business Archives | Accent On Business

The Bottom Line: Re-stating Your Value

Here’s food for thought: when you meet with senior management in your organization, do you know what to say? More importantly, do you know how to say it and when to say it? If not, then you may be selling yourself short when it comes to stating your value to the organization. Sure it’s great to get a company to help take care of the HR, workplace injury and other sections of the company but this won’t help increase the value of yourself if you keep selling yourself short.

For junior executives in particular, learning how to speak to and with upper management is an invaluable skill. In fact, communication skills coaching in this precise area is one of the most frequent requests from Accent On Business clients.

Getting the results you want in the boardroom and similar settings can mean the difference between being […]

2022-04-22T08:33:23-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication, Public Speaking|Tags: articulate clearly, business, conversation, delivering a speech, executive communication, executive presence, interview, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking advisors, speaking to your boss, vocal quality, voice help, voice problem|Comments Off

“Becoming the Best at What You Do”

award_2743486b Here at Accent On Business, we work with clients from many different professional and personal backgrounds. Whether they are doctors, salespeople, junior executives or administrators, our clients come to us with needs as diverse as they are. Some seek to improve their presentation skills, others are looking to overcome a fear of public speaking, and still others simply want to improve their overall communication skills or create a memorable “elevator speech.” In the end, however, all share a common bond – to be the best they can be at what they do. Recently, one of our regular clients did just that and he wrote us to share news of his achievement.

Tom Barrett, owner of Green Water Infrastructure and an Accent On Business client in 2009, was honored with his industry’s highest recognition. The Indiana Nursery and Landscape Association (INLA) bestowed its prestigious Award […]

2022-04-22T08:33:24-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, executive presence, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking advisors, speech, talking, vocal quality|Comments Off

It’s Not Just What You Say, It’s How You Say It

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We all use “credibility detectors” when listening to someone talk to us. These sensors in the brain are activated by tone of voice and body language, not words. They give us important information about the speaker’s sincerity, integrity, and emotional intelligence. Some people equate this to the “gut-level hunch” we often sense. When kids listen to adults speak, they listen to the “strength” of the message for cues about whether or not the adult means what he or she is saying.

Do you “say it like you mean it”? Women often are not taken seriously for one of three reasons. First, her voice may be too quiet, making her sound unsure and non-authoritative. Second, she is too high-pitched, making her sound like a little girl or a cheerleader. Or third, she puts more inflection at the end of a sentence, making her sound […]

2022-04-22T08:33:24-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, interview, interviews, Public Speaking, technique, vocal quality, voice help, voice problem|Comments Off

Tips to prepare yourself for selling by phone

smartphone-431230_1280 Prepare for your call by making sure your style of communication (the HOW) matches your message. To start off with a warm, friendly message:

Think of a key word which represents the tone of voice you wish to create (warm, friendly), such as “tender”, “calm”, “sunshine”, “cozy”. Repeat that one key word to yourself several times with emphasis until you feel it.
Picture the mental image. Visualize hugging a child or your spouse, wrapping up in a blanket by the fireplace, walking along the beach in the bright sun. Make the picture clear and vivid.
Change the sound of your voice by changing your body tone and placement.

For a warm, friendly voice you must first relax. Inhale, then exhale slowly.
Look into the mirror and smile.
Talk expressively with energy.
Move. Make your movements BIG and FLUID.

2022-04-22T08:33:40-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: articulate clearly, business, communication, executive presence, how to sell over the phone, interview, interviews, messages, phone sales, Professional Communication, Public Speaking, speech, talking, technique|Comments Off

Good Business Cent$

TOP 10 BENEFITS TO A COMPANY ENSURING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

10. Attracting and hiring qualified and desirable employees.
9. Employees are managed effectively and motivated which increases productivity.
8. Job tasks are readily understood and properly executed reducing the margin of error.
7. Information is well organized and disseminated correctly, facilitating meeting deadlines.
6. Interactions with vendors are consistent, which enhances purchasing power.
5. Staff longevity is increased due to greater loyalty to the employer.
4. Perception of the company is strengthened which helps to promote future growth and development, leading to increased revenue.
3. Internal customer satisfaction is enhanced which increases quality assurance.
2. External customer satisfaction is increased helping to retain existing customer base.
1. Satisfied external customers readily support your company which encourages new customers and leads to increased […]

2022-04-22T08:33:40-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, executive presence, habit, image, interviews, Make Over Your Voice, messages, Professional Communication, professional communication advisory firm, Public Speaking, public speaking firm, technique|Comments Off

How Much Do Poor Communication Skills Really Cost?

