1- Use pauses. When the other finishes speaking, pause 3 seconds to see that they have finished.
2- Practice empathic listening – rephrase what you are hearing. In the absence of body language, you need to double up your audible checking that you and the other person are following each other’s lines of thought.
3- Offer 2 choices: If a face-to-face meeting is the most appropriate next step, use the 2-choice strategy. Offer two times, “Mr. Davis, I can be at your office at 2:15 p.m. today to discuss this further. Or would 9:45 a.m. tomorrow better suit your schedule?” You don’t say: “When can we meet?” Offer 2 options. (The use of :15 or :45 shows that you take time seriously… be on time.)
4- Use the person’s name 2-3 times
5- Avoid negotiating anything over the telephone. If you must negotiate, use long pauses and don’t rush or allow the other to rush you. Repeat any agreement at the end of the call and follow up with the same agreement in writing.
6- Stand up while you talk on the phone – you breath better, you feel stronger, you stretch your body at the same time
7- Visual clues: If you have a mirror or can see your reflection in the glass, it gives you energy. Mirror is good. Photos of the other’s face is good. The mirror can help you to project a more powerful spoken image over the phone.
Source: conorneill.com
