Turn Off Your Cell Phone
 By Patrick L. Wynne

“Can you hear me now?”

Yeah. That’s the problem. We hear you now loud and clear. It seems like we nearly always hear you. And so does everyone else. Everywhere. And we hear your annoying cutie-pie cell phone ring tone too. In fact, we’ve just about heard enough!

Those are not the words you want customers, suppliers or business associates saying to you. Don’t let technology outpace your etiquette, to say nothing of your common sense, when it comes to using your cell phone.

Ten years ago it was unheard of for anyone to walk into a business meeting or a lunch appointment with a concealed alarm clock that would explode with noise and startle everyone. But today, the odds are that one of three people at your conference table or dining table is packing the equivalent: a cell phone primed to blast obnoxious ring tones at any moment.

There was a day when business associates who engaged in serious conversation didn’t fear being rudely interrupted. Not so today. With 94 million cell phones stuffed in American purses and pockets, it’s a wonder any business conversation goes uninterrupted.

Cell phones have arrived with a vengeance. And folks are getting hopping angry, and won’t take much more.

A 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found cell phones are the number one invention people hated most, but can’t live without. In a recent ABC News poll, 87 percent of respondents said the bad behavior they observe most is people who make annoying cell phone calls, even more so than folks who are just plain rude and disrespectful (84 percent) and people who use bad language (80 percent).

Imagine then the compounded disfavor when someone is rude, disrespectful and using bad language on a cell phone.

Of course, no one wants to miss an important call, particularly if it could be from that potential client you’ve schmoozed so long and hard to land. But think twice before risking an egregious faux pas that violates basic business etiquette.

Here are some fundamental cell phone tips to keep from offending everyone within hearing range:

• When attending a business function, first and foremost, turn off your cell phone or switch it to vibrate, rather than permitting your adorable ring tone to raise everyone’s eyebrows.

• Do everything you can never to interrupt a face-to-face meeting by taking a cell phone call.

• If you absolutely can’t afford to miss an incoming call – and this better be life or death – excuse yourself and leave the room before answering and talking aloud.

• Speaking of talking aloud, don’t make it loud. Cell phone microphones are sensitive. The person on the other end can hear you just fine. Pipe down. The rest of us don’t want to hear your conversation.

• If you absolutely, positively can’t avoid talking on your cell in the presence of others, cup your hand over the device and whisper. And keep it short. Every moment you’re on the phone in the presence of another, you are effectively shouting, “This call is more important to me than you are.”

• If you absolutely, positively without exception must take a call in a crowd, keep the conversation G-rated. It’s bad enough that you’ve forced others to suffer your running dialog. Don’t add insult to injury.

• Finally, be aware that there’s a Web site and a new book dedicated to conversational snippets overheard on the street. The cell phone details of your personal soap opera or even the contract negotiations you shared with everyone close enough to overhear could show up in the next edition.

Not long ago the Atlanta Falcons football team coach Jim Mora was fined $25,000 for using his cell phone during a game because the NFL deemed it inappropriate behavior. New York City is poised to pass a law banning cell phone use at public performances like movies, theaters and art galleries, with a $50 fine if you misbehave. But that’s today. Keep annoying folks at your peril. The sky’s the limit.

(Posted April 2006)

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