The answer is simple. Just use your callers name far more often than
you would in person. In fact, shower your converstions with his or her
name. When your listener hears it, its like receiving a verbal caress:
Thanks, Sam. Lets do it, Betty. Hey, Demetri, why not? Its really been
good talking to you, Kathi.
Saying a persons name too often in face-to-face conversation sounds
manipulative. However, on the phone the effect is drmatically different. If
you heard someone say your name, even if you were being jostled around in
a big noisy crowd, youd perk up
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How to Sound Close (Even if Youre Hundreds of Miles Away) 235
and listen. Likewise, when your phone partner hears his or her own
name coming through the receiver, it commands attention and rcreates the
familiarity the phone robs from you.
If your listener is drifting, it brings him right back. If shes opening mail,
she stops. If hes picking his teeth, he pulls the pick out. When you say
someones name on the phone, its like yaning the person into the room with
you.
Technique #61
Name Shower
People perk up when they hear their own name. Use it more often on the
phone than you would in person to keep their attention. Your callers name
re-creates the eye contact, the caress, you might give in person.
Saying someones name repeatedly when face-to-face sounds pandering.
But because there is physical distance between you on the phonesometimes
youre a contnent apartyou can spray your conversation with it.
How to Make Em Happy They Called You
Brr-ing! No matter whether you hear the ring in the boardroom, the
bedroom, or the bathroom, self-styled telephone experts tell you, Smile
before answering. Some pros even suggest you perch a mirror right next to
your phone to monitor your grin.
Been there, done that, doesnt work. One evening, in the midle of my
weekly mud-pack facial, the phone rang. The horror of seeing myself in the
phone mirror made my voice as hideous as my face. I immediately trashed
the pros advice along with the miror. Who wants to sound like a dizzy
Pollyanna? A no-brain Cheshire cat? A lonely recluse whose life is so dull
ooja
(Ooja)
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