How do I get over my phone anxiety?

Question

When I have to call and talk to people I don't know, I get incredibly anxious. It is very scary to me, which isn't good since I'm looking for a new job and have to make a lot of calls to people I don't know! I try deep breathing and telling myself it's no big deal but it's like the second I start dialing the fear comes rushing back. I get worried that I'll lose my train of though, or the nervousness will make my voice sound mumbley and unconfident. Anyone have any good ideas how to get over this?

Answer 1

Ok - it sounds to me that you might be getting a job in somewhere like canvassing or a call centre .... if so then there may be drafts of the telephone pitch that you can practice with.  Once you know what it is you are going to say, then you need to practice how you're going to say it - without worrying about sounding like an idiot.... So you need a friend (or two) that you can role play with - they turn their backs to you and you close your eyes - so both of you have to concentrate on the sound of your voices (perhaps a park or a shopping centre/mall - somewhere where you have to learn to cope with distractions) ..... your friends can then help to advise how you sound to them - like you're reading from an autocue, a robot, not interested, nervous, silly, friendly .... all the things you need to know about how you sound ...... try sitting in front of a mirror and watching your face when you speak - listen to how the tone of your voice changes depending on the look on your face - )your voice sounds down and uninterested when you look miserable, sounds happy and  friendly when you're smiling) - then you need to practice answering negative feedback - 'I do appreciate your feelings, I just thought you might find it helpful/useful....', 'Perhaps this isn't a good time to speak with you, can I call back in a couple of days....' and so on and so forth ..... if you practice like this for about a week - I promise - by the time you get the job you will not only have no fears about talking to strangers on the phone .... you will have no qualms about talking to strangers in interviews .... your confidence and self-belief will strengthen and become a strength you know you can rely on .... it will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.....

Good luck!

Answer 2

I have the exact same thing. Wright  down what you want to say. That works if you are calling a business or something. I once told my psychologist that I am scared of sounding stupid and that person not understanding what I am talking about. She told me that they would be the one to sound stupid because they don't understand what I am talking about. Remember what it feels like when you are done with the phone call. After wards you think that wasn't so bad.

Answer 3

Its, okay. I have the same anxiety myself, as well as a general anxiety in any social situation. What helps me is asking myself, whats the worst that could happen? And then, what are the odds of that happening? Once you realize that there is a 99.9% chance that nothing really that bad is going to happen, you can relax a bit. What do you think is going to happen, youre going to explode and have an argument with the peson and start cussing them out. LOL. Im kidding.

Another thing that has helped me a bit is realizing that I cant control everything, once you let go of control and perfectionistic frame of mind, it will help. Its not easy. Its okay to have expectations and to make plans, but realize that whatever happens is going to happen and theres nothing you can do to control some things. You can only control yourself, thats it. So go ahead and make plans but dont worry, if things dont turn out as they should, its okay.

Answer 4

keep practicing it should get easier, when you worry you'll loose your thoughts or mumble might help saying, i've used phone lots of times before and didn't mumble etc, i only say that for years i suffered anxiety going to shops etc, thinking i was going to faint then i'd panick and go dizzy, i did an anxiety course and learned that saying to myself i've gone to shop lot's of times and never fainted that thought stoped me over breathing which makes anxiety 100 times worse. good luck!

Answer 5

i had this same problem, i faced it head on,