Remember that only a fraction of your message is communicated by words, so when you're talking on the telephone, you won't have body language to help you convey your message, but you will have voice inflection. Consider the following: Smile before you start the conversation and as you are speaking. A smile is detected in your voice by the other person and it is nearly impossible to sound negative or flat when you are speaking while smiling! If you have not pre-arranged the phone call, ask the recipient if this is a good time to talk with them and give some indication of how long you think the conversation might take. Introduce yourself at the beginning of the call and briefly state the purpose of your call. Speak clearly and not too rapidly. When people are watching our faces while we talk, mumbled or slurred words can often still be interpreted. On the telephone, this is more difficult, so take care to enunciate and speak carefully. Do not yell into the phone. Most telephone conversations should be able to take place in a normal volume and tone of voice. Be particularly conscious of this if you are using a cell phone and others are around you. Cell phone users often are not aware that they are speaking loudly. Pause periodically while you are speaking to allow the other party to give confirmation that they are hearing you, or to ask questions. When you are done, thank the listener for their time. For more information on telephone communication, click here.