Conference Call Etiquette for the Technology and Operations Industry

• Do not begin a response to any question with “So…” You may think it makes you sound intelligent; it actually makes you sound uncertain of what you are saying.
• Be very uncomfortable with interrupting a speaker with “I would like to add on to that” or “I would like to chime in”- if it absolutely does not need to be said, Do Not Say It.
• Consciously work to minimize “uh’s and ah’s:. If you are looking for a word, try to remain silent where you would otherwise use such fillers.
• Some clichés have stood the test of time despite being very annoying. Some of the usual: “big ticket item”, “phenomenal amount of…”, “ad hoc response”, “value add”, and several others.

I don’t get why we do not have a preparatory course in this and other verbal communication skills in an industry that thrives on this kind of communication. Executive coach Dr.Paul Charlton who used to work at Wipro provides this and other skills now as an independent trainer, but it seems to me that this is something a company should make a mandatory course.