On a LinkedIn group, I posed the question, "When you call a company, what does the other person or company do that is so irritating?" A remarkable number of people responded, very fast. Comments ranged from not speaking clearly enough so that the caller could understand the greeter, to sounding angry when answering the phone, to speaking too fast, to being placed on hold for long periods of time, and a lot more.
Most of the respondents I presume were Americans.
What behaviors irritate you when you call a company? Please let us know your country. Irritants may be different in various countries.
Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including telephone skills.
Click here to learn about our new pre-recorded webinar on professional strategies to understand those with strong accents, and also to discreetly help customers with hearing loss!
Welcome to the Verbal Image blog from Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com)! NEW! To read our latest blog post, go to http://www.businessspeechimprovement.com/more/blog Bookmark that site and check back regularly! Please join the conversation about communication! What are your thoughts on the blog article you are reading? Comments in English are appreciated.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Accent modification - the intensive way
Accent modification for strong foreign and regional accents can be done on many schedules. The most frequent one is one lesson a week for an hour, with the hope that learners will practice between sessions. Some learners do practice as instructed. Others are busy and don't have time for this, or fear that they are practicing incorrectly and soon stop.
Intensive accent modification is done either 8 hours a day, for several days, or at least several hours a session or several sessions a week. There are 3 advantages to this. Learners have less time to forget, so minimal time is spent in review. Learners make faster progress, because they are getting more lessons and errors are corrected immediately by the instructor if the learner does not catch them. Third, learners are more motivated, because progress is faster.
A follow-up plan of some type needs to be in place, to help the learner maintain his or her new skills. Newly learned skills must be reinforced by the instructor or others who are native speakers until they are habitual.
Intensive accent modification especially appeals to busy professionals who may have tight schedules,
those who need to speak clearly as quickly as possible for upcoming meetings or presentations, and
managers who need their employees to speak clearly as fast as possible.
Business Speech Improvement offers open enrollment small groups for accent modification. Other options are offered as well. Click here for details!
Intensive accent modification is done either 8 hours a day, for several days, or at least several hours a session or several sessions a week. There are 3 advantages to this. Learners have less time to forget, so minimal time is spent in review. Learners make faster progress, because they are getting more lessons and errors are corrected immediately by the instructor if the learner does not catch them. Third, learners are more motivated, because progress is faster.
A follow-up plan of some type needs to be in place, to help the learner maintain his or her new skills. Newly learned skills must be reinforced by the instructor or others who are native speakers until they are habitual.
Intensive accent modification especially appeals to busy professionals who may have tight schedules,
those who need to speak clearly as quickly as possible for upcoming meetings or presentations, and
managers who need their employees to speak clearly as fast as possible.
Business Speech Improvement offers open enrollment small groups for accent modification. Other options are offered as well. Click here for details!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Customer service: voice of the organization
Do your front line staff know that, to the public, they are the voice and face of the organization? Do they have the communication skills expertise to showcase your company in the most positive manner?
In an interesting interaction, a visitor to a recreation facility stopped an employee and gently and tactfully made a suggestion. "Have you ever considered having more trash cans [at a certain location in the facility]?" she asked. She explained what she had witnessed with the trash situation. The employee then stated emphatically that more trash cans would not help but that she hoped the [departing] visitor would educate the other visitors near her when they littered. The visitor, sensing the employee was very irritated, then complimented the employee on how nice the facility in general was looking, and the employee smiled slightly.
Afterwards, the visitor realized that, despite the suggestion box near (with no suggestion forms in sight), the employee did not think visitor suggestions were of value to the facility - even when the suggestions could make her job easier. The employee was basically telling the visitor that she didn't want to hear anything but praise.
A better way for the employee to have reacted would have been to write down the idea and say she would take it to her boss, sounding as if she valued the idea. The employee could then have asked which sections of the facility the visitor enjoyed most, or a similar question to keep the visitor focused on the best parts of her visit. This would not have taken long, and would have ended the visitor's stay in a very positive way.
Think about your front line staff. How do you want them to view customer suggestions - as something positive for the organization, or as a nuisance?
If you value customer suggestions, how do you let your staff and/or the customers know this?
Do you act on the suggestions and let the staff and customers know, reward them or take other actions? Please share your ideas!
Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching and also an e-book on communication strategies for leadership development. Poor communication is so expensive; learn practical strategies for improving your skills!
In an interesting interaction, a visitor to a recreation facility stopped an employee and gently and tactfully made a suggestion. "Have you ever considered having more trash cans [at a certain location in the facility]?" she asked. She explained what she had witnessed with the trash situation. The employee then stated emphatically that more trash cans would not help but that she hoped the [departing] visitor would educate the other visitors near her when they littered. The visitor, sensing the employee was very irritated, then complimented the employee on how nice the facility in general was looking, and the employee smiled slightly.
Afterwards, the visitor realized that, despite the suggestion box near (with no suggestion forms in sight), the employee did not think visitor suggestions were of value to the facility - even when the suggestions could make her job easier. The employee was basically telling the visitor that she didn't want to hear anything but praise.
A better way for the employee to have reacted would have been to write down the idea and say she would take it to her boss, sounding as if she valued the idea. The employee could then have asked which sections of the facility the visitor enjoyed most, or a similar question to keep the visitor focused on the best parts of her visit. This would not have taken long, and would have ended the visitor's stay in a very positive way.
Think about your front line staff. How do you want them to view customer suggestions - as something positive for the organization, or as a nuisance?
If you value customer suggestions, how do you let your staff and/or the customers know this?
Do you act on the suggestions and let the staff and customers know, reward them or take other actions? Please share your ideas!
Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching and also an e-book on communication strategies for leadership development. Poor communication is so expensive; learn practical strategies for improving your skills!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Speech-Language Pathologist - Ready for Something Different?
It's that time of year, when many speech-language pathologists (SLP)s are so tired of massive amounts of paperwork (think: IEPs and insurance billing) and productivity standards! The question appears: what else can I do? (As more than one such burnt-out SLP told me, "If I do another ___ again, it will be too soon!")
After being asked this question by a total stranger on the telephone, I became intrigued, and spent a lot of time researching options. It turns out that there are many choices.
The first question is what intrigues a given SLP: favorite aspects of the field, preferred population and work hours, and even hobbies that could become involved.
How could these all become connected?
Eighteen SLPs who switched careers did so in a wide variety of creative ways. Details of their transition journeys are included in Alternative Career Options for SLPs, by Katie Schwartz (Business Speech Improvement, publisher). (Many of these choices would also be applicable for burnt-out physical therapists, occupational therapists, and special educators.) Each story includes what the original career setting was, the process of change, what the person chose to do, the positives and the negatives of the choice, and how to get started in the new field, if the reader is interested.
The book also includes a self-assessment questionnaire, to help readers consider possible future options.
The book can be ordered from www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com.
After being asked this question by a total stranger on the telephone, I became intrigued, and spent a lot of time researching options. It turns out that there are many choices.
The first question is what intrigues a given SLP: favorite aspects of the field, preferred population and work hours, and even hobbies that could become involved.
How could these all become connected?
Eighteen SLPs who switched careers did so in a wide variety of creative ways. Details of their transition journeys are included in Alternative Career Options for SLPs, by Katie Schwartz (Business Speech Improvement, publisher). (Many of these choices would also be applicable for burnt-out physical therapists, occupational therapists, and special educators.) Each story includes what the original career setting was, the process of change, what the person chose to do, the positives and the negatives of the choice, and how to get started in the new field, if the reader is interested.
The book also includes a self-assessment questionnaire, to help readers consider possible future options.
The book can be ordered from www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)