So you've initiated the call, you're on the call, how do you really come across your best? I gave you a few tips earlier and I want to reinforce those now. For starters have a pleasant tone of voice. No one wants to talk to a grumpy person. Actually smile. I know it sounds ridiculous and cheesy, but actually smiling when you're talking on the phone will help you'll have a more pleasant tone.

And don't ask me why. But somehow it works. And if you even look at a mirror of yourself smiling, you'll have a more pleasant tone. Standing yields sound better, you'll be able to breathe more fully. You'll be able to gesture more, you'll be able to resonate more. So standing when you talk can actually help.

It's not essential. But if you want to give yourself that final 1% extra, it can be incredibly helpful when you're talking to a client customer prospect. Don't ever make them feel rushed. I agree. There may be times when you are rushed, you can always apologize. And in a non rush way, say I apologize, I have to leave now to catch a plane to come see you for the meeting tomorrow.

Give a reason. But otherwise, let them talk. Don't rush Also, don't hop right in. If you're talking to someone who is an existing client, customer, prospect or boss, and you already know them, it can be seen as too rude, too abrupt. Have a little small talk. Ask how they're doing.

If it's a beautiful day where you are say how beautiful it isn't asked how their day is now if you sense they're incredibly rushed, or they're one of these people who always wants to get in and out off the phone as quickly as possible. You can dispense with a small talk, but if you're not certain, it's better to just spend 30 seconds 60 seconds on some pleasantries before hopping into the main purpose of Your call? It's got to be proportional. It's really just one quick question from a colleague in a Cleveland office. Sure, call up, ask get it and get on. But if it is a client, colleague, someone else you report to and you know, you're gonna have to talk to them for 10 minutes.

And you haven't talked in a few days, well, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, it's proportionate. It's only one 10th of the 10 minute phone call. So try to have some small talk. Next, how are you coming across? And by that? Do I mean that you're using a lot of fillers?

When you're uncomfortable? This comes out when you're talking to clients, prospects, bosses, when people are uncomfortable, I'm there thinking What do I say? And that's when the fillers the the arms, the ORS the nose, the SOS comm app again and again and again. My recommendation record yourself and listen to it. That's the homework assignment. I've been very light on homework in this course.

So don't complain about the level of homework. But this is not the sort of class where it really helps to just do multiple choice test and write a bunch of sentences. You need to hear yourself speaking on the phone. So the homework is I need you to call somebody, have a conversation, get a second cell phone or use your laptop or iPad to record just your part of the conversation. Doesn't matter what the other person does. And I need you to really count your your arms, your ears, the nose, and see Are you coming across?

Well beyond that, do you come across someone interesting? Do you like the quality of your voice? Do you sound fully conversational? Or do you sound like you're reading a script? Nobody wants to sound like a script reader and nobody wants to listen to someone who sounds like they're reading a script. How many of us get phone calls sometimes daily from some sort of tele, telemarketer and you can tell it takes less than a second.

To tell when someone's reading we all have built into us this instinctive ability to detect when someone's reading to us on the phone. You don't want to sound like you're reading. And by the way, this applies to conference calls, any kind of call, I do not recommend you ever read on the phone to someone, they can figure it out, they can hear it. Of course, there are exceptions. If you're doing a quarterly conference call, and you are the CFO for a publicly traded company, and you have to read legal boilerplate or your lawyer say you're going to prison, by all means read. But realize at that moment, you're not trying to really communicate, you're just checking a box for any other time when you're talking to someone and you initiated the call especially.

You want to just talk you want to be conversational. So I need you to record yourself having a conversation ideally work related with another colleague, perhaps a friend, a buddy appear an equal and just talk to them as if you are talking to a client. record it. Listen to it. Figure out what you like, what you don't like. That's the homework.

Do it right now.