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TOP TEN RISKS TO A COMPANY WITH INEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

Inability to attract qualified job applicants.
Poor hiring decisions.
Miscommunication of key information resulting in either rework or errors.
Staff burnout due to low morale and lack of motivation.
Reduced staff retention and subsequent increased staff turnover.
Inability to meet critical deadlines.
Costly purchasing errors with vendors.
Damage to company image and loss of revenue.
Frustration among internal customers which leads to downtime.
Misperceptions and frustrations among external customers which equates to dissatisfied customers.

As you can deduce from the preceding top ten risks, ineffective communication is generally not limited to one or two situations or a few employees. Rather it can start out on a small scale and if left unattended, can have a spiraling effect across departments. This can manifest itself in a pervasive company problem, which often leads to finger pointing […]

2022-04-22T08:33:40-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, communication skills, executive presence, image, interviews, maximizing potential, quality, technique, why you need communication skills|Comments Off

Can A Smile Change Your Day?

fun-20008_1280 CJ McClanahan, President of Reachmore Strategies is our guest blogger today. To learn more about Reachmore Strategies please check out their website: http://www.goreachmore.com/

Can a smile really change your entire day?

I would argue that for many (if not most) of us the answer is yes! Consider what is going on in the workplace today. Much of our communication is being reduced to email, instant messages, texts and now even “tweets”.

As a direct result, we have less and less meaningful face to face communication with actual human beings. So, when we do (even if you aren’t a social person) we crave the personal interaction. In addition, we tend to pay attention to less of what we hear out of their mouths as what we see in their appearance and expressions.

Consider the following scenario…

You have a 5 minute meeting with your […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, can a smile change your day, communication, ethics, interview, smile, technique, why is smiling important, why listening is important, why should you smile more|Comments Off

Capitalize on Social Opportunities

In a crowded room you should see a bubble over each person’s head that reads “OPPORTUNITY!” in big bold letters.

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, executive presence, exercise, habit, how to be a better networker, how to be memorable, how to meet more people at social events, how to network, how to network better, Public Speaking, social events, talking, technique|Comments Off

Listening is a Sign of Respect

listening-157386_1280 Think of your last conversation. If you remember what you said more clearly than what you heard, you probably need to work on your listening skills.

Listening is a sign of respect. It shows that you value what the speaker has to say. If you take the time to listen to someone, take the time to listen properly. Set aside what you are doing so you can focus on the speaker, showing them that they are important to you. This will encourage the speaker to crystallize his message instead of giving you a shortened and vague version. If you continue to focus on your work, you may miss key gestures or facial expressions that may indicate the speaker’s true feelings differ from his words.

It’s not always easy to focus on what a speaker is trying to say, especially if he has distracting idiosyncrasies. […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, fillers, habit, how to listen, how to listen better, how to work on listening skills, interview, interviews, listening, listening skills, technique, why listening is important, why you should listen|Comments Off

Sound Like You Mean It On the Phone

Modern_Smart_Phone Remember: when selling by phone, 84% of the message is conveyed by the quality of the voice and the intelligibility of the speech. Pitch, tone, inflection, and pronunciation matter!

The customer uses “Credibility Detectors”. These sensors in the brain are activated by tone of voice and body language; not words. They give us important information about the speaker’s sincerity, integrity, and emotional intelligence (EQ). Some people equate this to the “gut-level hunch” we often sense.

HOW you say your message makes all the difference. And there is an art to this. Before you head off to that next big call, think about the feeling you want to leave with your customer; the emotion you want to share. For example, consider that you might want to start with a warm, friendly message and follow up with a confident, powerful, or influential message.

Each feeling you want to […]

2022-04-22T08:33:42-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, how to exude presence over the phone, interview, Make Over Your Voice, messages, phone skills, professional communication over the phone, Public Speaking, speech, verbal techniques|1 Comment