Conquering Phone Anxiety
Whether you are an entrepreneur, job seeker, or sales professional, phone anxiety can lower your confidence and limit your success. Research shows that more than 20% of people have call anxiety when making calls for business purposes. This is due to shyness, fear of embarrassment, or rejection when speaking on the phone. While it may seem daunting at first to conquer this fear, with a bit of practice and consistency, there are several methods to make conquering your phone anxiety easier. Picking up a phone call may seem too obvious, but that is where it all starts. You cannot overcome your fear unless you pick up the phone and engage yourself in exposure therapy. The more often you engage in phone calls, the calmer you feel. A physical smile calms you down and makes you happier. Using your facial expressions and body language, you can pretend to be face-to-face with the person on the other end of the line. This can be more tolerable than standing rigidly or keeping a serious face.
Insecure people tend to overthink. Just because someone says something you do not expect does not mean they are mad at you. Do not dig too deep into what they are saying because you are missing non-verbal cues that can help determine their feelings. End the conversation, hang up, and move on to other tasks. This also applies to the moments before the call. Planning what to say is a great strategy, but do not overthink it. Conversations always have a chance to go in a different direction. Be open-minded and curious. Follow the flow and keep your notes close at hand.
Instead of focusing on what could go wrong during the phone call, focus on what you want to achieve during the call. Additionally, you will want to think about things that will make the call more effective. Think about what you want to get from them. Additionally, you will want to plan how to communicate your needs to the other person or the person who needs it on the other end of the line. Take note and focus on the purpose of the call, not what or how to answer a call.