I really hate talking on the phone. Yet once I get into the swing of things, I think I do it quite well. Of course, it requires me warming up. When I know I have to make an important call, I start hyperventilating…I get a cold sweat, breathe faster, etc. my voice, no matter how much I try to project, goes all weak and mousey and my mind goes blank and I stumble over my words. In other words, I sound scared, weak and incompetent.
I also hate making calls when other people are around me. Yes, I know they are busy and have better things to do than listen to my conversations. But I can’t help it, it’s just a psychological thing. I prefer if everyone around me is gone, or else on the phone themselves.
I had to make a ton of phone calls this week for the stories I wrote, and It got easier as I went. I didn’t have to rehearse my speech, I knew what I wanted to say. I felt more confident, even though my voice didn’t fully return…i was super polite, and after one particular embarrassment soon learnt from my mistake. Although I much prefer email communications, I hate seeing a reply come in, and waiting through those two seconds that it takes for them to open up. Plus, a watched inbox never receives mail.
I’ve got to work on my talking. I speak super fast, even when I deliberately try to slow it down, I think that barely brings to me to normal talking speed and when you’re on the phone I think it’s even more important to enunciate clearly. My name is especially hard to get out clearly, when I’m rattling off where I’m calling from straight after. I am pretty sure it just comes out as a sort of gentle murmur. It just feels so unnatural to me though – I’d be right at home in Gilmore Girls! I talk just like that, rat-a-tat-tat, sharp and quick and deadpan. I remember in broadcast classes last year reading out stories, and I thankfully wasn’t the fastest speaker there. One girl had to repeat herself approximately six times before our tutor was happy with her speed, but man I felt her pain the whole way. I understand how hard it is to understand others who talk fast, but somehow when I do it it doesn’t sound fast at all.
