“In-person meetings are more effective than virtual ones.”
This is the flawed, but strongly supported, view on virtual interaction, supported by many industry experts. One study conducted by Oxford Economics A few years ago, he discovered that every dollar invested in business travel generates $12.50 in revenue and $3.80 in new profits. However, limited budgets, busy schedules, improved technology, and the need for immediacy have made virtual interaction, primarily voice calls, a popular communication strategy for businesses today. Having a discussion on the phone isn't as bad as everyone seems to think. Dr. Jeremy Dean has completely debunked the myth of nonverbal communication, so don't even bother.
Effectiveness of virtual meetings
Assuming the diplomatic middle ground, I combined these two conflicting facts into a formula on how to optimize the effectiveness of the voice. Learn from the field of psychology and apply it to your business communication strategy to make voice-only conversations as powerful as those expensive and time-consuming in-person meetings.
The shrill step
Research on human voice pitch has shown that deeper, masculine voices are generally preferred over higher-pitched voices for both male and female leaders. The study also suggests that social context is not as influential on voice pitch as other research has previously suggested. Rather, "perceptions of leadership ability are largely consistent across different leadership fields."
So, if you want to increase your authority during a phone call, remember the influence of tone of voice and lower your level.
Own love
In their study on the perception of vocal attractiveness, psychology professors Susan Hughes and Marissa Harrison found that people like their own voices, even if they don't recognize them as their own. Hughes explains that "given this era of heightened narcissism, the study provides further evidence that individuals appear to inflate their self-images by believing that the sound of their own voices is more attractive."
How is this useful on a business call? Well, if the call is recorded and later used as a basis for decision-making, ask the decision maker to present your arguments! You'll then leave the person who needs convincing, actually convincing himself. Sneaky? That's what you get for being inflated...
Swinging at a cocktail party
A fascinating Canadian research project called Swinging at a Cocktail Party studied speech recognition perception in the presence of competing voices and found that familiar voices stand out from the crowd. Interestingly, familiar voices are easier to identify and intentionally ignore. In business, this would suggest that recognizable voices will be easier to address during a busy conference call. So, familiarize yourself with the important voices to eliminate the loud ones.
Speak American
Shiri Lev-Ari and Boaz Keysar conducted a study on the influence of accent on credibility, implying that non-native speech is less credible than native speech due to a "processing difficulty." The correlation between foreign accents and reduced credibility is explained by a fundamental and rather stupid behavior of the human brain: the more difficult something is to understand, the less true it is perceived to be.
These findings underscore the insidious impact on millions of people who often communicate in a non-native language and can be very helpful to keep in mind if you're speaking to someone with a foreign accent or have one yourself.
Imitation game
In the context of language and credibility studies, the opposite is also true: people with different accents tend to unconsciously imitate one another to make themselves better understood. Consequently, a British study found that imitation actually improves language comprehension.
The general theory applied, cognitive fluency, essentially measures how easily our minds process something and implies that people prefer to think about things that can be easily processed before complex ones. With this in mind, try to adapt your teaching approach, get straight to the point, don't overcomplicate things, and, above all, let yourself be influenced by the accent of your fellow speaker.
Be a genius
A study called Fractionating Human Intelligence suggests a multicomponent perspective on human intelligence, dividing it into three: short-term memory, reasoning, and a verbal component. According to this perspective, a person's general intelligence is the combined result of these three components, suggesting that intellectual ability can vary from one component to another. Therefore, many of us aren't masters in all three areas, but with this understanding, we can at least pretend to be.
Take notes during phone calls to support poor short-term memory (as one of the many advantages of VoIP, it can even be done automatically). Take a deep breath and gather your mind; if your reasoning skills need improvement, you can afford to do so, since the other person can't see you, you know. Or, if you want to work on your verbal skills, be sure to prepare your arguments and practice how you want to present them. You can even have them written out in front of you!
Voice frying
"Vocal fry," speaking in a low-pitched, tinny tone, has become a widely adopted trend, often associated with more educated, upwardly mobile individuals, and more commonly used by young American women. Ironically, a US study demonstrated that this style of speaking is—not—beneficial. Vocal fry: speaking in a low-pitched tone is perceived negatively and will negatively impact business success. In the study, 80% of participants preferred hiring people who spoke in a normal tone over those with a vocal fry.
Fred Flintstone's parts of our brains
An Australian project studied the influence of names and found that pronunciation is important for trustworthiness. A person with an "easy name" is generally considered more credible than someone with a difficult-to-pronounce name. Furthermore, previous studies have found that people with easy names are more likely to be liked, successful, and elected.
"To the Fred Flintstone parts of our brain, that feeling of familiarity signals something we can trust, but information that's difficult to process signals danger," says Eryn Newman, lead author of the study. Perhaps adopting a nickname when speaking to global customers isn't such a bad idea?
Lazy Ways to Appear Smarter
Mindy Cohen, founding director of Speech Pathology Services Atlanta, explains how business interactions are completely different from talking to close friends. We tend to choose our words very carefully while simultaneously focusing on monitoring the other person's signals. This makes us forget the "power of our voice" and how it can give away clues about our personality and moods. For example, a breathy voice can sound immature, while a hoarse voice can be perceived as authoritative.
Your voice is one of the first impressions you make when you meet someone, and it may be the only lasting one. It identifies you from afar, sets you apart from others, and often reveals how you feel in a given situation. A full, resonant voice can communicate human and sensitive qualities, bring the narrative to life, express your passion and conviction, and be a calming influence in the most dire circumstances.
Mindy Cohen in Psychology Today
Consequently, number one on PsyBlog's list of 10 lazy ways to sound more intelligent is speaking with expression, because "it's not what you say, it's how you say it." This lazy way to optimize your voice's effectiveness includes speaking with an excited and energetic tone, varying the pitch and volume of your voice, and emphasizing certain words, which will make even mundane things sound intelligent.
Call the bluff
Another post on PsyBlog teaches us some of the proven factors for lie detection, and one of them suggests that vocal inflection is vital. In fact, sometimes it's even better not to maintain eye contact when trying to determine whether someone is lying, since the eyes are relatively easy to control. Evidently, lies are best detected when the voice is judged exclusively. This implies that 1) if you're trying to call a bluff, you should call the bluff, and 2) if you have something to hide, don't do it over the phone.
