Pet Peeves About the Way You Communicate

Pet Peeves About the Way You CommunicaternKaren Cortell Reisman, M.S. The Wall Street Journal dedicated an entire front page of its Journal Report to the issue of pet peeves. The subtitle, adjacent to a pictured unhappy woman ripping her phone in half, asks “Why do cellphone customers have to pay for incoming calls? Why do car-rental companies charge so much for gasoline? Why are items in hotel minibars so expensive?” This article struck a nerve. There are plenty of pet peeves to go around, especially in the communication arena. I’ve compiled a list of Speak For Yourself® Pet Peeves and ways to overcome them. Enjoy this list of how to transform sabotage moments. Pet Peeve #1 – Why do you ask the audience, “Can you hear me?” at the beginning of a presentation? Solution: Get to the venue early and check out the microphone. Do this BEFORE you begin your speech. Pet Peeve #1 makes you appear like a novice. Start your remarks with something far more refreshing and imaginative than this! Pet Peeve #2 – Why do you ask the audience, “Can you see this visual?” when you show PowerPoint slides? Solution: How many times have you squinted to the point of a headache in order to interpret what’s on the screen? When using PowerPoint use a font larger than 32. Ideally, use more pictures than words. But if you do use some lists, make them bullets and not sentences and paragraphs. Then, BEFORE your presentation, make sure your equipment works. Run through the slides while standing in various parts of the venue so that you can figure out if everyone can see your images. Also, turn the lights down – slightly. Do NOT turn the lights off (unless you’re showing specific visuals where it’s essential to see the details). Don’t invite a siesta. Pet Peeve #3 – Why do you ask the other person in a telephone conversation, “Do you have a minute?” when you begin the phone call? Solution: Generally, we don’t have a minute! We are all busy. Don’t give your listener the opportunity to say ‘no’ after you’ve spent telephone tag time to get them on the phone in the first place. Begin with graciousness and keep it short. Get to the point and know what you want to get accomplished. Pet Peeve #4 – Why do you have an outbound voicemail message that says, “Hi, I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave a message at the sound of the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible”? Solution: Get rid of the stupid and generic outbound voicemail message and use these 30 seconds to explain your benefit to the person who is calling you. First, unless you just plopped onto earth from another galaxy, you know to wait for the beep. You no longer need to tell us to “wait for the beep!” Second, make this next voicemail change ONLY if you want to increase sales and decrease phone tag. Alter “We’ll get back to you as soon as possible” (which in many cases does not happen anyway) to “Let me know a good time to return this call.” Third, in your voicemail’s outbound blurb ask the listener for their email address and give them your website address. Fourth, keep it short. Pet Peeve #5 – Why do you say “honestly” or “to be candid with you” in a conversation? Is everything else you say NOT truthful? Solution: Watch out for verbal clutter. It’s hard to get rid of all the “you knows” and “ums” and “uhs”. You need to wear an imaginary hat with these words embroidered on the rim: “Get rid of clutter”. This is an active rather than a passive activity. Become more aware by listening to yourself when you speak. At the very least, stop saying “honestly”. It diminishes everything else you’ve just said and will say. Pet Peeve #6 – Why do you tell someone that they look tired? Solution: Ann Landers once advised in her famous column to keep your mouth shut if you think the other guy looks haggard. If you express your concern, the situation does not change. The tired one doesn’t get less tired, just more upset that his exhaustion is apparent to everyone else. Pet Peeve #7 – Why do you leave your phone number at warp speed on voice mail? Solution: How often have you been forced to re-listen to a mumbled number, or better yet, a message that has been nicely articulated…but the number is stated in fast-speak? I beg you to make this tip a reality…today. If your patient or prospect has to listen to your message four times to make sure they have the correct amount of digits for your phone number, they already don’t like you! Make it easy for the listener to want to continue connecting with you. Say, “My area code is 999. My phone number is 111-1111.” Say this slowly once at the beginning and say it again at the end of your message using your normal voice rate. Some of these pet peeves apply to you. Some won’t. But keep this list handy so you can continue to speak for yourself with power and presence. © Karen Cortell Reisman, MS