Selling yourself over the telephone.

In the hands of skilled professional, the telephone can be an effective sales tool. However, hawking products or services with features and benefits ia not nearly as challenging to many as selling themselves over the phone.

According to Daniel Abramson, president of Daniel Personnel System Inc., Woodbury, N.Y., an international national network of permanent and temporary staffing, job seekers and career opportunists often find themselves uneasy and not prepared to verbalize their own qualifications. "The challenge of any telephone conversation with someone you don't know is to bridge the gap of anonymilly. Your voice must project a proper image or the message you convey falls on deaf ears. The human voice is like a car; when the systems are properly maintained, the car goes where the driver wants it to go." He points out that selling yourself over the telephone requires a balance of energy, pace flow, tone, and clarity.

Energy is the force needed to command attention whether speaking on the telephone, into microphone, or to a large group. A hard-to-hear voice fails to display confidence, enthusiasm, or leadership.

Pace is the measure of how slowly or quickly a person speaks. Talk too slow and you risk being viewed as befuddled; speak too fast and images of a "slick," high-pressure sales pro emerge.

Flow is the continuity of an individual's voice...