Understand Why Body Language Is Important When Talking on the Phone

You’ve probably heard the age old advice that you should smile when answering the telephone in order to come across as friendly and welcoming. Does this tiny bit of body language really make that much of a difference when you’re communicating by telephone? The answer is yes, and here’s why.

Posture, breathing, and stress

Although you may not use hand gestures and other visible movements when talking on the telephone, you do use your body in some capacity. You may be sitting in a chair or standing, and both of these can affect your breathing, particularly if you are slouching.

Slouching restricts your breathing, making you have to work harder to speak. This may result in you sounding like the conversation is an effort for you, or that you’re tired or even bored. This will carry through to whoever you’re speaking with, and the last thing you want is to sound bored when speaking with a customer!

Another way that posture affects vocalization is the lowering or muffling of your voice when you slouch or droop your chin to your chest. This position makes it harder to breathe fully, so your voice may sound muffled or quieter. You may even sound grumpy, or like you’re delivering bad news. Again, these are not the type of vocalizations you want to make when dealing with customers.

Smiling and vocalization

The muscles in your neck and face control both your facial expressions and the pitch and tone of your voice. Ever notice that when you smile, your voice has a tendency to go higher and lighter? You can almost hear when someone is smiling on the other end of a telephone line. This is why so many customer service representatives are taught to answer the telephone with a smile on their face. Not only will you sound more cheerful, but all that smiling might just make you feel better, too.

Whether you’re looking to improve your own customer service skills or those of your team members, you can count on the friendly advice of the staff at Answer 365 to help you with all your customer service and call centre needs.