I've spent 20 years teaching people to communicate. Phone anxiety has never been worse. I see it most often among younger employees entering the workforce, and the issue is more complicated than it seems. Find out more.
difficult conversations
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we take … Read more
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we take … Read more
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we take … Read more
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we take … Read more
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we … Read more
In our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index, one respondent shared this insight: “Colleagues have difficulty with tough conversations. I often see my colleagues take things too personally rather than focus on the facts and possible outcomes. As professionals and senior leaders, we need to lead by example and ensure we … Read more
Have you experienced this in your organization? An issue arises with a client or prospect. There are meetings, conversations, emails — and yet … the issue remains. One respondent in our 2026 Real-Time Business Conversation Index described it this way: “Issues don’t get resolved effectively. They drag on and client … Read more
In 2013, I worked part-time as a sales manager for one of my favorite clients. The youngest and most energetic team member had a very challenging deadline and the hardest quota. This, combined with her enthusiasm for both her prospects and her clients, led her to talk too fast. I … Read more
There are two types of conversations I rank among the most difficult. One is the “dark” conversation, where the other person only – and consistently – talks about everything that is going wrong. While this can extend to a world view, it is most often focused on their life, health … Read more
Over the holidays, I had a lot of conversations. Some were on the phone, others were on camera and I enjoyed them all. And many of them included interesting communication challenges. This reminded me of a blog series I did back in 2018, which focused on difficult conversations. I began … Read more
I’m currently spending time with an extremely diligent coaching student. Having never received any formal sales training, she reacts to new information and skills by using them immediately. This is a lot of fun. Each week she arrives with great success stories and questions to ask. And she’s also using … Read more
The combination of the pandemic and our current economic climate has definitely increased stress levels. For many businesses, this means an increase in emotional conversations with customers. My webinars on the skills for managing and de-escalating big emotions on the phone, by email and in person, are in greater demand … Read more
In June of 2017 my husband, David, and I sat in the office of a kind and compassionate doctor who gently told us that David had early-onset Alzheimer’s. There were the expected moments of silence, then lots of effusive optimism and cheerfulness. There’s no correct way to begin adjusting to … Read more
In the past two weeks, I’ve spent time with numerous business teams in a wide range of industries helping them revise their sales and customer service messaging. Why? Because the words they used prior to COVID-19 to speak with customers and inspire conversations with prospects no longer apply. Today, building … Read more
It’s hard to take in that the world … the entire world … is sharing one event. While each country, culture, region is experiencing COVID-19 differently, and each individual is having unique reactions and responses, we are all being impacted by this pandemic at the same time. So, in our … Read more
Sara Moginot is a customer service aficionado, a regular reader of this blog … and the author of this article. From sarcasm to bullying, incivility in the workplace reduces productivity, lowers morale and increases employee stress levels. Whether we are a victim or a witness, there’s an impact. And this extends … Read more
On Monday afternoon at 1:20 pm, driving back to my office from a workshop in Truro, I was rear-ended at a stop light. (It’s important to say here that I’m fine. The car is undergoing repairs until early February, but I’m perfectly fine.) The next hour contained a lot of … Read more
We’ve all had this happen on the phone – the other person talks over us as we start or finish a thought. Doesn’t it make you crazy? Speaking for myself … it gets under my skin very quickly. Why does talking over happen? What does it mean and how can … Read more
While rushing about doing weekend errands last Saturday, I received an important – and tear-filled – lesson on the power of tone of voice … all while choosing between green beans or kale! What was the lesson? And why did it make me cry? I’m a bit obsessed with fresh … Read more
Wednesday was a good day. For the first time in long while, I wasn’t rushing anywhere. I had time to focus on the three “P’s” – projects, paperwork and phone calls. And while the first two went fairly well (apparently there’s additional paperwork needed to go along with the paperwork … Read more
While sitting with a small group of committed, engaged and effective salespeople enjoying a lively discussion about how to inspire conversations, someone shared: “But it’s so hard when no matter what question you ask, they give you a one-word answer.” Someone else quickly added, “Yeah, I ask lots of open-ended questions … Read more
One person always makes an appearance at my customer service workshops and coaching sessions – someone I’ve named the “constant talker”. I discovered them years ago while doing call evaluations and listening to a 45-minute customer conversation during which the company representative maybe said 20 words. It was exhausting and … Read more
Recently stuck in Halifax traffic, I was able to give my full attention to a radio interview. What I heard was a clear reminder of two words that, when put together, clearly announce our bias and can sound extremely confrontational. What are these two words and what might we say … Read more
To learn more about her target market and to better understand an existing customer, one of my coaching clients took a deep breath, picked up the phone and inspired an amazing conversation by asking, “Why do you continue to work with me?” What response did she receive to this question? … Read more
Anxiety or fear of phone calls is not new, but is more pervasive as we spend less and less time using our phones to talk to people. One of the main reasons for this anxiety is: “How will the person I’m calling react when they pick up the phone?” In … Read more
The first time I put someone on hold was 40 years ago. It was a summer job in the offices of an iron ore mine in Northern Ontario and there were very specific guidelines I had to follow. The etiquette of how to put someone on hold has certainly been … Read more
To celebrate 20 years of The Phone Lady, we're revisiting what truly makes communication meaningful. Every second week, we'll share a bit of wisdom to remind us that small shifts in how we speak, listen, and connect make a big difference. (You'll also receive access to our Exclusive Resources, including 4 ebooks.)
Remember party lines? Switchboards? Yellow Pages? The traditional telephone is almost gone, but its cultural impact deserves a ringing endorsement. Mary Jane weighs in.
A fresh phone hell in the office: Younger workers who don’t say hello when they answer a call need to know it’s a problem. Mary Jane weighs in on generational phone challenges - read here.
Bosses and employees are wrestling over whether voice calls have a place in the hybrid era. The Wall Street Journal recently spoke to Mary Jane. Find out more here.
22 Minutes correspondent Brandon Hackett figures out which end is up on this thing called a telephone, with help from The Phone Lady. Watch Telephone Lessons for Millennials.