Really bad at phone calls

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I am REALLY bad at phone calls. I start to talk before the other person's finished, I stop talking when I realise, they stop too, and then I don't know what to say.. I'm really bad at knowing when to speak and when to listen and the whole conversation ends up a big jumbled mess. It's really embarrassing, and I hate using the phone because of it. Anyone got any tips on improving your manner on the phone?

Wait two or three seconds longer than you feel is natural before responding.

I hate it too, I never know when to talk or when not to, and if the other person isn't actively saying something, it's like talking to a piece of plastic with nothing there which feels really weird and uncomfortable. And it's also so much harder to tell what the other person means, or to keep the conversation going. i avoid phones as much as possible but sometimes it's hard, like when someone from work calls me orasks me to call them.

I was always afraid of phone calls but i'm doing a lot better these days. What helps for me is to have a script in your head of how the conversation goes. Then you know what to say when there is silence and if there is really not much to say i end the conversation.. just like face to face

I have to admit speaking on the phone is not my strong point however i am slowly improving overall.

I'm horrible at phone calls unless I'm dialing up somebody that I know and trust.

I'm not nearly as bad I used to be at least. In high school I was assigned to call TV/Radio stations to inquire how non-profit advertisements. To say I was paralyzed with fear would be an understatement. It literally took one hour to work up the courage to make one call. Went reasonably well but boy what a nightmare it was.

Didn't help when one of the first time I worked up the courage to call my friend at age 10 I accidentally call some creepy old guy who starting asking very personal questions and I was too naive to just hang up.

I have talked to my boyfriend on the phone for hours. Normally at night. Other then my family or boyfriend I suck at any thing to do with humans.

When I talk on the phone for work or even non-work it helps me to pause and wait for the other person to speak or also to wait and see what the person will say (it gives the person time to speak). Oftentimes I take the initiative and end the conversation and this is not easy for me to do, but I have learned sometimes the other person will go on and on if I let them. To me talking on the phone is a little bit easier than in person as you do not have the eye contact to worry about and also do not have to worry if you are misreasding non-verbal communication. I have been told I sound different on the phone than in person and I am not sure why and am not sure if it is a good or bad thing (did not want to ask).

I'm ok at non-social calls (doctors, phone company, social services etc). Then there's a clear reason why you're calling and there's no social chit-chat. It's the social calls that I totally suck at.

At some stage I learned to pause just to make sure that the other person had really finished speaking. Unfortunately, some people expect you to just jump back in straight away, and start going, "Hello..." every time there is a pause.

Another thing that is really annoying, and doesn't only happen on the phone, is when pausing to collect my thoughts or find the right word, and the person interrupts with, "Pardon?"

Well, obviously they couldn't have gotten what I said, because I hadn't finished my sentence! Now not only am I made to feel wrong for not being able to verbalize my thoughts or retrieve the right word quickly enough, but I've been interrupted in the middle of what I was trying to say, putting me off.