It is widely believed that the voice is critical to success in telemarketing. While little research supports this directly, a large body of research related to vocal cues and social cognition establishes clear support for this point of view. This article finds that a fluent, slightly faster than listener, moderately loud voice using a standard dialect, clear diction, and a “normal” voice quality lends itself to greatest perceptions of credibility and social attractiveness for the speaker. This in turn should lead to greater persuasiveness and compliance on the part of the target.
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