Getting heard may be key to getting new job

(HealthDay)—Your voice may be the key to landing a new job, researchers report in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science.

University of Chicago investigators asked MBA students to develop short written and spoken pitches for a company where they'd like to work.

Evaluators—including professional recruiters—rated the students as more competent, thoughtful and intelligent when they heard the petition than when they read it, even when the words in each version of the pitch were exactly the same. A video of the petition was no more effective than hearing the student's voice, according to the study.

"In addition to communicating the contents of one's mind, like specific thoughts and beliefs, a person's speech conveys their fundamental capacity to think—the capacity for reasoning, thoughtfulness and intellect," study author and business professor Nicholas Epley said in a university news release. "When conveying intelligence, it's important for one's voice to be heard—literally."

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