No, Seriously…you may be losing business just because of your speech patterns!
Think of this conversation…a lady from New Jersey who speaks very fast is trying to have a conversation with a laid-back southern gentleman that speaks very slowly (can you picture this now?)
NJ Lady: (saying quickly to herself) Idon’tknowwhat’swrongwiththisguy…he
mustbestupid…hetakes5minutesjusttoput
asimple sentencetogether…ishedumb?
GA Guy: (saying slowly to himself) W..O..W.. This… lady… must.. be … trying to … pull .. a … ‘fast’ .. one .. on .. me……… …. … I’d … better …. be really .. cautious!
Can you see where this business transaction would be doomed from the start? In fact, don’t we say things like “fast talking salesman” and “slow as molasses”?
If you know that you have a tendency to talk very slow or very quickly, make a conscious effort to pace your speech to match the other person’s.
There’s another old marketing wisdom that I like to keep in mind…
“People like people like them”
so make yourself as much like them as possible. (in communication terms, it’s mirroring, modeling, or matching)
For those of us here in Florida and other “melting pot” areas, it takes on a whole different meaning when we consider that different cultures and languages tend to speak slowly or quickly, AND that it is harder to understand different languages, accents, and dialects when someone is speaking very quickly. For example, if I am trying to communicate with someone in Spanish, I am amazed at how much I can get if they speak slowly or write it down, but if they speak quickly I’m lucky to get even one word out of it.
Be aware of your speed when communicating…it may be costing you $!
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