Your tone of voice could ruin you

My friend, Professor Yaffle, sent me a brilliant snippet.


This is Malcolm Gladwell http://www.gladwell.com/ (you've no doubt read his book The Tipping Point) with a theory on tone of voice.

The theory is that doctors don't get sued because they scew up. They get sued because they screw up and because the patient didn't like the way the doctor talked to them. And by listening to the tone of voice the doctor uses , you can tell if the doctor is more likely to get sued.

The patient is happy when the doctor shows respect. Respect is conveyed by a warm tone of voice. If the doctor has a more dominant tone of voice, the patient doesn't feel respected. Bye bye doc, hello lawyer.

Yaffle reckons that tone of voice is actually more significant in delivering customer satisfaction than providing good service. And guess what, he's right.

And it doesn't just apply to doctors. It applies to banks and insurance companies and retailers and presidents. And to conversations and letters and emails and podcasts and bloody IVR phone systems and websites and...anything that is written or said. Anywhere. Ever. By anyone.

Anyhow, have a listen:

Back soon.....

Holiday

Fran is currently on holiday but is flexing her blogging muscles to do some serious posting when she gets back next week.

It's been too long.

Names

I've been quiet for most of March because this is the last month of our financial year which brings pressures that squash free thought. But I've just read something in today's Guardian that has released me from the shackles of the profit & loss spreadsheet.

In his article Cocks, Dafts and Butts of the World be proud, Tom Meltzer writes about people who are so embarrassed by their surnames they feel obliged to change them. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/26/endangered-surnames-shakespeare
This means we're less likely to bump into Nutters, Balls, Bottoms, Willys, Jellys and Pigs (so to speak).

I have a lot of sympathy for people with strange or embarrassing surnames. When I married Rich, I stopped being Fran Brookes and became Fran Fish. United (and, trust me, we do not go by these), we have become Dick and Fanny Fish. Hmmm.

I admit that initially I was a bit embarrassed by my new name. For starters, and as Norwich Union-soon-to-become-Aviva will tell you, changing your name is a pretty big deal. But when saying your name is also met with a response like
"hey, that's weird!"
or "is that REALLY your name?"
or "is that a stage name?"
you start to fret.

Anyhow, it didn't take long for me to realise that I didn't have an embarrassing name, I just had a memorable one. And this has advantages. Not least that unlike Norwich Union-soon-to-become-Aviva, you don't have to spend a lot of money to ensure people remember who you are.

See you soon.

From Fran Fish and her friends Ed Balls, Alan Cumming and Nicky Butt

Guts

As words form a big part of soh life, I was really interested in this research that's just come out of the University of Reading. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7911645.stm

Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist (there's a job title), is using a computer model to track how words are changing over time. Mark's team can predict which words are likely to become extinct - "squeeze", "guts", "stick" and "bad" could be the first casualties.

We can't lose guts. Guts is a great word!
Not least because it's a very happy bedfellow with other great words..."his guts oozed out", "I'll have your guts for garters", "you're full of guts and grit".
No, guts can't be allowed to go.
We need a campaign and a Facebook group. Now.

I did get thinking about the words and phrases that SHOULD become extinct. I think we could all live very happily if we phased out these five:

100 per cent mortgage.
Your call is important to us.
Kerry Katona.
Paris Hilton.
EastEnders omnibus.

Suggestions welcome.

Sounds of the recession

Driving to work and listening to the radio used to be a pleasure.
Not now.
Now it's depressing and drab and grey and depressing. The news on the Today programme should come with a health warning; this morning we got:

Obama's "response to worst economic crisis in decades".
The war in Iraq.
Japan's export trade is in meltdown.
Usual bad stuff about banks.
Gordon Brown's "response to the recession".
Train companies don't want to reduce fares (bastards).
Iran is probably making a really big bomb.
Half of Zimbabwe is dying.
Child neglect.
Jack Straw is the latest victim of Nigerian internet hackers (actually that one cheered me up).
The weather today will be cloudy.

Ofcom should make the bbc broadcast Ricky Gervais' podcasts. Permanently. As far as I'm concerned these are vitamins for your ears. If we were all listening to Ricky, Stephen and Karl on the way to work, we'd all cheer up and be looking at each others smiley faces on tubes, trains and in cars.

Until Ofcom sees sense, here's some novel recession sounds to listen to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=DE&hl=de&v=2-BZfFakpzc