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.
phone etiquette
There’s a four-letter word that slips into our sentences far too often. It’s small, polite, and seems harmless. But it quietly undermines our confidence every time we use it. That word is “just“. “I’m just checking in to see if you got my email.”“I just want to ask if you have … Read more
This week’s blog post author is Jennifer Doherty, who provides her perspective on the connection between career growth and phone communication. Jennifer holds a Master’s in Industrial Relations and Human Resources from the University of Toronto and is the founder of JSD Human Resources. I’m delighted that she’s chosen this … Read more
In the summer before my last year of high school, I landed my first job that involved answering a telephone. It was in the administrative offices of an iron ore mine in Northern Ontario. This was 48 years ago, in 1975. It was a time when there were hard and … Read more
Summer officially started this past Wednesday. There are very few places in the world as delightful as Atlantic Canada in the summer and I’m aiming to take full advantage. As I was thinking about the time I will spend with family and friends over the next two months, I was … Read more
Both making and taking phone calls require skills. Whether you are managing a team responsible for these tasks, or you’re coaching yourself, you need to be able to distinguish between phone phobia/fear and phone anxiety. According to Harvard Health Publishing, a phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an … Read more
It’s happened to all of us. We’ve called somewhere, perhaps a customer service centre, or a government department, or a company we are thinking about hiring. A person answers, or we reach their voicemail, and their name is so muffled, said so quickly, that we have no idea what we … Read more
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”― Mark Twain As a child and adolescent, I must have had the same conversation with adults hundreds of times. You know the one: “What are you going to be when you grow … Read more
Sara Moginot is a customer service aficionado based in Halifax and a regular reader and contributor to this blog. As a child, our family had one black rotary phone in the foyer. To reach it, you walked up the stairs to the landing, which was a great open area lined … 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
A few weekends ago two events collided and created this post. The first was a drive across the bridge early Saturday morning to speak at a conference. Listening to the radio, I noted that the host of the program was encouraging listeners to email him with a specific subject line … Read more
For all of us, no matter where we’ve lived, where we’ve travelled or what languages we speak, a phone call with an unfamiliar accent can be a challenge. What I discovered, when I moved from the Northern Ontario mining town of my childhood to Toronto, is … accents are like … Read more
Every phone call has the potential to startle us and when this happens the most effective words can be difficult to find. For Heather Clarkson of the Employment Solutions Society this occurs “when people don’t follow through with what they were supposed to do, when they do not behave professionally toward you,” … Read more
The past two weeks I’ve received numerous emails from followers and clients with questions about difficult conversations. From accents to constant talkers, and from disrespectful language to unfulfilled promises, some phone calls are definitely challenging. The next few posts will feature my favourite strategies. And I encourage you to share … Read more
With some frequency, people ask me, “What is today’s phone etiquette?” I always hesitate to answer. Maybe the word ‘etiquette’ makes me stumble. It comes from the Old French estiquette, meaning label or ticket, and refers to a tradition from the 1700s of small cards with written instructions on how to … Read more
One of the items on my wish list has been to talk to high school students about phone skills, and my wish came true this past week. I met with seventeen Grade 10 students at South Colchester Academy. It occurred to me that these young people could teach me as … Read more
At a recent workshop, I was asked for advice on a challenge I’ve never encountered. While I certainly have some thoughts and suggestions, I’ve decided to share this challenge with you. Have you also experienced this challenge? Please share your ideas and feedback in the comments section below. Two people … 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
The summer I turned 18, I spent as much time as possible at my sister’s cabin, an isolated homestead deep in the woods of Northern Ontario. And I often brought along a friend to enjoy the canoeing, reading, swimming and hiking. One friend came prepared for the possibility of rainy … 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.