Speech rate and customer service training

An unfamiliar professional with a strong foreign accent recently called me. He spoke so quickly that his speech was very hard to understand. As a speech expert, I had to ask him to slow down and say each word clearly so I had any idea of why he was calling.

What can a person do to make his or her speech clearer? The first thing to do is to slow down your rate of speech. Simply speaking more slowly helps others understand you a little better. Certain groups of people understand speakers better when they speak more slowly.

To speak slower, remember what counts is what the listener understands, not how fast you can convey your message. After all, if you need to say it again, you have wasted time. If you really cannot slow down, get professional help from a corporate speech pathologist. There may be several reasons why some people cannot slow down on their own.

Second, say the final sounds in a phrase or sentence clearly. In the phrase, "It's the best!", pronounce the "t" correctly, as an example. If you use a script when speaking on the telephone, read it aloud for practice, saying the final sounds well.

Third, make sure you are pronouncing the longer words the way your listeners do, with stress on the correct syllable. Putting stress on the wrong syllable confuses listeners, and they need a few seconds to think about what was said. That means they miss the next comment you made.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal communication. Customized coaching and e-books are available!

Five Star Service in a Doctor's Office

When you go to a physician's office, what are the things that make you willing to return?

Many people hate long waits to see the doctor, especially when given an appointment time and then being admonished by the stern-sounding receptionist to be on time. It just doesn't seem fair if the doctor is then more than a few minutes late to see you. Isn't your time just as valuable as his or hers? I regularly ask for the first appointment of the morning or afternoon to try to reduce the wait time. However, if the doctor is regularly late, I may switch to another physician who usually is on time.

Patients also hate feeling stupid because they don't understand what the doctor is saying. Many people will not tell the doctor they don't understand the medical terms or the implications of having some test or disease. Physicians needs to speak in "plain language" so patients get the message the first time. Patients also need to ask for the information to be explained in simpler words.

The third thing that bothers many people is when nurses and receptionists do not get answers back to patients when they say they will. If they are not able to call you back when their own outgoing messages say they will, or at least the next morning, this can be frustrating for the patients, and bad public relations.

A doctor's office where the staff work together well, convey information on time, patients are seen at or close to their appointment times, and doctors explain information so patients understand it, is a rare place. I only know of one such place. I think it is closed to new patients now.

What bugs you most about doctors' offices?