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While you may spend most of your time working on cars and trucks, the way you talk to your boss, your coworkers and the shop's customers can be critical to your success. It may represent just a few minutes of each hour, but those few minutes can mean as much as your work under the hood.
What You Say Is Almost as Important as How You Say It
"Fifty-five percent of the meaning you convey [when talking to another person comes] from the visual image," says Roberta Prescott of The Prescott Group, a company that trains people to communicate effectively. "A lack of eye contact and whether you stand solidly or rock back and forth" are just two of many important factors, she notes. Others include your tone of voice, body language, facial expressions and appearance.
If some people always seem to interpret what you say the wrong way, it could be that you are unintentionally communicating a message with your tone, expressions or gestures that contradicts your words. Your ability to communicate effectively with others may also be compromised by poor grammar, the use of inappropriate phrases, sloppy pronunciation and the repeated use of verbal crutches, such as "um," "you know" or "ah," Prescott says.
Getting Better
Forget trying to assess your speech patterns in the middle of conversations. That is almost impossible to do.
One technician, when told that his conversations did not make a good impression on customers, began taping the evening news on television each night. Then he picked a longer story and repeated what the network newscaster said. He would play one sentence from the newscast, then stop the VCR and repeat the sentence, all the while using a small cassette recorder to tape both the network anchor and his repetition of each statement. His goal was to duplicate newscaster's pronunciation, phrasing and inflections.
Within 30 days, he noted an improvement as the anchor's speech patterns and pronunciations became his.
The change in his speech was so gradual nobody seemed to notice -- at least not immediately. Then about three months into this routine, his manager began to assign him to more profitable work for some of the shop's more important customers.
More Suggestions
If self-help doesn't work or you want to test your new verbal skills in a more demanding environment, an organization such as Toastmasters might help, according to Jane Philion, who participates in the organization. "We can help people develop their communications skills," she says.
Perhaps the most challenging opportunities available at Toastmasters meetings are the Table Topics. These are one- or two-minute talks members must give on subjects that are passed out at the last minute. "It helps you learn to think on your feet," Philion says.
Each talk is evaluated by the chapter's grammarian, whose job it is to notice obnoxious verbal mannerisms and grammatical errors. Philion is quick to point out that this person also reinforces what speakers do right. "When I have the job, they call me the grammar hammer," she says with a chuckle.
Quick Tips
- The speed of your speech is important, according to Prescott. If you talk too fast, slow down. If your words drag, make an effort to speed up.
- Develop an idea of what you want to say before opening your mouth, but don't overexplain. "Some people tell me how to make the watch when all I want to know is the time," Prescott says.
- Don't forget to listen. Hearing what the other person is saying is critical if you want to respond correctly.
- Flag critical information. Don't bury it in a long list of issues, Prescott advises.
Improving your communications skills will not only help you at work. It can also make a big difference in the rest of your life.
