The telephone is at the heart of business communication. But because people use the phone so much at home, they assume they have the skills to use it at work. This is not the case, and good business telephone skills have to be learned. This engaging, amusing and highly memorable story presents practical rules for conducting a call from start to finish.

An assistant manager of a marketing department is preparing to give the local business community a short seminar on professional telephone skills. But her own skills leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately someone is on hand to show her the mistakes she’s making, and how to overcome her shortcomings.

This programme demonstrates telephone skills in a highly effective way. Anyone who uses the phone at work will learn how to answer the call with a ‘verbal handshake’, the importance of preparation, of showing callers that they're understood, and of asking open questions to gain information, using the caller's name frequently to establish trust.

Finally the programme tackles voicemail, showing that the same rules apply, whether someone's leaving a message on someone else's machine, or a prompt on their own.