the telephone sucks less

i’ve never been very good at talking on the phone. ultimately, i think my problem is that i tend to forget everything i wanted to communicate and just go along and have a free-form conversation. but now, i’m part of a very distributed development group (nyc, orlando, st. augustine) so effective communication is of paramount importance. i’m using all the tools at my disposal - instant messaging, phone, email, and even a corporate blog. no sms, though.

one habit i’ve cultivated as of late is to write down a set of talking points i’d like to use on the phone. this keeps me focused on the conversation, and if we get off track, i can just glance at the list and get back to communicating what i want to communicate. (it’s unfortunate that this strategy doesn’t work in face-to-face conversation, as i would probably find benefit from this kind of talking-point list.)