THE STRAITS TIMES April 25, 2007-04-25
Great to see you, good to hear you!    
To succeed in your organisation, create influence and positive recognition through two key attributes of your communication style
How do others perceive you at work? Let me ask: If other people’s perceptions are their reality, then does your professional persona support the nature and direction of your career? You need to project authority, expertise and credibility through two key Vs of your communication style: Visual (how you look) and Vocal (how you sound) to create impact and influence.

In our highly competitive workplace environment, industry knowledge is no longer enough,

We operate in a world where “guru” is a word that has ramifications of “super-expert” and the global marketplace recognises expertise and authority as significant attributes.

 “People prefer to follow the lead of genuine authorities who have expertise, experience and knowledge”, argues the Influence researcher, Dr Robert Cialdini, in his book Influence: Science and Practice.

He nominates ‘Authority’ as one of the critical principles in the likelihood that people will say “yes” to our requests, comply with our directions and decide to take up our goods, services or ideas.

We can build personal credibility and authoritative presence through two core elements of our business persona: the power of a professional image; and a pleasant, confident and dynamic voice. We live in a highly visual world, where studies indicate that the visual message we convey, in our physical appearance, attire and mannerisms claim about fifty per cent of the impact in a face to face exchange and where our vocal qualities amount to more than a third. Clearly our personal presentation and voice are crucial tools for positive recognition at work.

Define and refine your look
Assumptions people make about us, based on appearance only, can include; economic and educational levels, social position and background, degree of sophistication, trustworthiness, moral character and success. I ask my coaching clients “What are the key qualities of your company’s brand, and does your business image align with this? If your organisation’s brand represents quality, attention to detail, and professionalism, is that what your personal style is conveying?” One international merchant banking client of mine saw that in their critically competitive marketplace, communication skills and personal presentation were major points of differentiation for their teams.

Another question I ask my seminar participants concerns whether or not their work entails providing their clients with current information. If it does, then I ask if their appearance projects this. I don’t argue that people should be fashion faddish or even fashion foolish; what I mean is that through an appropriately current look, we are indicating that we have access to a wider world of current information that also includes knowledge of contemporary style. You don’t want to be asking yourself, when you see your financial planner in his business attire, “Is that a tie or a cry for help?” of the necktie he has selected for client meetings that day.

Context is another crucial element of our personal brand at work; do we consider client expectations enough when we, as our own personal stylists, put our professional look together? A sales company I partner with in corporate training has a sign over the full length mirror at the back of the entry door of every staff washroom so that each individual sees him or herself in full as they exit. The sign says: “Would you buy from this person?” 

Your voice is your second face
When we speak to colleagues, customers and clients our voice is an essential part of our public persona and an important factor in other people’s perception of our confidence, credibility and perceived expertise. There are many judgements we make about a person from the attributes in their voice; gender, self-image, well-being, sophistication, education, mood, age, truthfulness, country of origin and psychological history. Baden Eunson in his book, Negotiation Skills, lists voice as a significant non-verbal element in negotiation, for example.

A too-high pitch can be a credibility breaker for women in the corporate world and lack of a suitably audible volume can sabotage both men and women. Cultural differences in vocal style can create barriers in the workplace too. To achieve an engaging, dynamic voice, we need to: breathe well to achieve capacity of breath; breathe robustly to control the outgoing fluent air flow; align our spine through posture to project an assertive and confident delivery; relax tension in the body particularly around the neck, shoulders, jaw, for full resonance; smile to shape the resonating qualities in the mouth for a warmer, fuller sound; drop the lower jaw for rounder vowels, in English; articulate carefully for clarity of consonants; and monitor alignment of our style to theirs.
Stand out through the Very Important Vs of your professional persona; define and refine your visual and vocal styles. Maximise your positive recognition and be remarkable for the right reasons.

Isabel Deeble, MPowering Pty Ltd.

Article by Isabel Deeble, an international speaker and trainer. Isabel is a communication consultant in executive development and works with CEOs, key business personnel and their teams. Visit http://www.mpowering.com.au/