Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [phone-calls]

For questions that involve talking on the phone with someone.

Talking on the phone is an extremely common form of communication. It presents unique challenges in that many of the auditory conversation cues are still available, but the visual cues are missing.

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Who should identify themself first on the phone: the caller or the person called?

This may be a generational thing. I was taught that the caller always identified himself first. The person answering says "hello", to establish that contact has been made, but is under no obligation to identify herself. She is at home, minding her…
user1760
58
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10 answers

How to politely interrupt recruiters who keep cold-calling me during my work hours?

About a year and a half ago I was waist deep in a job search. Having found a new job, I've since attempted to remove my resume from the internet. However, this hasn't stopped recruiters from finding my cell phone number. This has become an…
Jess K.
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How can I ask (or determine) if someone on the phone is human without offending them?

I recently saw a doctor about a minor medical problem. This is the first time I saw this doctor . After the appointment I asked my doctor a follow-up question via my insurance company's website. I got a call back from the doctor but during the…
Cave Johnson
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How can I convincingly communicate to a friend that I don't have a 'personal' mobile number?

I dislike telephone communication in general, compared to face-to-face interactions. I am not interested in communicating with anybody with mobile phone, for socialising or professional purposes. I work from home now and am near-constantly reachable…
English Student
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How do I politely end a cold call I've received?

I've kept my phone numbers out of the public domain now, as I really do not like being cold called by businesses or charities. I have found that I used to try and be polite, but then the person calling me would try to get a foot in the door by…
user57
43
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7 answers

How to avoid "who are you?" as a response to "how are you?"

Last week, I got a phone call from an unknown number, and the conversation went this way: Her : How are you? Me  : Who are you? To put things in context, she turned out to be an old friend. She apparently assumed that I would have her number…
Masked Man
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How can I get my friend to stop calling me every day?

I have a close friend who I have been very supportive of each-other and it's been a relatively decent friendship but lately it's gotten out of hand. My friend calls me 3 to 4 times a day and texts me non-stop. To the point I almost expect it. He…
Luis Wolfe
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3 answers

How to ask a casual acquaintance for phone number without being awkward?

I commute to work every day and there is a woman I talk to every day because we take the same train. I've been talking to this woman for a few months (4+). We chat for a few minutes before the train comes every day. We are both married (and I'm a…
user1261710
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How to tell people that I don't like answering my phone?

I simply don't like video/voice calls. I feel I am not comfortable with them, except for emergencies. Most of my co-workers and friends try to convince me in a voice call, because text messaging is simply "too slow" for them (maybe because they're…
Ehsaan
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How to contact a girl whose number I got from somebody else?

Situation Some days ago I went to a concert of the band of a good friend, let's call him Alex. He and his bandmates, invited a lot of friends to support them. I know Alex pretty well since we've been working together closely for more than two years…
Fimbulvetr
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A stranger keeps calling and is confused that my phone number is his friend's old phone number

A man called me a few times today- I'll refer to him as "Bill". He was looking for a man named Wayne. He is pretty upset that Wayne's old number happens to now be my number. He explained that he has used this number for years to contact Wayne and…
aaa
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How to stop people from assuming I am female on the telephone?

Despite being male (both genetically and self-identified), I sound like, as a friend once stated, "an 8 year old girl". My voice is very high pitched and child-like due to brain cancer. This is usually not a problem in person: I have a giant beard…
GVT
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How do I become better on the phone?

Admittedly this is a primarily business-related question, since I'm about to enter the workplace, but it spans personal life too, so I am asking here. I hate making and taking phone calls. Whenever I have to use one, I become flustered and anxious.…
marcellothearcane
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How to end a work conversation on the phone?

I was recently hired for this awesome job. My boss is in another location in the country which requires me to teleconference with her. Her time zone is a few hours behind mine and since she is so busy in the morning, she tends to call in the…
Recent College Grad
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How to ask my mother to stop giving me unsolicited (health related) advices?

I have a lot of mental health issues and my mother tends to think that fixing my life is her duty. As such, she will often give me unsolicited health advice so that I could get "better". She would tell me "do more sport", "go to bed earlier", "eat…
Ael
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