Executive Voice: the power of podcasts

I read an interesting article on the BBC website about podcasts:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9545533.stm

With social media being the buzz word du jour, it appears that podcasts are no longer in vogue. It appears that everyone is tweeting; on facebook, or for work on Linkedin. However, the BBC has discovered that podcasts are being downloaded and listened to more.

As a communication tool, podcasts are very useful in that they have a human contact element to them. We engaged with the human voice in a way that Twitter -which of course has it's own uses, does not. Listening to tips on setting up a business; training for the marathon or even deciding what to cook for supper tonight engage many people that prefer audio communication to the written word. Using podcasts transmits information to more people than written word only.

I currently use audioboo for my podcasts (although I am just about to change). My channel is www.audioboo.fm/executivevoice

Tweeting is only one way of engaging clients

I have a number of acquaintances I have met through business, who rave about Twitter. They have had seriously good results from Twitter: linking up with a number of people; getting business this way; having thousands of followers to their tweets. This is brilliant and I am really pleased for them. In this world, success stories are uplifting!

However, I have also met people, that I have engaged with; subsequently worked with, and who now appear to have moved onto the next 100 people to engage with and be followed by. These particular people rave about Social Media as if it is the ONLY business tool to use, yet they've unfortunately disengaged me! Emma Freud mentioned that at a party, her sister ignored her because she wanted to speak to her new 'Twitter' friends that were there. 

And last week I was at a select business meeting where I started a conversation with another business owner. On trying to find out more about her business she said 'Do you go on Twitter; if you follow me, then you'll know what I'm doing!" Yet I was in the room with her; face to face engagement is invaluable for starting a business relationship!

There is no doubt that Twitter and other Social Media packages are an invaluable business tool for engaging with other businesses and to establish a rapport. From tweeting I have gone on to arrange face to face meetings and to develop the business relationship further, and postings are a great way to keep people up to date with what you are doing.

But relationships are more than collecting as many followers as possible; and there is a process from initially connecting with a person via Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook etc, to picking up a phone and interacting as human beings - rather than via a computer. Once the human interaction takes place, the business relationship moves forward far faster. Face to face meetings also play a major impact in this; the number of times I have gone out of my way to pop into a new contact - which has led to business is significant, yet I'd been emailing for some time before that!

However, even after telephone or face to face meetings, you STILL need to maintain the relationship, and tweeting alone isn't enough. You almost need to be more personal; more hard working with these relationships once you've reached this level.

The social media expert Eileen Brown, says that you need to monitor how long you spend each week on Social Media; measure the results and effectiveness of your activities and don't spend more than 5 hours a week. She is an expert and I believe her advice is valid: it is easy to get sucked into building up a large following which takes up time, and does not lead to significant business or to developing long term business relationships.

In the end it is about balance, and the realisation that people buy from people. Let's not forget the power of ourselves - our physical presence and voices, in selling our services.

The accents on how you speak not how you look

Recent research reveals that your accent reveals more about you as a person, than what you wear. An article on the research is below.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/218604/The-accent-s-on-how-you-speak-not-how-you-look

We are all aware that the way we speak on the telephone has an impact on the success of our conversations on the phone; the other person can't see us so we have to project our personality in other ways. However, this research is a revelation, since the voice: the way we sound and our accents, has a greater influence on how we project our personality than has been revealed before. Whilst experts have always identified the way we speak within a first encounter as being one characteristic people notice, experts (and in particular image consultants) have always focused on personal appearance being the most important characteristic to concentrate on when wishing to make a good impression.

I was always taught to maintain eye contact; shake hands and say "How do you do." From the research it seems that this is good advice, because you are immediately engaging with the other person. Focusing entirely on appearance is not a two way exchange. It is certainly something to bear in mind.

Our Training CD course 'Make an Impact with your voice' is available from our online shop.

Tonight's Debate: what the party leaders' need from their Fairy Godmother

If I was the party leaders' Fairy Godmother, what would I provide, in order they had their wish fulfilled. I am assuming their wishes will to perform well; to engage with the electorate, and to improve their popularity.

Gordon Brown: Gordon didn't have a particularly good performance last week. Many people noticed that he interrupted the other candidates (particularly David Cameron); he was aggressive and talked over other people speaking. He didn't listen either. As an effective leader, people are looking for someone who listens to other ideas, rather than shouting them down. Gordon would be advised to take a step back; count three before he jumps in when someone else is speaking and to engage with the audience - one by using their names and by looking into the TV camera. I am sure he will be on the attack to Nick Clegg and given the smearing today, there will be ammunition available for him to use.

Nick Clegg: Nick had a fantastic response to his performance last week. Not only did he flirt with the studio audience and TV audience; he looked straight into the camera, engaging viewers. He also used questioners' names and made friends with them. He played 'hard to get' with Gordon Brown who was schmoozing up to him. However, I have no recollection of what he said. His performance was very effective and made an impact, but viewers will be expecting to find out more about his policies and whether or not he can walk the talk. The other leaders will be on the attack, so he needs to watch his back and have some convincing responses to their queries over his effectiveness. Also he will have to fight off the repercussions of the smear campaign. This evening will either make or break him.

David Cameron: David was a real disappointment on Thursday. A good guy who has excellent ideas and speaks well was over shadowed by the other leaders. He also looked uncomfortable; his body language was ineffective and vocally his voice became strained. He was, however, the only leader that said something I still remember..... David needs to relax; move his weight onto the balls of his feet. He also needs to look at the camera, do the name game; keep speaking LOUDER when GB tries to interrupt him and keep going. He also needs to start questioning GB's comments rather than shaking his head. My last advice would be to look GB in the eye and keep the eye stare. It would be interesting to see how GB reacts to that on Live TV.......

Good luck boys!

Executive Voice are running a course on using the voice to Engage clients and colleagues. Called "Speak, Connect, Engage" on 7th July in Central London Information on the course. Many of the issues I discuss in this blog are covered in the masterclass.

Engaging people when you speak to them

At the weekend I had something horrifying happen to me. My husband had told me he needed to leave the house to go to Heathrow to wave off his relatives,who were returning to Australia.
Unfortunately I didn't 'hear' this when he told me, and I was swimming. He was forced to leave late - taking our son too. The consequence was that he missed seeing them.
I felt dreadful about this, but it also enabled me to really consider why this method of communication went so wrong. Although my husband had spoken to me (I don't doubt him), he has a tendency to 'talk at' people. The problem with this is that he assumes you have heard without checking that you are 'engaged' in the conversation. He doesn't register whether or not I am listening. This is also a problem with colleagues at work.
In order that a conversation is two way - speaker and listener, we need to have a check list. This could be.

• Asking - "Is this a good time to speak?"
• Watching - is the body language mirroring yours or at least indicating they are taking note of you. (Clues could be eye contact; moving their body to face yours).
• Stopping activities; check the listener has stopped what they were doing. So if they were watching the television; cooking; on a computer, that their attention is now focused on you and what you have to say.
• Check that they have understood what you have said.
• As a precaution, repeat what you say the next day.

For more advice please go to http://www.executivevoice.co.uk