I want some documents or learning materials about breathing that I can
give to my customer service staff so they can learn how to use
breathing to improve their customer service. What i'm NOT looking for:
At this stage I'm not looking for paid courses, and i'm not looking
for general customer service stuff.

headsets.com....

The following link takes you to one of the best
sites I know for general information regarding
breathing, health and stress management. It is 
also generic in context, and free of any
affiliations to such disciplines as Yoga, while
still encompassing the same principles. I have
nothing against Yoga, but I've found that, when
dealing with employees and co-workers, if ideas
are presented in a more generic form, they are
often better-received.

The first page in this series takes you to the
rest, for a total of 8 pages of concise and 
useful information regarding breathing:
http://www.pe2000.com/breathe.htm

I think you'll find these pages easy to comprehend
and print, and the amount of information is neither
too much or too little for sharing with your staff.

The page above was linked from this one:
http://www.imt.net/~randolfi/StressLinks.html
which came from the search results. However,
I spent 20+ years in the field of mental health,
and taught groups in stress management. The
pages I referred you to are as good as you'll
find.


Searches done, via Google:

stress management breathing
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=stress+management+breathing


If you need further assistance, please feel free to post
a request for clarification BEFORE rating this answer.

sublime1-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by headsetsdotcom-ga on 10 Sep 2002 06:03 PDT

sublime, this is really interesting stuff, thanks, but it's not what I
want.  Its about breathing and health, which is truly fascintating. 
What I want is about breathing and customer service.  I wont' restate
it here,  i'm specific in the original question.  Thanks!

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 10 Sep 2002 09:30 PDT

headsets.com...

I believe you'll find that any and all breathing tips in relation
to customer service will be simplified variations of breathing
techniques used for stress management, as in this page, an
html version of a pdf file from them Customer Service Group:
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:4GuK1-N1REAC:www.customerservicegroup.com/pdf/CSNstress.pdf+breathing+%22customer+service%22&hl=en&start=4&ie=UTF-8

...and this page, from "Customer Service Training and 
Presentation Skills Seminars" which describes one of the
objectives of its course in "Stress Less During Busy Season"
as: "Change and control breathing patterns to change and 
control emotions":
http://www.proedgeskills.com/Customer_Service_Training/stress_less.htm

...and the very simplistic advice about breathing from this
page on business communication:
http://www.craigspeaks.com/DifficultQ.html

and this page from "The Focused Brain" site on
Executive Coaching:
http://www.focusedbrain.com/breathing.html


Searches done, via Google:

breathing "customer service"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=breathing+%22customer+service%22

Perhaps you have a point of reference which you could share
with me which serves as the basis for your perception that 
there are specifics in regard to breathing and customer
service which are not inherently covered in a discussion
of breathing and stress management. This would provide
me a basis for a more specific search to meet your needs.

Awaiting your clarification...
sublime1-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by headsetsdotcom-ga on 10 Sep 2002 10:44 PDT

Sublime,  some great stuff here again, but i'm not after these.  I
don't have a point of reference and it might be that what I want
doesn't exist.  I'll repeat the question:

I want some documents or learning materials about breathing that I can
give to my customer service staff so they can learn how to use
breathing to improve their customer service.

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 10 Sep 2002 17:58 PDT

Mike...

Having read some of your other questions, I came to
the conclusion that your customer service staff is
using the phone. If that's not the case, then the 
following may be off the mark, since I based the search
on phonework.

Here's a page from Pro Edge Skills that includes
breathing in some good advice:
http://www.proedgeskills.com/Customer_Service_Articles/telephone_greetings_that_custome.htm

Here's a featured question on the Idea Cafe Small Business
Tips Site that's about training employees in customer service
on the phone, with a typically brief mention of breathing:
http://www.businessownersideacafe.com/business_ideas/DHphonetrain.html

Here's a site where Sandra McKnight offers workshops on
"Phone Voice Tune Ups", which include a segment on breath
control. I know you said you didn't want workshops, but,
in view of your other question, she also provides Voice
Coaching by phone. The link is at the bottom of the page:
http://www.voicepowerstudios.com/tune-ups.html
Additionally, she offers free Telephone Seminars via
conference call - you pay for the call:
http://www.voicepowerstudios.com/teleseminar.html
And she also has reasonably priced cassettes/CDs for 
training purposes, here:
http://www.voicepowerstudios.com/tapes.html
There's an article summarizing her ideas here:
http://www.voicepowerstudios.com/events.html

