Creating and maintaining the right personal image for you and your company

I just received a call from a telemarketer about telephone services, so I thought I'd write about voice. In person, our image is our visual appearance. People make assumptions about others based on how we look and dress. However, on the phone, the voice is our image. What kind of voice do you have? Is it high or low pitched? Loud or soft? How about speed - do you speak fast or slow? Are you monotonous or not? And how about intonation - do you always speak as if you are asking a question? In general, people think of high pitched voice as innocent, naive and young. A very low pitched voice is pretentious and at times intimidating. Fast speakers appears nervous to others, whereas slow speakers appears to have a low IQ. Monotonous is boring, and exaggerated intonations gives an impression of melodramatic. How do you know how you speak? Listen to others' voices and make comparisons. Then listen to your voice through a recording, for example, voice mail. How does your voice sound compared to others you've heard? Intonation: women beware - many speak as if they are asking questions - upward inflection at the end. If a person speaks with downward inflection, the impression is professionalism and authority. Sad to say, telemarketers, whether they have a great voice or not, have bad impression in people's minds. They are seen as bothersome people who constantly try to sell others something at a bad time (no time is a good time). Or they are seen as persistent people who survey others without rewards, such as a discount off their services. I know many who just slam their phone or always say they are busy when telemarketers call. There must be a better way to get messages across than telemarketing. A company who use telemarketing will have a negative image compared to those who use innovative methods that are seen as less bothersome by consumers.