My phone anxiety. Let me show you it.

[happydalek]

Today I scripted a phone call before I made it.  I was calling back a place that I had applied to for a job, so I wrote down my opening statement in complete sentences and read it off verbatim when someone picked up the phone.  I usually rehearse my words before making a call, subconsciously at least, but I think this is the first time I resorted to a written script.  I hate making phone calls.  I do it when I have to, but thank god for email.   

Comments

[naushika.livejournal.com]

LOL. You're not the only one. I actually fairly regularly write down what I'm going to say on phone calls before I make them. I used to not have so much anxiety about phone calls, but after working at a call center for 2.5 years it has basically made me hate the phone forever.

Email is the way of the future!

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

Call centers! *shudder* On my short list of jobs I will never ever apply for. I've always had a certain amount of phone anxiety, and I don't know why. Maybe it's a fear of sounding stupid? Or of misinterpreting something because I can't use any visual cues? 'Tis a mystery.

[eponymous-rose.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know that feeling! I get so nervous over the phone that I have been known to leave messages for myself, from the person I'm trying to reach.

When I'm working the severe weather desk, whenever there's a big storm brewing and I know the phone'll be ringing off the hook, I write down a couple of scripts for various possible contingencies. Sometimes it's the only way to get anything done!

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

Scripting does simplify things markedly. My mind tends to go blank, so anything beats "Uuuummmm," being the first thing out of one's mouth! I knew I couldn't be the only one who has done it.

[bruyere-75.livejournal.com]

I have phone fear, too. I don't even like calling for a pizza.

I have worked in call centers and I've telemarketed. Neither were very much fun.

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

Ugh! You brave soul. I worked in a small retail store for three years where answering the phone was one of my primary duties. My heart leaped into my throat every time it rang.

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of telephones, but for me, it helps a lot when they have caller ID. Our home line doesn't. :( I finally got a cell phone for personal use (though I make and receive very few calls) and I LOVE knowing who's phoning me so I can decide whether it's worth answering.

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

YES. An "ignore" button is a wonderful thing to have. For the house line, my parents use their answering machine to screen calls. They've done it for YEARS, ostensibly to deter telemarketers, but I think it's also to because my dad is a phonephobe.

[rhube.livejournal.com]

I used to make scripts for phonecalls all the time - I actually tink it's quite common. I do it less now as a result of having a job that involved answering a high number of phonecalls where I've been reassured by the fact that I actually know what I'm talking about. But I still hate phones.

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

Funny how such a simple thing, designed to make life easier, can play with one's anxiety so. I've found repeated exposure does help, but it doesn't make it suck any less. Weird.