I work with one of the loudest human beings to have walked this planet since Richard Simmons got his first perm. He has no internal volume control and apparently no idea that his speech can make ears bleed for miles around.
This morning we were on a conference call with one of our big clients, and this loud person had a point he wanted to make. But instead of leaning in a bit like the rest of mankind, he felt the need to actually stand and hover over the phone, putting his big mouth a mere six inches above the speaker.
There was a brief silence on the phone.
He saw his opportunity.
He pounced.
"I JUST WANTED TO ---"
KA-BLAM! The telephone exploded, wires and diodes flying everywhere. An errant hold button hit me in the forehead.
Now the company is in the market for a volume-proof speakerphone.
My husband works with someone very similar. The problem is not that she talks loudly all the time, but only when she is on a personal call. He comes home complaining he couldn't work because she would be on the phone all day talking about her sister's bad date or mom's new hair cut. He went out and bought headphones, just to block her out. I would think that if you were going to take personal phone calls all day that you would want to talk quieter not louder, but that might just be me!
Posted by: krisppin | February 06, 2008 at 09:42 AM
Ah...an overtalker. We don't have one of those in the office, but we do have an overlaugher. He has to laugh louder than anyone, just to make sure we're aware he thinks something is funny.
Posted by: Momo Fali | February 11, 2008 at 08:51 AM
I no longer have someone like that but I used to. Not only was he loud but he would always use the speakerphone feature instead of the handset. As we moved from building to building and floor to floor I'd always do my best to get a cubie or office as far away as possible.
Posted by: Tom Warfield | February 27, 2008 at 09:25 AM