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| Johanna Burke Speaking Your Best: A Guide to Better Communication in the 21st Century |
| Johanna Burke of Sincerely Yours Escort Service elaborates on her excerpted chapter of etiquette tips for users and callers in Cell Rules available at the Cellular Lounge. She will continues her tradition of encouraging the professional practice of pleasant conversation. |
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| from the Cell Rules booklet: |
| QUICK ETIQUETTE TIPS FOR USERS AND CALLERS OF CELLULAR TELEPHONES* |
You may wonder how conventional conversation skills translate to the abbreviated world of wireless. Now more than ever the key to Speaking Your Best: speaking clearly, exercising good listening skill, and using concise vocabulary are needed in this urgent, static laden medium.
As a user of the new wireless technologies, I would like you to please take a moment to “create a clear mental image of the person you want to be.” Using technological accessories, like good conversation, is a cultivated art. I cannot tell you what sort of telephone to use; ad agencies do a far better job. However, I can offer you a guide for using your telephone as an extension of your well-mannered personality. Consider your cellular telephone a tool to not only communicate verbally, but as an instrument in projecting your “ideal image.”
What certain actions say about your visual image: by choosing to use a telephone in public you have chosen to display this behavior to a wide audience. Take caution in how you handle yourself and never, ever lose sight of your present location. Doing so puts your public image and personal safety at risk! When walking and talking take care to never get so distracted by talk that you get hit by a car or step on the toes of an innocent pedestrian. Always monitor the noise level at which you are talking. For example, shouting into the phone to compensate for poor reception means you are also shouting at passersby. Are you the type of person that yells at strangers on the street? Instead, move to a remote location or return the call when in a quieter space. Using a microphone attachment says you care about your health, which certainly is not bad manners, but implies “I am so important, I never stop working.” Does this match the mental image you have visualized above?
Where to use: consensus says “absolutely not” to libraries, museums, and intimate dinners. Please heed the advice of many and turn off the ringer or switch to “vibrate” in these locations. When in a social situation, use discretion in checking for calls. Consider if the incoming information is worth interrupting the present moment. Certain restaurants and galleries with young, hip clientele may be auspicious locations to use your phone. In gauging this situation you must return back to the “clear mental image of the person you want to be,” and proceed accordingly.
Using caller id on your phone: always answer politely with a “Hello.” Refrain from startling your incoming caller with a “HELLO, (NAME OF CALLER)!” Doing so disarms the caller of their opening introduction and sends the conversation in a foul direction, possibly adding unnecessary minutes of dialogue. DO use caller id to take calls appropriately; for example, letting a business call transfer to voice mail when at lunch or happy hour.
Helpful tips for callers: “think twice before you speak once.” Organize your thoughts before you call! Refrain from extraneous questions such as “Where are you?” or small chatter appropriate for the kitchen phone. Save annoyance by keeping voicemails brief as well. Only use another’s telephone if it is first offered to you.
*Excerpted with permission from: Speaking Your Best: A Guide to Better Communication in the 21st Century, by Ms. Johanna Burke, ©2000.
For more information contact: ms_burke@hotmail.com |
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BIO:
Johanna Burke has spent the last two years as founder and director of the interactive performance/public sculpture piece Sincerely Yours Escort Service. The piece consists of a troupe of 10 uniformed compassionates whose mission statement is "to ensure sincerity in the contemporary arts through the professional practice of pleasant conversation and ready availability of free sympathy to all clientele." Most recently Sincerely Yours was based out of an office installation space at White Columns gallery. Ms. Burke plans to continue working collaboratively with the public as "A Woman in Nature" and is also compiling her experiences as a conversationalist into "Speaking Your Best: a Guide to Better Communication in the 21st Century." She has shared with Creative Time a pre-press excerpt of her chapter on Etiquette Tips for Users and Callers of Cellular Telephones. |
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