I hate phoning people I don't know, like offices and such. And so I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to psych myself up to making such a call, going through my head what I want to say but when I do it I know I'll be so nervous that I'll forget all that and at that point I just hope I mumble enough to get my point across. Damn I hate this. I'm 30 years old for heaven's sake, why does this still bother me so much? Well I know why really, but that doesn't help. Ok, now I'm just delaying it. Man up man!
Edit:
Well that was anticlimactic, but it's always that way really. A painless 90 second conversation later and I'm sat here wondering why I get myself so worked up over so small a thing. Ah well, at least that's sorted now.
Five years ago, I hated the very same thing. Like, being pretty unable to actually do this (or even pick up the phone when my place of internship was called). My following job required me to though. So it became easier day after day, and now it's absolutely not a problem any more... the extremely shitty downside being that my company put me into cold calling, a process I have no motherfucking interest in or talent for or success with or education for. Just plain hate.
I hate phoning people I don't know, like offices and such. And so I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to psych myself up to making such a call, going through my head what I want to say but when I do it I know I'll be so nervous that I'll forget all that and at that point I just hope I mumble enough to get my point across.
Write down bullet points that cover all the information you need to get across / find out in return, and have that in front of you when you make the call. That might help when the "rehearsal" happens to fly out of your head when you actually start talking.
And as Vainamoinen said, it gets a lot easier with practice.
I hate phoning people I don't know, like offices and such. And so I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to psych myself up to making such a call, going through my head what I want to say but when I do it I know I'll be so nervous that I'll forget all that and at that point I just hope I mumble enough to get my point across.
I had this problem when I was younger, where I could type a message and get my point across just fine, but when it came to actually talking with my voice, I got all tongue-tied and forgot what I was supposed to say.
What I found helped was to start up a text editor, basically the equivalent of what Notepad is today, and just type out my message, first. I didn't really have to read the message word for word (unless the person wasn't there, in which case it made a pretty good voice mail message), but writing it out solidified the points in my mind enough that I didn't forget them when talking.
With enough experience, I got more comfortable talking without forgetting what I was supposed to be talking about, so didn't have to do the above anymore.
I still have problems with "small talk," where the topic is not defined in advance, and you're basically just trying to fill up silence. I need more practice with that. You can only talk about the weather so long.
If I weren't around someone who desperatly needs a job would have mine. Very little else would change. Maybe people on a whole would feel better too.
Have you been moonlighting as a villain in Narnia or something? Because unless it's that, I think that you're severely overestimating the number of people who would be happy and severely underestimating the number of people who would be incredibly upset.
And as for the job thing, consider this. The reason you have that job is because you can do it. This mysterious person who doesn't have a job but could have your job, currently doesn't have your job because for one reason or another couldn't or wouldn't acquire it. If it's wouldn't, there's no argument, and if it's couldn't, perhaps the only reason they didn't get it would be because a more qualified person was present (ie. you). So it stands to reason that if you weren't there and they got the job, they would do a slightly worse job of it (or maybe a lot worse job) than you would, resulting in a lot of low-level anxiety for all customers. Hedonistic Calculus says that you having the job is the better end result.
And then she'll get tired of waiting and ask him out, and wreck the whole thing.
My scenario assumed a case in which going out isn't an option, for instance because he's against dating at work, or because he's already asked her out and she said no.
If that's not the case, obviously the first step is to ask her out, but I don't think anyone would need that pointed out to them :P
Car broke down today. I had to be towed back to a garage. We were just outside the garage ( 10 metres at most) when a car drove into the side of mine. Also, my laptop is broken. And the tax office isn't going to bay my tax rebate for another month. Not a good day.
Regarding my reluctance to use a phone, in my case it's mainly down to the fact that my speech has never been very clear or easy to understand. I've undergone a bit of speech therapy when I was younger, and generally I make myself understood well enough face to face but not so well over a phone line. This coupled with my general shyness (especially when talking to people I don't know, be it in person or however) means that I'm pretty much completely unsuited for a call centre type profession.
Regarding my reluctance to use a phone, in my case it's mainly down to the fact that my speech has never been very clear or easy to understand. I've undergone a bit of speech therapy when I was younger, and generally I make myself understood well enough face to face but not so well over a phone line. This coupled with my general shyness (especially when talking to people I don't know, be it in person or however) means that I'm pretty much completely unsuited for a call centre type profession.
I have pretty much the same problem. I had to take speech therapy when I was younger too, and for me it seems to have worked pretty well for the most part. Unlike in your case though, my reluctance to use the phone (other than my shyness) is not that my speech isn't clear, it's mostly that I stutter too much when talking.
