Rules of business conversation

A business conversation, and, in principle, any conversation aimed at achieving a certain result, should somehow rely on the rules of public speaking. And especially a business conversation. And if you are interested in making your work meeting a success, then the main emphasis in communication tactics should be on persuasiveness.

To make your speech more convincing, you can use the following rules of business communication.

Don’t be monotonous. Think of your history teacher at school or someone who says everything in the same tone and as if in the same breath. This causes a twofold reaction — at the same time you want to sleep and scream at how annoying it is. Monotony is appropriate only if you are a priest. And even then, the monotony of the servants of the church turns out to be something special and beautiful. In other cases, change the tone of your voice, emotionally highlight words and sentences, experiment with the range of your voice, in general, speak like a good friend, but with an eye to the fact that this is still a business meeting.

Change the tempo of your speech. The tempo of speech is as important as its tone. Therefore, in especially important moments, speak more slowly, more clearly, and minor details and unpleasant nuances can be pronounced faster, as if omitting them. This is often done in advertisements for medicines, for example, when they say at the end of the video on rewind, “consult your doctor before use.”

Make pauses in your speech. Taking a break is a skill that still needs to be learned. Fortunately, here, holding a moment of silence, you will not look awkward, which some people are afraid of when speaking publicly. A well-placed pause gives importance to what will be said after it. You can also be silent after important information, so that it is better absorbed by your interlocutor, and he had time to reflect on it.

Sometimes it’s worth speaking quieter than usual because it makes the other person listen to you and pay more attention to what you’re saying. However, you shouldn’t overdo it here. Sometimes, when students start messing around in class, some teachers start talking very quietly on purpose so that the children will shut up and listen to what the teacher is saying. On the one hand, this is a good alternative to shouting, which teachers usually do, but on the other hand, when a person speaks very quietly on purpose, it gives away his psychological state just as well as if he were shouting. In other words, it’s not normal. It is best to speak in a normal voice, sometimes emphasizing accents quieter or louder.

And the last point, non—compliance with which makes all other tips useless – prepare for each meeting and do it with a specific interlocutor in mind. Of course, this is understandable, you might say. And it’s good if that’s the case. Many people think otherwise. They believe that you can “go with the flow” and that “everything will work out by itself,” which means that you can not really strain yourself based on your experience. In fact, the experience lies precisely in the fact that the speaker prepares himself every time, as if from scratch, depending on his audience and the topic he is going to discuss. Preparation and practice are the best guarantee for the success of your business meeting.