Saturday, September 10, 2011

10 Steps in Improving Your Voice




You voice is one hell of an asset when you work in a BPO company.    Voice is not only a tool to convey information but it can also be a factor to make or break a negotiation, close a sale or simply a cause of miscommunication.

When you speak, your voice trails off with these three factors: Clarity, Control and Impact.

Listed below are  ten tips  to attain these three factors optimally to its full potential. (And it does apply whether you're doing a face-to-face or telephone conversation).

  1. Practice a deep-toned voice, well-paced voice.
85% of customers over the phone gained confidence from a customer service representative by their deep- toned voice, it signifies authority and trust just by hearing a well-modulated, well-paced voiced.

  1. Record your voice: listen & review
It pays to be conscious on how you sounded while speaking. This way you can be a critic with your own voice. Listen to the output and scrub the flaws.

  1. Deliver Eloquently
Too much of these: "ahh", "ahm" and unnecessary pauses would make you sound unsure and without confidence. If English isn't your native language, do not articulate what you're thinking in your native language then translating it to English later on-this will fail you big time; instead, "Think English, Speak English"

  1. Practice tongue-twisters
Speaking out "if Peter Piper pick a pack of pickled pepper, where's that pack of picked pepper Peter Piper picked?" 5 times consecutively without a single fault with sustained speed and pace will lessen your chances of stammering.
 
  1. Don't talk through your nose
Talking through your nose is like singing to be at worst. Practice speaking out using your diaphragm.  This will let the voice within you sounded more controlled and authoritative.

  1. Do not mumble
Talking indistinctively creates unintelligible conveyance of speech. You will be sounded like in-engage and considered as unprofessional esp when talking with customers.

  1. Use proper Intonation
The rising and falling intonation, including the monotone should be observed in appropriate cases. This way, you can emphasize your points and you will sound assertive. Use the monotone when reading out disclaimers, notices, etc.

  1. Vocalize
This may sound extreme but if you can find an open field where you can amplify your voice before you head-out for a shift would be helpful to tone and prep your voice, exercise your vocal chords, your larynx, pharynx and your diaphragm.

  1. Read out a passage or a news article once a day
A 5-minute reading session everyday augments reading comprehension, eloquence and moderate mouth exercise. Make it a habit.


  1. Constantly ask feedback from your friends on how are you sounded like
If you sound like a high-pitched parrot or a clumsy sounding telephone attendant, seek the advise of a speech therapist.




-mac
  

Fullybooked Mall of Asia


There's this unique déjà vu feeling whenever you enter a bookshop that makes the inside of you unceasing to want for more.



That was what I felt when I came inside Fully Booked shop in Mall of Asia (after more than two years).. I was momentarily in trance as I've scanned the place decorated with books on a creative point of view. I couldn't help but to get magnetized immediately in trying to devour the sharply lined-up spines in the shelf under Biographies (lately, I've been eyeing on those true-to-life stories of some of the greatest people  on earth).



I was kind of entering a modernized museum, the lightings were surreal, the shelves were staggering,  giving a distant pleasing look to approach one because of the huge labels. A book hunter would easily led to where he want to look at or find the book he's seeking because of the panelized approach to the bookshelves' tags. It was this simple, it's pretty inviting, and so approachable that you need not to get a hand in looking for a specific title or author.

From the way those books, shelves and ledges were placed, it was neatly accessible and readable from a man's eye view. I've seen other bookstores in the Metro but nowhere could they match how FullyBooked has properly designed their placement of shelves, it has the touch of fashion into it, considering the teeming eloquence it's presenting to its audience, shoppers and visitors.




Time flies when you're inside. I was indulging as I read the summaries, the titles and amazed by the  front covers' arts.

Unlike in SM North Edsa, this branch in MOA do not have a reading kiosk or couches where you can further luxuriate in skimming through the pages. I've noticed that each books were covered in the plastic celluloid where you couldn’t just open it, 'twas like some sort of a seal or protection.



The absence of a reading nook is tolerably understandable because this branch is not that much spacious. I believe it's only fair to exclude one, the hallways were broad enough for someone to squat or stand incase he wanted to spoil in further reading.

The Cashier's and Customer Service' lounge were neatly placed that did not serve as an obstruction  but an area where you can wander to ask queries. The wall behind the cashier's was an adage "When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes" (Erasmus), which reminds me how customer's are flocking in lately to bookshops. I turned my head into a 360 (but of course with my body rotating as well) and I was saddened by the number of visitors. You could count on your fingers how many people are in, minus the staff, that led me thinking on the current trend when it comes to digitalizing prints nowadays.



