Advice for phone interviews?

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I need to get job. The plan is that I get a job in another state so that we can move away from where we are now. I have a good resume and excellent references, but I need to be able to do phone interviews before I can get to the next step. I have been bombing the phone interviews.
1) I talk fast when I am nervouse
2) I have experience working in the Bronx. We are looking to move to a rural location. I feel a need to explain to the interviewer about how things work in the Bronx when they ask me questions about previous experience. For example, describe a teaching situation where things did not go well" and I describe when there was a gang fight in our school and I was teaching in a classroom full of Bloods.
3) I know that I should answer questions in teacher jargon, particularly since I have a masters degree in Literacy, I just hate using jargon and have a habit of speaking informaly on the phone.
4) As you can perhaps tell, I have a bad habit if giving too much information, being too verbose, and only thinking after I have talked and talked and talked and talked.
Any advice?

Force yourself to smile...even though they can't see you.

Supposedly a smile comes across in the tone of your voice.

I had a phone interview this morning, and my problem wasn't talking too much (though I did talk too fast). I was just really, really, really nervous...becuase I need another job so badly and a lot rides on that one stupid conversation with a stranger.

The whole job recruitment process is stacked up against anyone with simply an introvert personality, let alone aspies.

I thought my problem was also using too much jargon. It's a nervous habit of mine. I wouldn't worry about the level of jargon you use, as long as you answer the question a bit more succinctly and sound like you know whereof you speak.

I guess you get better at them the more you do them. My advice is to perhaps get a friend or relative to ring you and ask you questions from a script you wrote down, and then ask for feedback. My friend told me to smile because they can actually hear a smile down the phone.

If they ask you where you expect to be in 5 years, and if your truthful answer would be "I don't know." then you might want to do what my friend did. She said that she and her husband were reducing their carbon footprint (and how), they already had 2 chickens and a solar panel that powered the netbook. She & Hub hoped to expand these green activities. I thought it was a good answer because it doesn't conflict with the job.

I used to interview people via telephone for a recruitment agency I once worked for. Believe me, if you get an interviewee on the other end of the phone that is happy to talk away, it's a blessing. There is nothing worse than having an interviewee who only gives one word answers and you have to prompt them to talk to you.

Try and stick to the subject and describe it as best you can. I'm not sure what you would be asked for a teaching job, I used to interview people for call centre work. Most of the questions I asked required the applicant to give examples of their experience. It's a good idea to pre-empt what questions will be asked and write out what sort of reply you would make, just to practice getting things right. You can then look at what you've written and decided which bits are relevant and which bits you think can be cut out. It is a good idea to explain what environment you were teaching in and the circumstances which led to what happened, but try and keep it to the point.

I'm not saying you should read a script over the phone to the interviewer, but it might be helpful to keep a sheet of key words and phrases by your phone to help you, just to jog your memory in case you get stuck or to get you back on track if you feel like you are rambling.

My NT hubbie has problems with phone interviews too. They are very tough.
He's been looking lately and had several. It's not just you.

As mentioned, he writes everything down ahead of time.
Thinks up questions they might ask and makes notes for answers to prompt himself.
Can you get someone to practice with you? Or just talk out loud to the mirror?
I find if I say something out loud I can tell better if it sounds 'right' and then revise it.

Practice speaking slower and more "thoughtfully"
I rehearse every upcoming situation like it's a play.
But they will still come up with a question you haven't thought of, and that's normal.

There are also dozens of applicants for every job right now, do the best you can and don't beat yourself up if you don't get it. You may have come in 'second', and dozens of NT's may have come in after you!

Good Luck. I hope you get it!