Cell Phone Etiquette

There is some question on where and when a good time to use your cell phone is and when it’s not appropriate.

Here are some things to remember as suggested by business and etiquette professionals.

1. Never take a personal mobile call during a business meeting. This includes interviews and meetings with co-workers or subordinates.

2. Maintain at least a 10-foot zone from anyone while talking.

3. Never talk in elevators, libraries, museums, restaurants, cemeteries, theaters, dentist or doctor waiting rooms, places of worship, auditoriums or other enclosed public spaces, such as hospital emergency rooms or buses.

And don’t have any emotional conversations in public - ever. People don’t need to know your business and they don’t care to know if you are having an argument with your boyfriend.

4. Don’t use loud and annoying ring tones that destroy concentration and eardrums.

5. Never “multi-task” by making calls while shopping, banking, and waiting in line on conducting other personal business.

6. Keep all cellular congress brief and to the point.

7. Use an earpiece in high-traffic or noisy locations. That lets you hear the amplification, or how loud you sound at the other end, so you can modulate your voice.

8. Tell callers when you’re talking on a mobile, so they can anticipate distractions or disconnections.

9. Demand “quiet zones” and “phone-free areas” at work and in public venues, like the quiet cars on the Amtrak Metroliner.

10. Inform everyone in your mobile address book that you’ve just adopted the new rules for mobile manners. Ask them to do likewise.

Remembering to be courteous of those around you when you are on the phone is a good place to start.

When talking on the phone in public leave your personal information out of the conversation and keep your conversations for necessity purposes only.