….or to put it another way, if you can’t talk to people on the phone, how are you going to present yourself to them? Okay, not every situation involves the phone but lots of them do - and increasing number in today’s tele-orientated-world. It’s a very peculiar kind of presentation - one where you are limited to one medium only.
Your phone makes particular demands on your voice: for example, it won’t transmit the full range of frequencies you produce when you talk and it can’t be sensitive to all the subtle variations in nuance that you’re no doubt putting into your voice. (Actually, phones can be made to do that, but they’re simply not financially viable.)
When I say this, I’m referring to things that ‘signal intent’: for example we can turn a sentence into a question by putting an upward inflection at the end to imply the question mark. You don’t need to do much of that in ‘real life’ but on the phone things are potentially different as huge amounts of your energy get swallowed by the phone.
Does that mean you needn’t bother with all these effects? Absolutely not! You see, unlike adding things to your voice, it’s not possible to take something away from your voice without doing it self-consciously – and the second you start to be self-conscious about your voice you’re sunk. You’ll sound shifty and untrustworthy on the phone and your chances of closing the deal will plummet.
If anything, you should exaggerate these features of your voice, for two reasons. The first is the obvious one that if you work hard enough at least some of the subtle effects might begin to carry through. Of course, it may feel exaggerated to you but not on the far end of the line.
There’s a second reason - a more subtle one. As phones suck energy out of your voice, putting in extra effort at your end of the conversation will simply mean your voice sounds bright and cheerful at the far end. Don’t worry about going over the top – it’s (almost!) impossible to do that using a phone (with respect to your tone of voice that is, not what you say!)
Stand up as you talk (or at least sit upright, not slouching). It makes your voice brighter, it makes your breathing easier and more likely to be based upon your diaphragm (the sheath of muscle across your stomach) which in turn will make your voice sound more mature, richer and more trustworthy. Phones make you sound tinny: if you’re breathing by moving your chest rather than by using your diaphragm, you’ll sound shriller still.
Drop your shoulders – again this will make your voice sound richer and more convincing.
Smile and (if you normally do so) gesticulate – this is a great way of putting energy into your voice.
Warm up your face before you make a call, or even answer one: all you have to do is yawn and waggle your jaw a little, but the effect will be to make your diction a lot clearer and thus easier to understand. For important calls I recommend you go as far as actually rubbing your cheeks and lips for a couple of seconds to stimulate the muscles before you use the phone.
Quite apart from the obvious benefits of all this, if the person on the far end of the line isn’t having to spend ‘mental energy’ figuring out what you’re saying they will have more ‘mental processing capacity’ to actively listen to what you’re saying, which makes you more likely to be remembered….
… and if you’re in a direct head-to-head with a number of other potential suppliers this can only be a good thing!
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