Living and working in the suburbs of Washington, DC, I am afforded the ability to interract with people of all nationalities on a daily basis. While speaking with some Spanish speaking friends today, I was able to pick up on the subtle nuances in their accents and asked where each was from. As I suspected, both were from different parts of South America and had been in the United States for differing amounts of time.
Shortly following this encounter, I read an article entitled "Do You Provide World-Class Service? 6 Ways to Find Out" on rismedia.com (http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-04-10/do-you-provide-world-class-real-estate-service-6-ways-to-find-out/) This article has to do with examining ourselves as agents and the "process" with which we serve our clients. One particular section talks about how we communicate with others and the fact that 57% of communication is non-verbal, 38% is voice-quality, and 7% are the words you say.
The combination of both situations caused me to do much thinking about that 38% of voice-quality communication. This has to do with your tone, volume, and inflection. It is important that we take the time to examine how we speak and how others hear us. Remember the first time you listened to your voicemail and said, "Wow, that's not what I sound like, is it!?!?!" Yeah, it is.
While studying the stand-up bass, it is common that I record myself during practice so that I have a clearer sense of what my audience hears because the sound projection is different. With that in mind....
Here's what I suggest - get an old-fashioned tape recorder, leave messages on your voicemail, or whatever is easiest, and record yourself saying dialogues (not a bad thing to practice while you're at it). Listen to yourself speaking, let someone else listen, and then discuss it with that person so that you can have outside opinions on your communication skills. DISCLAIMER: When you find that perfect tone and volume, this does not mean you will be friends with everyone you meet and everyone will love you. But let's shoot for a 97% success rate anyway!
So, the next time you're speaking to someone, think about HOW you say each word, not simply what each word is.
Ciao!
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