Learning Module 5:

Speaking Across the

Curriculum
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

01 Explain the concept of

speaking skills;
02 Demonstrate speaking skills
through communicative
activities

03 Role-play the various speaking

situations.
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 SPEAKING
- is the productive skill in the oral
mode.

It, like the other skills, is more

complicated than it seems at first and
involves more than just pronouncing
words.
 SPEAKING SKILLS
• Speaking skills are the skills that give us the
ability to communicate effectively.
• These skills allow the speaker, to convey his
message in a passionate, thoughtful, and
convincing manner.
• Speaking skills also help to assure that one
won't be misunderstood by those who are
listening.
There are three kinds of speaking situations in
which we find ourselves:

1. interactive
2. partially interactive, and
3. non-interactive
 NON-INTERACTIVE
PARTIALLY
INTERACTIVE

INTERACTIVE
 MEETING
FACILITATION
 Here are important tips on speaking well as a meeting
participant.

1. Talk to the entire group 2. Reach out and encourage

feedback
When speaking in groups moves your
eyes around and talk to anyone who’s
listening to what you have to say. Actively encourage comment and feedback based
on what you have to contribute.
“When responding to a question,
address the entire group, not just the
person who asked the
question.”

3. Mirror the tenor of the meeting 4. Don’t be a time hog

Another business meeting basic is establishing a Be thorough, but don’t take much time to get your
comfortable atmosphere where everyone feels at ease. message across that you lose others’ attention.
One effective way to achieve that is to establish a
consistency in communication.
 What to Do Before Speaking?
2. Be a quick 3. Structure your
1. Be an active listener: speech in your
organiser of
thoughts: mind:

This means listening Adopt some frameworks The basic structure

carefully and giving or models to structure new of any speech
your full attention to the involves:
information into something
words, tone, emotion,
coherent that we can 1. Opening
and logic behind what
the other one is saying. respond with.
2. Body
3. Conclusion
 INBOUND
AND
OUTBOUND
CALL
 INBOUND
- incoming calls that are initiated by
customers or clients seeking assistance,
information, support, or making inquiries.
- focused on addressing customer needs
and inquiries. Customers may be seeking
assistance with product information,
troubleshooting technical issues, placing
orders, making reservations, or seeking
customer support.
OUTBOUND
- outgoing calls made by call center agents to
customers or clients for various purposes, such
as sales, marketing, surveys, or follow-ups.
- aimed at proactive engagement with customers or
prospects. The primary objectives may include sales
generation, lead qualification, market research,
customer feedback collection, or appointment
scheduling.
CALL CENTERS
Useful Call Center Jargons
1. BPO
2. Accounts
3. Tools
4. Nesting
5. Sup call
6. ACW
7. Avail
8. Queuing
9. Auto-in
10. Escalate/ De-escalate
1. BPO
BPO means Business Process Outsourcing. It’s when a company hires
another company to do certain tasks for them. For example, an online
store like eBay hires a call center company from the Philippines to
handle their customer calls for them.

Note: BPO is a huge umbrella and it doesn’t always have to be a call

center. It could be a company of virtual assistants, graphic designers, and
programmers.
2. Account

Account is the client company that a call center is

working for. Let’s say eBay hires Convergys (a call
center), then eBay is basically the account.
3. Tools

Tools are the software and applications that you need to use to
pull up customers’ files, make a call, or process a refund for the
customers. Depending on the account, the number and types of
tools you need to use vary. You will learn to use these tools during
your Product Training.
4. Nesting
Nesting is your transition period between training and the time you start
taking actual calls.

During this stage, you’re assigned to sit with an agent while he’s taking calls
and you will listen to his calls live through a headset. This way, you can get a
feel of your actual tasks and ask questions when the agent is not busy.

This stage only last for a maximum of 3 days so you should make the most of
it and absorb as much as you can.
5. Sup call

Sup call is the short term for supervisor call. A regular call
becomes a sup call when a customer specifically asks to
speak with a supervisor or if you’ve tried to de-escalate the
call to no avail. When a call turns into a sup call, you simply
inform your team leader (TL) about it and then transfer the
call.
6. ACW
ACW means After-Call Work. Simply put, this is the work you do after the end
of each customer’s call. Depending on the call, your after-call work varies.

For example, the customer is following up for a refund he hasn’t received. In

this case, your after-call work would involve emailing the Refunds Department
and following up on the customer’s behalf.

Usually, the maximum allowed ACW time for each call is 2 minutes. If you
exceed that, then prepare to hear your TL’s shrill voice shouting, “ACW!” at
you. It means, “Hurry up! You’ve already exceeded the allowed ACW limit.”
7. Avail
Avail means Available. When the TL shouts, “Avail!” on the floor, she
means you should change your status to “Available” so the calls could
come in and you could start taking calls.

You could also say avail to say the lines aren’t busy and no calls are
coming in.
8. Queuing

Queuing is the opposite of avail. If someone says it’s queuing, it

means there are lots of customers waiting on the line. If the
queue is unusually long, your Team Lead might also help taking
calls.
9. Auto-in
Auto-in means automatic in.

