Seth Godin is the author of several books about “marketing, the spread of ideas and managing both customers and employees with respect”. They are bestsellers. His blog is one of my favourites. speakerphone
In this blog post from 11 November 2017, Seth offers some simple, practical advice when it comes to speakerphones and microphones: Learn how to use them properly and then speak normally.
———
Speakerphone Voice
by Seth Godin
When the speakerphone is on in the conference room, do you talk differently?
It’s pretty common.
We breathe from a different spot, hold our chest differently, constrict our throats and generally try to shout our words across the ocean.
The people listening on the speaker are used to it. The people in the room with you, less so.
Human beings don’t have a long cultural history with microphones. We don’t instinctively understand that they actually work. So we shout instead. And shouting changes how we’re believed, trusted and ultimately heard.
Learning to use a microphone is a great skill. When you speak normally, it turns out that the microphone has plenty of volts, watts and amps on hand to move your voice all the way to Latvia if you want it to. And then your words will actually be heard.
