Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you’re going to say? Why?

I saw this question and felt like it deserved to be answered here.

In the past, I’ve talked about how I’m kind of a mixed bag on consistent planning. I’m good at planning at work, or for other people who are dependent on me for something, but terrible about developing and sticking to plans for just myself.

Except when it comes to conversations.

Rehearsing is technically a form of practice and not strictly a form of planning, but that doesn’t mean you don’t continue planning DURING the rehearsal. You have to try out different phrases, plan for responses, and so on and so forth.

Personally, I go beyond just phone calls. I’ll play out entire potential conversations with different people in my mind and try to anticipate what they might say so I can respond accordingly. I’ll plan for different timings and environments. Like if I’m having the conversation at home or in the car. I try to consider the circumstances as much as possible, like if they’re having a good day or a bad one.

I do this because sometimes I’m not in the right emotional state of mind and I don’t want to spontaneously direct anger at someone. I want to approach things calmly and rationally. Nobody wants to be yelled at or chewed out, but I still need to vent a little and process my emotions so that I can think things through. I think about how to present any arguments or complaints I might have so that I’m getting the most out of the situation without hurting the other person in the same breath, and I try to anticipate different possible directions things can go so that I’m not getting caught off guard.

Sometimes having a conversation, whether in person or on the phone, is tough, but we have to go through it anyways. Might as well plan it out.