CALL ME MAYBE?

When Zoom fatigue sets in, it's probably time to pick up the good ol’ telephone for a one-to-one Chat

- Matthew Boyle

Mary Jane Copps is known as “The Phone Lady,” so it’s little surprise that she gets a lot of phone calls. The former journalist offers classes that can cost $3,600 for a daylong group session, coaching tens of thousands of people over the years on improving their phone conversations—anything from simple pointers on breaking the ice to detailed strategies for closing a sale.

Lately, the tenor of the job has shifted. When Copps started her business two decades ago, what she calls “phone anxiety” accounted for about 10% of her work. Today, it’s almost half. “People are afraid to have conversations,” Copps says, recalling a client who sought anxiety medication just to pick up the phone.

She attributes this in part to a generational shift: People in their 20s grew up without talking regularly on landlines, instead relying on smartphone-enabled text, chat, and videos. They never learned the basics and now shun—or even fear—phone conversations. A survey conducted before the pandemic found that four in five younger Americans had to mentally prepare themselves before making a call. Then Covid-19 got everyone addicted to videoconferencing tools such as Zoom, and Slack grew into a vital forum for workplace chatter— leaving the good ol’ curly-corded handset to gather dust.