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Rediff.com  » Getahead » Avoid stammering in public. Here's help

Avoid stammering in public. Here's help

By Nasha Fitter
June 06, 2005 14:44 IST
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For all your questions on call centre etiquette and communication, we have BPO training expert Nasha Fitter to answer our young readers:

BPOPlease tell me how to manage a telephonic interview for a call cente. What kind of questions do they ask?

What do they look for in a telephonic interview?

- Sindhu

A call centre tends to do telephonic interviews to see how you sound over the telephone when talking to customers.

This could be an advantage or a disadvantage. Sometimes, people sound clearer over the phone, sometimes, the opposite can occur.

Make sure you don't breathe too heavily on the phone while speaking. Pause between words and articulate your consonant sounds.

While your interviewer is speaking, jot down what you want to say in a notepad. 

Use your hands when you speak. That will help add more rhythm and personality to your voice.

You also need to over-intonate. Your interviewer cannot see your facial expressions over the phone.

How can I avoid stammering while speaking in public? 

How can I improve my communication skills through e-mail and public speaking? How long will it take me to communicate effectively?

- Anwar Hussain

Good communication is definitely a catalyst for growth in the business world. Stammering usually results from lack of confidence. 

Relax while you speak; use your hands to help you feel and sound more natural.

To improve your public speaking skills, notice how other people speak in groups. Note down what you do and do not like about how they address an audience. Incorporate what you do like into your own delivery.

Ask people you know how they think you are speaking. It is sometimes very difficult for us to self-reflect. We need to know how we sound to other people.

Finally, speak with emotion. People who do not add personality, life and feeling to their speech patterns are very boring to listen to.

To help you professionalise e-mail etiquette, log on to Microsoft Online Help and download a letter template. Notice how their letters are structured and how they use vocabulary.   

What are the basic requirements/ skills needed to be a process/ soft skills trainer at a call centre?

How do I look for higher posts?

- Surabhi Mehta

Both process and soft skills trainers need to be lively, charismatic and empathetic. 

You will need to be able to hold students' attention eight hours a day. Therefore, it is vital that you are the kind of person people enjoy listening to. 

To be a process trainer, you need to have experience in the process you are applying for. Similarly, to be a soft skills trainer, it is important that you have worked in customer service, retail or a related field. 

As a trainer, you have to share personal experiences and lessons you learnt with your class as training is much different from teaching.

I always clear my rounds. But I don't know why I am always rejected in the HR round.

I do not understand what HR is actually judging. Can you help?

- Pinky Walia

HR usually cares about turnover. They don't want to hire people who will leave their organisation quickly and look for individuals who are interested in medium to long-term growth with their companies. 

Research the company you plan to interview with to show you are serious about working there. Portray in your interview your desire to get promoted and climb the ranks.

I am a commerce graduate from Delhi University and am doing an MBA at Amity School of Distance Learning, Noida. 

I work as a sales coordinator at a private organisation. I have joined a premier institute to get fluency in English, gain self-confidence and present myself in a public place in a effective manner and help me get selected at a call centre.

But I still have a problem with self-confidence, pronunciation/ accent and, sometimes, wrong usage of tenses. Please help me.

- Umesh Gaur

First, don't be too hard on yourself.  Improving pronunciation and grammar is difficult and takes time.

Since you are already taking classes, pressure your teachers to pay special attention to your mistakes. For example, tell them you want to improve your tenses, and that every time you use a tense incorrectly, they should correct you.

That is really the best way to improve. By real-life correction.

Next, read and watch television. Read newspapers, good magazines and books. While reading, pay special attention to how sentences are formed. Watch news shows on television -- listening to correct spoken English will also help you immensely. 

I don't really know the issues you are facing with your pronunciation, but I have found that if people just breathe more while they speak (especially for the P, K, T, Th sounds), and bring the tongue down for the R sound, accents become clearer.

Also, if you breathe more while you speak, it becomes difficult to speak fast. Thus, your rate of speech simultaneously improves.

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Nasha Fitter operates Fitter Solutions, a communication and training organisation with expertise in public and interpersonal communication.

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