I was diagnosed with high functioning autism (before the mid-1990's when it was a diagnosis rather than a category, when a more clear diagnosis like Asperger's wasn't part of the mental diagnosis criteria), which probably contributes to the speech problems in my case (my biggest speech problem now is a use of nonsensical words or the wrong words in speech, which is most likely the autism - it certainly fits within the Asperger's portion of the high functioning autism category). Although, mostly my lack of clear thinking that causes my stuttering comes from the "fibrofog" symptom of my Fibromyalgia (which is thought to be from loss of brain cells or decrease in grey matter).
It was announced today that Jim Carrey changed his mind about the sequel to Dumb and Dumber, and he is now working on it with the movie to be released in 2014.
Twenty minutes until I get to talk to my temporary PI about what I'll be doing for the rest of the quarter. Should be fun. Terrifying, but fun.
I knew the dame was trouble when she walked in the door. With those big, soft eyes of hers, she asked what she would have to do for the rest of the quarter. Bad news. Told her I don't make change. Besides, I was just a temp.
Comments
This is doable. Well, I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I can do tonight.
I will be able to say that tomorrow! Why watch three hundred and eighty movies when you could just watch the same one three hundred and eighty times?
You're the greatest! The greatest! I'm gonna shower first, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyR3PlP3qRs
Edit:
Well that was anticlimactic, but it's always that way really. A painless 90 second conversation later and I'm sat here wondering why I get myself so worked up over so small a thing. Ah well, at least that's sorted now.
Write down bullet points that cover all the information you need to get across / find out in return, and have that in front of you when you make the call. That might help when the "rehearsal" happens to fly out of your head when you actually start talking.
And as Vainamoinen said, it gets a lot easier with practice.
I had this problem when I was younger, where I could type a message and get my point across just fine, but when it came to actually talking with my voice, I got all tongue-tied and forgot what I was supposed to say.
What I found helped was to start up a text editor, basically the equivalent of what Notepad is today, and just type out my message, first. I didn't really have to read the message word for word (unless the person wasn't there, in which case it made a pretty good voice mail message), but writing it out solidified the points in my mind enough that I didn't forget them when talking.
With enough experience, I got more comfortable talking without forgetting what I was supposed to be talking about, so didn't have to do the above anymore.
I still have problems with "small talk," where the topic is not defined in advance, and you're basically just trying to fill up silence. I need more practice with that. You can only talk about the weather so long.
Have you been moonlighting as a villain in Narnia or something? Because unless it's that, I think that you're severely overestimating the number of people who would be happy and severely underestimating the number of people who would be incredibly upset.
And as for the job thing, consider this. The reason you have that job is because you can do it. This mysterious person who doesn't have a job but could have your job, currently doesn't have your job because for one reason or another couldn't or wouldn't acquire it. If it's wouldn't, there's no argument, and if it's couldn't, perhaps the only reason they didn't get it would be because a more qualified person was present (ie. you). So it stands to reason that if you weren't there and they got the job, they would do a slightly worse job of it (or maybe a lot worse job) than you would, resulting in a lot of low-level anxiety for all customers. Hedonistic Calculus says that you having the job is the better end result.
But if you did I couldn't take you seriously anymore.
People take me seriously?
Of course, they are even writing songs about you.
Like this one:
My scenario assumed a case in which going out isn't an option, for instance because he's against dating at work, or because he's already asked her out and she said no.
If that's not the case, obviously the first step is to ask her out, but I don't think anyone would need that pointed out to them :P
(Both physically and mentally)
How can you be so sure that we don't already?
I knew those ventriloquism lessons would pay off!
I was diagnosed with high functioning autism (before the mid-1990's when it was a diagnosis rather than a category, when a more clear diagnosis like Asperger's wasn't part of the mental diagnosis criteria), which probably contributes to the speech problems in my case (my biggest speech problem now is a use of nonsensical words or the wrong words in speech, which is most likely the autism - it certainly fits within the Asperger's portion of the high functioning autism category). Although, mostly my lack of clear thinking that causes my stuttering comes from the "fibrofog" symptom of my Fibromyalgia (which is thought to be from loss of brain cells or decrease in grey matter).
“Dumb & Dumber To"
I knew the dame was trouble when she walked in the door. With those big, soft eyes of hers, she asked what she would have to do for the rest of the quarter. Bad news. Told her I don't make change. Besides, I was just a temp.
I can think of some people who would disagree. Namely, the ones who ate this:
If you weren't there, whoever was doing your job probably wouldn't be as good at it.
Wouldn't you get bored of watching him or her after a while?
I don't want to watch. I just want someone to do it. With every last drop of THEIR blood.