If it’s an inbound auto-in it means the calls that you’re going to receive
will not ring. Instead, the system will automatically pick them up for you.

If it’s an outbound auto-in, the system will dial the numbers to call
instead of you doing the dialing. This also means there is not much time
for you to rest between calls.
10. Escalate/ De-escalate

Escalating a call means transferring a call to someone with higher authority

(like a Team Lead or an Escalation Department) because you could no longer
help the customer and/ or she’s demanding to talk to someone with a
higher authority/ skills (Team Lead or Escalation Department) to solve her
problems.

As much as possible, your goal as the first agent is to de-escalate the

call if you can solve her problem. However, if her problem is something that
only a higher authority could solve, then your only option is to escalate.
Most important skills individuals
can cultivate to work more
effectively in any call
center
 1. Clarity in Communicating

Thinking through your responses and answering in clear,

understandable language helps in saving time; less back and
forth is needed between yourself and the customer.
2. Technical Proficiency and Understanding in/of
Products/Services

Customer service agents armed with the ins and outs of a

product can make more appropriate recommendations and
quickly solve more complex issues on a regular basis.
 3. Patience

A patient representative who takes the time to work with

them on their concerns will leave a lasting impression.

On the other hand, a call center representative who fails to

do so could turn the individual away from the company for
good.
 4. Empathy

Knowing that their needs are understood and valued can set
many customers at ease throughout the duration of a call,
simplifying issue resolution significantly.
 5. Problem-Solving and Flexibility

Call center reps who can accurately define problems,

evaluate them, and then solve them are guaranteed to help
more customers in less time.
 6. Listening Capacity

Call center agents who listen can curb the number of calls
needed for individual clients to resolve their problems. It
allows agents to provide support and suggestions that
account for all the details available to both parties.
 7. Organization

As agents interact with multiple clients, maintaining a comprehensive

record of their needs and requests keeps them from needing to start
all over again on every call. This frees up time and energy for solving
more complex problems. Additionally, customers appreciate not
having to explain their concerns repeatedly with each contact.
NEWSCASTING
/
HOSTING
 • Newscasting, or news anchoring, involves presenting
news stories, reports, and updates to the audience in a
clear, objective, and informative manner.

• The newscaster is responsible for delivering the news

accurately and impartially, often from a studio setting.

• Newscasting typically occurs within the format of a news

program, which may include segments such as headlines,
weather forecasts, sports updates, and feature stories.

• The newscaster serves as the central figure who

transitions between these segments and delivers the
news content.
• Hosting typically involves being the presenter, facilitator,
or master of ceremonies for a program or event.

• The host is responsible for guiding the audience through

the content, introducing segments, engaging with guests,
and maintaining the flow of the show.

• Hosting can apply to a wide range of programming

formats, including talk shows, game shows, variety shows,
award ceremonies, and special events.

• The host's role may vary depending on the specific format

and requirements of the program.
 Some speaking skills are:

Pay attention to
Be prepared Know your the old KISS Interact with
and practice. audience. principle, keep it your
Short and audience
Simple.

1 2 3 4
 Some speaking skills are:

Close your
Speak with speech in a
sincerity and Fluency
memorable
passion way.

5 6 7
 2. Lack of
consistency in 3. Incomplete
1. Unclear
the sentences.
BARRIERS messages.
communication
WHILE process.
SPEAKING 5. Words
4. Not 6. Use of
can have negative
understandin
different words.
g receiver.
meanings
to different
listener.
HOW TO IMPROVE
SPEAKING SKILLS?
1. Practice where you can, when you can:
any practice is good whether you speak
to someone who is a native English
speaker or not.
2. It’s important to build your
confidence. If possible, use simple
English sentence structure that you
know is correct, so that you can
concentrate on getting your message
across.
3. Try to experiment with the English you
know. Use words and phrases you know in
new situations. Native English speakers are
more likely to correct you if you use the
wrong word than if you use the wrong
grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a
really good way of getting feedback.
4. Try to respond to what people say to
you. You can often get clues to what people
think by looking at their body language.
Respond to them in a natural way.
5. Try NOT to translate into and from
your own language. This takes too
much time and will make you more
hesitant.
6. If you forget a word do what native
English speakers do all the time, and
say things that ‘fill’ the conversation.
This is better than keeping completely
silent. Try using um, or err, if you forget
the word.
7. Don’t speak too fast! It’s important to
use natural rhythm when speaking
English, but if you speak too fast it will
be difficult for people to understand you.
8. Try to relax when you speak. You’ll find your
mouth does most of the pronunciation work for
you. When you speak English at normal speed,
you’ll discover that many of the pronunciation
skills, such as linking between words, will
happen automatically.
While speaking consider these:

• Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking

man.

• The difference between a smart man and a wise man

is that a smart man knows what to say, and a wise
man knows whether or not to say it.

• Speak well and live well.