Telephone Etiquette 101

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Life­spy has got a lot of short arti­cles on tips and other stuff. This is one of them. Have you ever won­dered why some things you think are com­mon­sense you real­ize is not really “com­mon” at all? Here are “com­mon­sense” tips on using the phone:

1. If you are the one who is call­ing, make sure you check the num­ber of the per­son you are call­ing so you do not end up dial­ing a wrong num­ber. Write it down on a piece of paper if it will help you be more certain.

2. Allow enough rings so the per­son on the other line can answer before you dial again. No need to wait only two rings and just when the other per­son is going to pick up, you hang up. The per­son might get back to what he or she was doing before and then you dis­turb him or her by dial­ing again.

3. Always use polite lan­guage. Ask. Do not order other peo­ple around. “Hello. This is Mike. May I please speak with Pam?” is def­i­nitely bet­ter than, “Can you get me Pam?”

4. Avoid chew­ing gum or eat­ing when you are mak­ing a call. Nobody likes to hear crunch­ing and chew­ing while con­vers­ing over the phone.

5. If the per­son you are try­ing to reach is not avail­able and an answer­ing machine picks up, don’t panic. Just leave a mes­sage after the beep (or what­ever). Greet the per­son. Leave your name, the date and time, and then tell him or her to call you. If he or she doesn’t have your name, then you may also leave it. Don’t for­get to say, “Thank you.”