Here's a useful tip from the Authentic Breathing
site, which I borrowed from voila-ga's answer on
breathing (thanks for the comment, voila):

"Relaxing Your Face Muscles for Deeper Breathing & More Energy"

"Those of us whose work requires extreme visual concentration
 (and the list is a long one, especially in this age of
 computer technology) can improve our work and increase
 our energy by making sure that our face muscles are relaxed
 and by looking away frequently from the work we are doing.
 This will help our breathing. When our face muscles become
 tense and our eyes lock onto anything too long, diaphragmatic
 movement during breathing decreases. This makes our breathing
 more shallow and means that we're taking in less oxygen.
 What's more, this shallow breathing decreases the lymph flow
 in our body thus reducing the effectiveness of our immune
 system. So be sure you check your face muscles every 15
 minutes or so to see if they're tense. And be sure to let
 your eyes move frequently. If for some reason your work
 does not allow you to look away, then at least use your
 peripheral vision. This will help relax your diaphragm
 and improve your breathing."   ...from:
http://www.authentic-breathing.com/breathing_tips.htm

I'm inclined to agree with voila-ga, that there's just
not much out there in the way of what you want.
There are a few other, similar hits from this search, but
in general, breathing is not a specific focus in addressing
customer service, except within the comprehensive approach
of a voice coach, or someone like Sandra McKnight.

If I were you, I'd check out her free phone seminar and
take a closer look at her tape/CD products. And I wouldn't
discount the value of the techniques related to stress
management which I gave you earlier. Reduced stress equals
a better presentation, whether by phone or in person.


Searches done, via Google:

"customer service" breath phone
://www.google.com/search?q=%22customer+service%22+breath+phone&num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N

If you have reason to believe that I've left
an online stone unturned, feel free to post
another request for clarification before rating
my efforts in your behalf.

sublime1-ga

Sublime,  thanks for all the effort on this one.  It was a hard one,
and although I didn't end up with quite what I wanted, you made some
great efforts, and got me some very useful stuff. Tx.

Hi Mike,

Personally, I know of no other techniques except the stress-reduction
breathing methods mentioned above as breathing skills.  Once your
employees have mastered some of these techniques, it would probably be
helpful to have reminders tacked up on their computer monitors since
we actually forget how to breathe properly in stressful situations. 
Breathing techniques happened to be a question on the "so you wanna be
a Google researcher" exam so I turned the web upside down looking for
possibles.

Incorporating your other question along with this one and mindful of
your location, I found this SF site that might be helpful to your
employee training. http://www.fripp.com/article.tips.html

Any specialized voice or speech coach should be able to assist with
both your breathing and voice technique requirements.   They're the
same ones taught to anyone in the performing arts field and include
posture, diction, projection, and the care of one's voice.  There's
even a medical specialty that addresses those needs. 
http://www.rehabchicago.org/patient/services/parts.php

Search words:
Buteyko breathing
conscious breathing
vocal/speech coach+breathing techniques
performing arts+breathing techniques
diaphragmatic/abdominal/belly breathing 

Hope you find just the right person!
V

Voila,  great stuff. Thanks.  Fripp might be my people. And in my back yard too.

tx.

You're very welcome, Mike.  We like to give extra special service to
our repeat customers here at GA, so thanks for all the business.

Finding breath control techniques for customer service specifically
was a tough one.  There was a previous question about breathing basics
that you might want to take a look at, but it may be on the pedantic
side for your purposes.  Just in case, it's here:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=17750

Also, if you're still in the investigation stage or if you'd rather
not invest in a vocal coach just yet, you might find some
do-it-yourself pointers/voice exercises in Jeffrey Jacobi's book "The
Vocal Advantage."  Maybe worth a flip-through at your bookstore
anyway.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/Magazines/Copy_of_MA_SegArticle/0,4453,271765----3-,00.html

Sandra Baigel's website may also have some tips if you access the back
issues of her newsletters. http://www.voice-word.com.au/news.htm

*******
Sublime1, you're more than welcome, pal.  Hey, we're all in this
together.  I always like to check out a headsetdotcom post.  Whether I
get a chance to answer one or not is a whole 'nother question. ;-)

Cheers, guys!
V