Use Your Inside Voice
Once upon a time I coached my son in youth football and basketball. The football field was outside and 100 yards long. The basketball court is, of course, inside and 30 yards long. On a Friday night, I was coaching from the sidelines in the Chesterfield Quarterback League Championship, yelling at the top of my lungs. On the following Saturday morning, less than 10 hours later, I was coaching the first B-Ball game of the season. I was still yelling.
Ten minutes into the game, my assistant coach whispered “Coach Saunders. Maybe you should use your inside voice.”
Oh snap. I suddenly realized that I was using my outside voice inside a small school gym. I was shocking everyone: the kids, the parents and even the refs thought I was bonkers. Knowing what voice to use — what to say, how to say it, and how loudly you exclaim it — requires a bit of situational awareness. For example, we don’t whisper at an outdoor concert and we don’t yell in a conference room.
We all know someone who uses their outside voice in emails. Sometimes the message comes in ALL CAPS — and we ask, “Why are they yelling?” Other times, people send short, curt email responses and the reader thinks they’re being dismissed or disrespected. After sending a courtesy email notifying a customer that their invoice was 90 days overdue, we got a curt reply “Got your email. Please advise.” It took every ounce of strength not to write back “PAY YOUR BILLS.”
Reminder: email is not text, and vice versa.
Having situational awareness means you don’t send an email without capitalization and punctuation to a client or customer. In other words, you shouldn’t use your texting voice in an email. In response to a vendor request recently, I received the following reply via email. “yeah i got you” followed by a winking face emoji. (The response looked like something I’d get from my son via text, not a fellow businessperson).
A few years back I learned about the 7 C’s of communications and I suggest it be part of your team’s training on effective business communications:
Clear.
Concise.
Concrete.
Correct.
Coherent.
Complete.
Courteous.
It’s a good thing to learn for younger team members and a great refresher for the veterans. Admittedly, I still struggle occasionally with 1, 5 and 7.
MONDAY:
COUNTDOWN TO CHEESY
If you’re counting the days til you can get a cheesy western here in the Capital City — you can rest assured that we are too! We’re starting the renovations to the new Texas Inn location in Richmond… wanna sneak peek? Here’s an artist’s rendition of the new design. (Whaddya think? Email me!)
TUESDAY:
A HBD TO OUR VIP VP!
Tuesday was a special day for our VP — it’s Leanne Pillow’s birthday! While she’d probably prefer to be celebrating with her sweet family in Charleston, S.C., Leanne genuinely adds sunshine to every room she enters — and adds stellar guidance, leadership, and client relationships to all of us here at Madison+Main.
WEDNESDAY:
THE LOOK OF THE LAW
It was another day of content creation with our clients at CowanGates! Accounts Director Allison Nida and Account Manager Amanda Anderson were on set to help capture updated images of their legal eagles – and administrative team – with a photoshoot. Their full-service law firm has been a client for over a decade and we’re proud to continue working with them! Photos will be up on their website and their social media platforms soon.
THURSDAY:
TOOT FOR AWARENESS
We are always so excited to work with our friends at Hitting Cancer Below the Belt. Their work to increase education and screening to prevent colorectal cancer consistently saves lives! Traveling with them to events is their inflatable colon – you read that right – and recently we were able to create custom designs for the transport trailer that help raise awareness and spark some smiles on the road. You can see more on their website and social media as well!
FRIDAY:
PERFECTLY PATRICK
Richmond is getting ready for Easter weekend and I went back on WRVA this morning to keep everyone up to date on how to best soak up the River City! It’s race week at Richmond Raceway, with races all weekend and even an easter sunday service – tickets are still available.
Grab your fanciest hat and head to Easter on Parade – Sunday, Monument Avenue, from 1 – 5 PM!
And Chesterfield’s first ever Restaurant Week is kicking off this week. It runs March 29- April 7, offering the chance to try the best local cuisine and benefits the Chesterfield Food Bank.
A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE EVENTS
RETURNING CITIZEN CAREER & WELLNESS FAIR
Date: April 13, 2024 (Saturday)
Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: 5833 Poplar Hall Drive, Norfolk, VA 23502
Returning Citizen Career & Wellness Fair
In honor of National Second Chance Month, the Urban League of Hampton Roads partners with the Office of Attorney General and Revive Community of Virginia to help returning citizens in the Hampton Roads area with a second chance in having a career.
Join us to meet employers providing second chances and receive additional resources available for career readiness.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.“ — Teddy Roosevelt