You may visit the shop with their contact listed here.
G/F Southwing SM Mall of Asia

Tel  02 5560264




The intensifying demand of gadgets such as the iPad and other eBook readers, not to mention those smartphones where you can download an app so you can read a book (in any kind of format) is downright killing the printing press and bookstores, not only here in the Philippines but abroad as well. Bookstore chains in the US are closing down, even those who have been far long enough in the business.

I've asked one of the staffs how is the trend of sale compared to when the digital media was not yet in the market, and she said that it was really hurting for their sales volume.

We have to accept the fact that fewer people are in to reading books, lesser now are the humans who are to be considered as bookworms. Adding to the pie in hurting the bookstore business  is the cut-out share of the digital media, who would want to carry a hardbound these days when infact you could load the latest novel of James Patterson outright through your iPhone's iBook or into your Galaxy Tab straight from a torrent site? (Yep, it's pirated, but it's free). Moreover, the convenience and the state-of-the-art digital effects of these digitalized books are nowhere to match especially if you loved technology and gizmo.

Just my two cents on these softbound and hardbound books, I still find it priceless whenever a real, physical book is in my hand. May that be a novel, a technical manual or just simply a planner or a diary. I'd sound traditional and sentimental but it boils down into one thing, and I would call it preference.

I rode in a jeep one day going to the Southern part of the Metro and someone's holding a paperback copy of John Grisham's latest bestseller. It was a fairly brand new book, as I tried my best not to look so interested in it, while the reader was smiling through the pages.

I have stopped buying physical books when I had my iPhone two years ago, so I was a converted as an eReader bookie, I've read a lot more, get opened up to a plethora of more authors and titles I couldn't imagine I'd have them on my list to read. Neither I felt excitement nor intimacy, I just felt contentment. And I guess, my vision has blurred and I have to have wearing my eyeglasses most often than not.



I would still take pride in reading a book inside the train, in a bus or under a tree, may that be a paperback or a hardbound. Methinks that these physical materials in a book somehow makes you grip, indulge, and be more personal to the story that was written. That as you turn through the pages, it's  as if an intimate bond is formed between the reader and the prose being conveyed by the author. A real, tangible book serves as a gateway for you to feel deep down the story as it unfolds through your eyes and imagination.







-mac


Blogger app for the iOS

As of this writing, i'm testing out this application fresh from the APP STORE. yeehaw! El Goog has finally released a solitary app for Blogger on the iOS. Just a few things to remember, make sure that your iDevice has an iOS version of 4.3.2 or higher.

Labeling and inserting pics/images are quite easy. The UI is certainly user friendly and so intuitive.

I believe this app will restart the gateway of revolution into mobile blogging. It will certainly be applicable if you're a blogger who has a fotoblog and wanted those snapshots posted immediately and on the go.


Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Gratitude in a believer's perception


I was keen in writing about this virtue most often than not - about gratitude, the effect is so unfathomably profound.

What's more rewarding than an answered prayer? I begged for work, and it was answered within two weeks time  (less than two weeks actually). It never seem to occur to me that He had given me what I've asked: the job description itself and the benefits, all these were afforded, it's as if, fed instantly in front of me. I couldn't be more thankful to Him, for His unending graces, love and compassion.

What's more fulfilling than a filled empty lovelife? I don't normally post about personal news about myself here especially when it comes to the aspect of love affairs but methinks, it doesn't hurt to share. Prior to my devotion of work hunt, I've committed myself again. I'm satisfied with it and looking forward for it to blossom further to it's fullest potential.

Sometimes, the simpler the conveyance of the gratitude is, the more it'd mark in the minds and hearts. So my sincerest expression of thanks to Boss Merlin Cruz, Ron Fernando and Miss Laarni.

To Him, whose glory must go beyond forevermore, You are the living God I've known since I had my musings as a child.




mac







More than words can say




All I thought was, you will never come into my life
I seek you from within the recesses of my supplications
It was a long time, that I have waited
The days have  pained me,
Until, one day..
I was at my happiest

 
I don't know how to fathom this feelings
That you make me alive every time you get in touch
Those moments are just so treasured
That may it last as long as we're alive


Each day, each time the second hand moves
We know the time's getting nearer
To have our eyes locked into each other
Through gazing power of the window of the soul
Will finally crawl into our whole

Passion and hope and love, that someday we'll be together

(for annavie)



by MAC
(latepost)