How to overcome phone fear

You’ve had a great weekend.

Bought that new pair of trainers you wanted.

Been a little hungover on Sunday.

Then BAM.

It’s Monday morning.

You wake up, get ready and make your way to work.

Walk in, sit at your desk, take a sip of the much needed coffee and it hits you like a tonne of bricks.

Brring brring…The noise emanates from that box on your desk.

It doesn’t care if you aren’t ready, it wants your attention and it wants it NOW.

Using the phone in the office shouldn't be daunting.

Why does the thought of making a call for work make some

people so uncomfortable?

Lack of cues

Words7%

Tone38%Body

language55%

It’s not the words that can cause the issues.

It’s the gaps in between.

Without visual cues from the other person,we can’t tell what they’re thinking.

Have we confused them?

Perhaps they’re nodding in agreement, but all we hear is silence.

Albert Mehrabian's

communicationsmodel

Everyone gets phone fear sometimes.

New job, new product, change of job role, new person to speak to…

You should be mindful not to get stuck in it.

A lot of people worry that the person on the other end will hear in their voice how nervous they are.

That leads to negative thoughts.

Anxiety

“I’m going to looklike an idiot”

Don’t worry.

You can overcome this fear.

Here’s how.

Know your stuff.

If you’ve been trained well and given the right support, then you’ll be confident in what you are talking about.

If not, find out.

1

Be honest.

Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know the answer to a question.

Being honest is so much better than having to ramble your way through an answer that doesn’t make any sense.

2

Get help.

Don’t be afraid to put someone on hold.

It gives the caller more confidence in your proactive ability to get things done.

It’ll allow your confidence to grow for when you’re faced with a similar question in the future.

3

Build up to it.

If you’re based in a quiet office, see if there is somewhere you can go that is more private when making your first few calls.

Everyone around you wants you to do well.

They should be willing to give you the support you need.

4

Practice. Practice. Perfect.

Set up some test calls with your colleagues.

Let people know you need a hand.

Do some role play on a tough call.

The more practice you can do, the better you will become.

5

Don’t worry.

You’ve got this.

It’s just another skill to learn, practice and get better at, like any other.

Nobody expects you to be 100% perfect all the time.

Remember what your outcome is before you pick up the phone, keep at it and before long you’ll come off a call with a smile on your face.

For more top tips, head to

indigoswan.co.uk/blog