How to Exercise Good Phone Manners

With the new era of technology, many people are turning to email rather than holding phone conversations to communicate with others. For those who do like to talk on the telephone, it is necessary to exercise good phone manners when communicating to friends, family members or strangers.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Listen more than talk. This holds true especially if you are the recipient of the phone call. If someone is calling you, it is likely that they have something important that they want to communicate to you. If you go ahead and take over the conversation, the caller may feel intimidated and may not want to continue with the phone call.

2. Sympathize with the caller. If the person calling you is telling you about a problem or is asking for advice, it is nice to express some sympathy. Try to think about a similar situation that you were in and tell the story to the caller.

3. Speak clearly and articulately. If you are talking with someone on the phone, it is important that they can hear you. Otherwise, they may think you are saying one thing and not what you are truly trying to communicate.

4. Create a good spot to hold the phone conversation. If you have children running around the house playing a game, it is wise to get away from that setting to hold your telephone conversation. Go into a private area where there are no distractions.

5. Make the time to hold the conversation so that you don't have to cut it short. Too often, people's conversations are cut off because of time restraints. If you have somewhere to go, make it a point to tell the person calling that you can call them back at a better time.

[Haoie]

on 9/17/2008 Good advice for people working in customer service, etc.