Sound Confident
With so many of us working from home at the moment, the use of video and conference calls has become essential to keep people connected and businesses working.
Whether or not you’re used to this method of communication it’s quite common to be anxious about how other people perceive you.
Your fear may be around getting your voice heard and listened to, not being an expert on the subject and saying the wrong thing or stumbling over your words.
Whatever your worry is you’re right that making a good vocal impression and sound confident is essential.
That’s why I wanted to share with you my tips to having confidence and impact on conference calls.
- Vocal 1st impression – Research has shown that people judge your likeability within the first 10 seconds of hearing you speak and they can hear your mood without seeing your facial expression. To ensure a positive response think of something that makes you smile before introducing yourself. a happy voice has been shown to have more impact than a powerful one.
- Body language – Your body posture is just as important on a call as face to face. Sitting up straight and using gestures gives confidence and interest to your voice as well as lifting your confidence levels.
- Look the part – It’s very easy to spend all day in pyjamas or relaxing clothes but for a video call it’s important that you look the part, whatever that is for your industry. It’s worth checking your backdrop too for any embarrassing items such as an early glass of wine or 3 days of dirty dinner plates.
- Talk slowly – Reducing the speed you speak at normally by 20% and clearly articulating your words gives you gravitas as well as being easier to listen to. If you’re unsure how you sound, try recording the call and have the courage to listen back afterwards. You may notice speech habits you can change.
- Don’t multitask – other participants may not be able to hear you checking your emails or quietening your toddler. But if you’re not present on the call you’ll miss opportunities to contribute and also you risk repeating other people’s point.
- Use names – When you speak make sure to introduce yourself if it’s not obvious or people will have to guess whose speaking. If you are directing comments to others you can’t use facial clues to show who, so mention them by name.
- Don’t take over – if it’s a one to one conversation make sure you don’t talk for more than 70% of the time. When there are more people on the call this should drop to 25%. Having a nominated facilitator can help monitor this.
- Avoid interrupting – You may accidentally interrupt another speaker or be interrupted, to avoid this there are systems on video calls to signal that you would like to contribute.
I hope you find these tips helpful and that we all come through this difficult time safely.
If you’d like to make productive use of your time at home, why not book a free call with me to discuss your career confidence and I’ll share with you ideas on exactly how you can move forward. Just go to www.speakwithjo.com to book your call or contact me here
