After several months of working from home now, most of us are pros at virtual communication and setting up video calls.
You’ve probably even found the best spot in your home to have Zoom meetings and perfected your body language.
But here’s one thing you may not have thought of: your voice.
Sounding strong
You might have a strong speaking voice in person, but the rules are a little different when communicating virtually.
Here are four tips to sounding your best on Zoom, from author and communication expert Carmine Gallo.
1. Slow down. In a casual conversation, the average person speaks about 170 words a minute. But digital conversations are a different animal. Connections can lag and glitch, which makes it tough for your team to keep up with you if you don’t adjust your pace. So be sure to speak a little more slowly and deliberately.
2. Pause for impact. Going along with speed, don’t be afraid to pause after an important point to let it sink in. Don’t give in to the pressure to fill every second with something – this can result in filler words like “uh” and “um.”
3. Enunciate. In typical conversations, we often clip words at the end. While not a big deal in person, it can make video calls tougher to understand. You can improve on your enunciation by practicing tongue twisters.
4. Invest in a better microphone. If you’re doing a ton of virtual calls or will be working remotely for the foreseeable future, it might be worth it to invest in a headset that comes with a better microphone than the one built into your computer.
