The best things sometimes come in small packages and today’s blog will be less than the customary 500 words.
A recent piece of research entitled ‘The Power of Speaking Slower’ and referenced in this month’s Harvard Business Review, found that empathy increases when we speak slower. We have already discussed in many past blogs the power of words, and how a small change in what we say, the order of what we say or how we say it can impact the response of the receiver.
The research analysed customer service calls and focused on the rate at which we speak; specifically the number of syllables per second. Customers were asked to grade the reps after the call, and those that spoke slower had happier clients. Further analysis of the results honed in on the perception of greater “empathy and helpfulness” being shown by the agents that spoke slower than average.
The research was also conducted with doctors and once again the results showed that when a doctor speaks slower, not only are they are perceived as more caring and having greater empathy, but also more proficient resulting in greater patient satisfaction. More tellingly for us all (and in my opinion not surprisingly), when there was a need for empathy (eg because of a serious diagnosis), slow speech mattered most as the perception of feeling cared for is highest in such situations.
This final insight we can all adopt in our personal and business lives. When we are facing someone who is feeling vulnerable or threatened, when we have a difficult message to deliver, we should slow down our speech to give a greater feeling of empathy and thereby increase the likelihood the other side listens and trusts us.
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