communication with someone who has a hearing loss, and communication skills for leadership are available. Many are offered in seminars, individual coaching and/or e-books.

If you would like training in a different topic, or a different format, please comment below or send us an e-mail with the topic and referred format. The first 25 responses will receive a complimentary e-book! Please do let us know how you would like to get help for yourself or an employee!

If you would like to schedule training in one of the above topics, or enroll in an open enrollment seminar, please click here.

Traveling or Waiting with Children This Summer?

As a special gift to readers who will be traveling or waiting with children this summer and dread their summertime boredom, Business Speech Improvement has compiled a complimentary online list of Great Games to Play with Children. These games are no-tech, usually no prep and fun! (Children often learn something from playing them, too, but they usually don't want to hear that.)

This link will be available only for a limited time. To access it, visit Business Speech Improvement and scroll down to the bottom of the home page.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills for adults. Specialties include American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals, techniques for talking slower, presentation skill coaching and much more! Small group open enrollment seminars, individual speech coaching and even e-books are all available.

First impressions for a new job vs terrible grammar of boss

An excited new team leader greeted his equally new team online in a brand new organization - with really bad grammar. What impact did it have on team members?

Most likely the impact is one of loss of respect for his professionalism, as well as for the organization that chose him to be a team leader. If he continues to use bad grammar online, respect of the team members will likely erode further, which may cause additional issues in retention.

Excellent grammar is one of many aspects of professionalism. Others include knowledge of the product or service as well as customer service and industry-specific knowledge and skills, ability to work as part of a team, getting work done in a timely and positive manner, timeliness, doing what you say you will do, and more.

Executive communication skills include excellent listening and questioning skills, ability to delegate and coach employees, to think ahead about organizational needs, to lead brainstorming sessions, to understand financial, operational and marketing issues and to be able to make educated decisions about industry and economic trends as they affect a particular business.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in many aspects of verbal communication, including executive communication skills.

Foreign accent modification training: the challenge in the southern USA

Many non-native professionals in the USA who speak English are frustrated by their difficulty pronouncing American English clearly. In their native countries, they report, work groups are expected to do whatever is needed to help workers do better, which may include helping them speak more clearly if needed.

In the Southern USA, many employers are hesitant to bring up the topic of unclear speech, fearing a possible discrimination lawsuit or that the worker will at the least be offended and possibly resign.

The result is the worker is left wondering why no-one cares to help him, and the company is hesitant to offer accent modification training services.

There are two ways to resolve this. Employees who want this help need to ask their Human Resource or Training and Development Department if the company will pay for this training. If the company chooses to offer the training, it should be done by explaining the impact unclear speech has on the department or company, and offering this training as an option if the employee wants it. (An unmotivated employee will learn very little, if anything.) The company can also offer this training to all employees who request it, so it is not limited to specific ones.

Business Speech Improvement offers many types of verbal skills training, from intensive seminars in American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals to regional accent modification, seminars on how to speak slower for those who talk too fast and need help to improve, and more!