How to Decide Whether to Call Someone

Does it ever happen to you to just stand in front of the phone, unsure of whether to call someone up or not? Here's some advice to help you decide.

Steps

  1. Image titled Decide Whether to Call Someone Step 1
    1
    Know on what terms you are with the person you want to call. Your relationship with that person is very important in order to make up your mind.
    • If you don't get along too well with the person, probably you would feel less tempted to call that person up, while they wouldn't really enjoy hearing from you. Don't call them, unless you have something important to talk about with them. Calling them just to chat or to find out something you can find out from tens of other people is inappropriate.
    • If you're just acquaintances, a phone call wouldn't make any harm, would it? However, in case the person is somehow superior to you (older than you, in a more important function than you or otherwise superior), be respectful and polite.
    • If you're bosom buddies, you can call them anywhere, anytime! Or at least you're supposed to be able to; some people don't accept this even from their closest friends.
  2. Image titled Decide Whether to Call Someone Step 2
    2
    Decide on the reason you want to call them up for. If you're thinking about calling them up, you must have a reason.
    • When calling just to chat, there are a few phone etiquette rules you must know. It is impolite to call someone up before 08:00 in the morning (although this hour depends on the person's daily routine) and after 21:00 in the evening- unless it's something urgent, which is not the case. Also, it would pay to be aware of the person's agenda- know when they are at home and when they aren't. Make sure that the person isn't in the middle of something important when calling them just to chat, otherwise it may be very annoying. Leave a message if you're not sure of that. Also make sure you don't call that person just to chat if you're not on friendly terms with them.
    • When you have to tell someone a relatively important issue, but one that can wait, just call or leave a message; unlike when calling someone just to chat, it doesn't matter on what terms you are with that person.
    • When calling to make an invitation, prepare a little speech before, so that you don't forget to mention any important things about the time and place you want to meet that person. Especially if you want to call someone that usually makes you feel a bit nervous, like your crush or your boss, a speech is important.
    • If you have to tell that person something urgent, ignore all rules- phone etiquette doesn't matter now. Just do it.
    • If you're angry and just want to call that person to insult them, to make them feel bad or to fight with them, hold it right there. Don't. Take a deep breath, calm down, count up to 10, then think about it again. Would your phone call be productive for your relationship with that person? Probably not.
    • If you have the bad habit of calling someone up just to talk, talk, and talk until you drive them crazy, put the phone down and do something else. Some of us often feel tempted to call people up just to talk out every little thing that happened to us, but remember this is often very annoying for the "victim", unless the person you want to call is someone who enjoys listening as much as you enjoy talking.
    Advertisement
  3. Image titled Decide Whether to Call Someone Step 3
    3
    Don't wait too much. If you think too much about it, you may give up and come to the conclusion you'd better not call them up. If you can't find any logical reasons for not calling them, you may miss an interesting conversation. Who knows?
    4. Advertisement

Community Q&A

  • Question
    Is it okay to call a friend daily?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Sure, many friends talk to each other on the phone daily. Of course, if your friend tells you that the daily phone calls are too frequent and they need some space, you should scale back and call them less often.
  • Question
    I was dumped twice by a female acquaintance and chose not communicate with her anymore. She recently tried calling twice but I did not answer, should I call her back?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You should call her back to see why she was calling but do not get your hopes up. If she dumped you twice she may only want to be friends. If you like her, then talk to her and be her friend.
Advertisement

Warnings

  • If you're thinking about prank calling, put the phone down right now. It's a waste of time and money, not to mention it's extremely annoying.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
Advertisement

You Might Also Like

Tell if Someone Is Ignoring Your Calls and Decide What to Do About ItHow to Tell if Someone is Ignoring Your Calls & What to Do About It
Handle an Irate Customer on the Phone
How to
Handle an Irate Customer on the Phone
Stop a Prank Caller
How to
Stop a Prank Caller
Stop Unwanted Phone Calls
How to
Stop Unwanted Phone Calls
Answer a Phone Call from Your Boss
How to
Answer a Phone Call from Your Boss
Detect and Survive a Three Way Call
How to
Detect and Survive a Three Way Call
Resign by Phone
How to
Resign by Phone
Handle a Bomb Threat over the Telephone
How to
Handle a Bomb Threat over the Telephone
Call Someone You Don't Know Very Well or at All
How to
Call Someone You Don't Know Very Well or at All
Deal With Abusive Phone Calls
How to
Deal With Abusive Phone Calls
Advertisement

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 41,355 times.
How helpful is this?
Co-authors: 6
Updated: June 26, 2017
Views: 41,355
Categories: Handling Difficult Phone Calls
Advertisement